NATCHEZ — Gone are the days of grueling summer practices and offseason workouts.

Now is when preparation for the Miss-Lou teams will culminate in the first Friday night of football in 2016.

Nine Mississippi teams will be kicking off their seasons tonight, while the Louisiana representatives will take to the fields in the coming weeks.

Perhaps the theme across the Miss-Lou this season is new faces, as four schools are welcoming new head men, including three in the city of Natchez alone.

Roy Rigsby takes over the reins at Natchez High School, while Chuck Darbonne and Graham Roberts lead the way for Cathedral and Trinity, respectively.

Rigsby served on the Bulldogs’ staff last season as defensive line coach and spent time previously at MHSAA Class 2A power Bassfield in addition to a five-year stint at Magee High School.

Darbonne comes to Cathedral after serving two years as quarterbacks coach at South Panola High, where he was a member of MHSAA Class 6A powerhouses 2014 state champi-onship team.

Roberts previously served as an assistant at Vidalia High School, under then-head coach Dee Faircloth.

Meanwhile, at Adams County Christian School, familiar face David King is entering his fifth season as the Rebels’ head man. King previously spent 14 seasons patrolling the Trinity sideline, where he accumulated four state titles to go along with a 140-41 record.

Across the Mississippi Bridge, third-year Vidalia head coach Jeff Hancock is attempting to resurrect a program that hasn’t seen the playoffs since 2004. Hancock, who has 20 years of college coaching experience, has made incremental in his short time, leading the Vikings to a 2-8 mark last season after going winless in 2014.

Down the road in Ferriday, Trojans head coach Dwight Woods oozed with confidence this offseason when discussing the potential of his 2016 squad.

And with the players he has at his disposal, perhaps he should.

The Trojans return a strong core of players from last season that came up just a yard short of advancing to the second round of the LHSAA playoffs as they fell in a 21-20 overtime thriller to West St. John.

A little farther down, just off Louisiana 15, former Trinity and first-year Delta Charter coach Zach Rogel is attempting guide the Storm to the playoffs in the school’s first season of postseason eligibility. The Delta Charter program all offseason has discussed flipping the script, and re-versing its fortune from a 3-7 2015 campaign to a winning season and potentially more in 2016.

But not only is the Miss-Lou blessed with a number of highly skilled coaches, it also features a crop of players that are garnering attention from colleges across the country.

Cathedral’s Will Wallace has received offers from several schools, including Kansas and Tulane, while ACCS’ George Scott and Trinity’s Kevontaye Caston are verbally committed to Louisiana Tech and the University of Southern Mississippi, respectively.

Natchez High junior signal-caller Chris Scott boasts an offer from the University of Southern Mississippi.

Not to be outdone, Ferriday Junior lineman Dare Rosenthal has his pick of schools to choose from, headlined by offers from Alabama and LSU among others.

One way or another, the combination of talent and experience has the Miss-Lou area poised to provide yet another season of thrills.