NATCHEZ — Cody Tucker admitted that college workouts are even tougher than the intense workouts at Natchez High School.

The former Bulldogs cornerback is getting acclimated with his new teammates at Copiah-Lincoln Community College, and summer workouts for the Wolfpack are well under way.

Tucker said his workouts include speed and footwork drills, as well as upper- and lower-body weight lifting exercises.

“It’s intense,” Tucker said. “(At NHS), when we were in the weight room, we could take a break. In college, it’s quick, and we keep going with no break, from one workout to another.”

Tucker ran track for the Bulldogs this past spring, so the weight room exercises are a little more of an adjustment than the speed and agility drills.

“It’s been kind of a challenge with the weights because I hadn’t been lifting while I was running track,” Tucker said. “Speed workouts have been going pretty quickly.”

NHS track coach Larry Wesley was a big help for Tucker in getting him acclimated to college conditioning drills, Tucker said.

“It’s his way or no way, but it’s fun. He’ll talk to you in certain ways,” Tucker said. “You may not like it, but he wants to push you to be better than him.

“He helped me with my speed, agility and footwork, and he helped me keep my wind, so I don’t get tired as fast.”

Tucker is one of 14 athletes competing for a starting job at quarterback. When the coaches recruited Tucker this past winter, they told him they liked his skills as a defensive back. Now that he’s on campus, Tucker said he’s working hard to live up to their expectations.

“I come to work every day, and I don’t play games,” Tucker said. “It’s strictly work. There’s 14 people, and we’re all fighting for a spot.”

Tucker said he needs to have that mindset, or else he’ll get left behjnd.

“College is not like high school, it goes by quickly,” Tucker said. “You need speed, size and endurance, and if you come to work, you can get all three in one package.”

There’s only one goal for Tucker this fall, and that’s to work as hard as he can, he said.

“My goal is strictly to come to practice, work and be seen, and if I don’t start, I want to at least get into the rotation,” Tucker said.

Tucker is also enrolled in summer courses at Co-Lin. He’s currently taking a computer application and U.S. history course for the June session, and he’ll take another U.S. history course in the July session.

“Classes are long, about two hours,” Tucker said. “You’re going to learn every moment. It helps me out, though, because I’m knocking the courses out, and you need 14 hours to be able to play football.”

Tucker isn’t the only former NHS athlete currently on Co-Lin’s roster. He’s rooming with Larry Chatman. Brian Isaac, Javon Washington, Raymond Williams, Chris Curtis and Jeremy Davis also play for the football team.

“Since me and Larry have been there, the older guys have kind of taken us under their wing,” Tucker said. “Everything they did to start off with, we’re following them.”