The Pirates are pumped. With new head coach and athletic director David Faulkner on the tiller, the Fairhope Pirate football team is ready to sail into 2009.

After what he considers a productive spring, Faulkner likes what he sees so far this summer.

“I’ve been pleased with all that we’ve accomplished in a fairly short time,” he said. “We had a successful spring and we’ve had a big summer and got a lot done so far. You try to evaluate every day, but really you just want to get better and improve with every practice.”

Faulkner came to Fairhope via Foley where he was the offensive coordinator the previous two seasons. Before that he ran the offense at Hoover for the Buccaneers.

He said he plans to use the same offense he implemented at Foley and all the players on that side of the ball have adjusted well.

He added that Daryl Norris, the Pirates’ senior quarterback, is returning after three starting seasons at the position and has made a very smooth transition.

“You know, spread is spread," Faulkner said speaking of the basic offensive formation. “Daryl is a great athlete and there’s been no really big changes. I think everyone is doing well.”

Thomas Duffy will be the offensive coordinator and Fairhope native and Pirate alum David Stapleton will run the defense.

With more than 20 seniors and a number of starters returning, Faulkner said setting goals has been a team effort.

“The kids all have wonderful attitudes and we have great senior leadership,” he said. “They have all gotten together and established what they want to accomplish their senior year as a class. We have a lot of experience in some key positions and they are working hard and setting a good example as well.”

One of the reasons the team is excited this year is due to its summer success on the 7-on-7 passing-game circuit, where they took 2nd in the nation in the Hoover tournament defeating the hosting Bucs and Prattville, both recent 6A state champions, along the way.

“Well, it was very exciting of course,” Faulkner said. “We competed and played well. I was really impressed and pleased with our enthusiasm. Whatever arena you’re in, you want to do your best. But also we know 7-on-7 success does not necessarily correlate to winning in the fall. I think about the best thing to come from it is the excitement that it created for us and the confidence it helped build. Now we hope we can carry a lot of that into fall Friday nights and win a lot of those games.”

The Pirates have some tough early work ahead of them in the 6A Region 2 schedule. After a preseason game at Theodore, FHS begins the season at St. Paul’s Aug. 28 before back-to-back match ups against top-notch McGill-Toolen Catholic (At Fairhope) and then on the road again at Foley.

The Pirates’ preseason kickoff against the Bobcats at Theodore is set for Thursday at 6 p.m.

All regular-season games are set for 7 p.m. starts.