Derryk Sellers will walk the halls of Lindenwold High School.
He'll check out the cafeteria. He'll poke his head into the library. He'll make a pitch at gym class.
"I'll find some guys who want to play football," Sellers said.
It has come to that for Sellers, a good coach and a great guy. When Lindenwold students report for classes next week, he'll be forced to try to rustle up some football players to keep the sport alive at the Colonial Conference school.
For most of the last couple of weeks of preseason practice, Lindenwold has fielded just 18 players. That's everybody, from freshmen to seniors.
The Lions canceled a couple of scrimmages, and another one was wiped out by Hurricane Irene.
"Thank God for Hurricane Irene," said Sellers, a master at keeping his sense of humor in difficult situations. "She took care of me."
Sellers has been Lindenwold's football coach and athletic director since the school opened 11 years ago. Both jobs have been a struggle because of the nature of the Group 1 school.
"Our student population is 30-40 percent transient," Sellers said. "That's why I know three or four kids will move in in September and come out for the football team."
With so many students coming and going year after year because so many of them live in apartment complexes in the town, Lindenwold athletic teams always seem to be in a rebuilding phase. That's especially true in football.
Lindenwold is a small school, with around 125 students per grade. With all that churn in the student population, which has led to a series of teams with losing records, Sellers and his staff seem to be starting over every season.
But this summer has been especially difficult. Sellers said a couple of projected starters at key positions are academically ineligible, and six other players moved away from the district.
There are other issues. Sellers said some area youth coaches have persuaded some of his freshmen to stick with youth football as opposed to joining the Lindenwold program, and two of his players were injured in freak ways.
"One of them tripped over a bag," Sellers said. "Another one went through this shoot [mechanical device] that we use and hit his head and got a concussion. I think we'll put that bag and shoot out on the field."
