Winona’s Cohlton Triplett will be at the center of the Winona offense, literally and figuratively.
Triplett returns for his senior year to head the offensive line from his center position. Winona coach Joey Tompkins said Triplett has turned into a good football player through a lot of hard work.
“He’s a really good kid. Cohlton is a guy that because he wasn’t a fast kid you knew was going to have to play on the offensive line,” Tompkins said. “He’s a decent size kid now, but he’s not a huge kid. We put him at center early on because of his speed and he got really, really accurate snapping the ball. We rarely have bad snaps. He didn’t have many bad snaps last year at all and if he did it was in that first game. But he will take a ball with him at home and he will get good at it and be consistent. The bigger he has gotten, the better he has gotten at blocking.”
While Triplett will be starting for the Tigers on the offensive line this year, Tompkins knew he was going to be a program guy from early on.
“He is just an all-around good football player,” Tompkins said. “He wasn’t that guy that we knew was going to start right off the bat but he’s a kid that we knew was eventually going to be a good football player. We knew he was going to be a program guy and by the time he was a senior, he was going to be a good football player. You can look at a guy sometimes and just know that he could start for four years. We just thought he would continue to get better and better and eventually be a good football player and that’s what he has done.”
Triplett stands at 6-foot-1 and 225 pounds and realizes this will be his last year of football. He plans on going to Southern Miss where he will follow his sister in college. He said he plans on being a football coach.
“He’s going to make pretty good grades and is going to be successful after football,” Tompkins said. “He knows he’s not going to play after this year. He’s just not big enough. He’s a kid that knows what he wants to do. He’s just that guy that gets it. I sit down and talk to my upcoming seniors as they are going into their senior year after their junior year. He is just one of those guys that gets it. He is going to try to do what it takes to be successful and to try and make his team successful. He is a kid that basically most everyone likes.”
With several newcomers on the offense this season, Triplett sees his role very plainly.
“I want to be the leader of the offense, not just the offensive line, but the whole offense,” Triplett said. “I just want to do everything I can do to be the best person and player I can be and hopefully the other players catch on to that and will follow me in doing that. Not just in football, but in the weight room, outside of school and in the classroom. If you do all of those things right, it will translate to the football field.”
Even Tompkins has seen Triplett embrace the leadership role.
“He likes the role of being a team leader,” Tompkins said. “He’s a vocal kid and he has that personality. He has always had that personality. He has grown up a lot the last few years. He has matured a lot and is a pleasure to be around.”
Tompkins said while he likes Triplett at center, he could easily see him playing other positions this season as well.
“He may have to play guard some in certain situations but I like him at center because I know we are going to get consistent snaps,” Tompkins said. “It’s just going to be a wait and see deal and hopefully we will have some guards step up so we don’t have to do that. But he is versatile enough to do that. He understands the game and how it is played. He knows what everybody is supposed to do. He’s a smart kid and understand what we are trying to do. He calls our mike backer out and that’s who they are doubling to. He knows what we are doing. He could even play tackle for us if we had to. I’m just hoping we have some guards step up.”
