The voice leading the way may be a familiar one but Fairmont Senior is under new direction for the first time in nearly a decade. Nick Bartic stepped down as the leader of the Polar Bears over the winter after leading the crew from 12th Street to four Class AA state titles in eight years. Nine-year assistant and former offensive coordinator Mark Sampson now takes charge of one of the state's premier programs.

"I am super-proud to be in this position," Sampson said. "It comes with a lot of responsibility and I don't take that lightly. We've got a tremendous coaching staff here and we kind of do everything together.

"I did a lot with Coach Bartic and he let me in on a lot of things. I got an inside look on all of this ahead of time."

"It is a little different than how it used to be but that is expected from a new coach," said Fairmont Sr. senior RB/LB Tarran Boda. "But it is very good. A lot of stuff is different but it is still coming together pretty well. Everybody is still doing the same stuff and everybody is working hard so it is not changing the program."

The Polar Bears are coming off an 11-2 season but five Class AAA All-State picks, including WVU signee Trevor Bigelow, have graduated. Several new starters are needed on both sides of the ball, but Sampson is confident that his offensive line can rise to challenges that lie ahead.

"We have been calling them our prized ponies," Sampson said. "They have been at a few big man challenges and they did really well as a group. A bunch of them have been winning individual awards at other camps. They're big. They might be inexperienced but they are big and they move well."

"We have a good bit of chemistry on the line," said Fairmont Sr. senior lineman DaeShaun Floyd. "Triston Ramsey is coming back. We have Cooper Keener, Jaevin Papal'i'i, King Abercrombie, Dylan Apanowicz. We have a bunch of them to help and I think we will be really good on the line this year."

For the first time in four years, the Polar Bears will have a new starting quarterback following the graduation of Brody Whitehair.

"We started it with an open competition," Sampson said. "Jason Walker has established himself as the starter at this point so we are moving forward with him. He has had a great winter and summer. I am excited to see the progress he has made and more excited to see how he continues to climb."

Senior Tarran Boda will have a greater role in the backfield and junior Rudy Carillo will be featured at various spots on the field.

"Tarran Boda, Rudy Carrillo, Christian Hrapchak is only a sophomore but we are expecting a lot out of him as well," Sampson said. "Most of our offense is going to be first-year starters. We are super-excited to see what they do with their opportunity."

As the younger group of Polar Bears mature, Sampson is hopeful that he can unleash all aspects of his offense as the season approaches.

"We've scaled it back a good bit," Sampson said. "We've taken away a lot of the decisions they get to make. Some of the reads, whether it be an option in a route or in the run game, we've taken away some of the reads for now until we get it down. Then we'll probably open it back up here when we get into August."