The Waynesboro High School football team has only six wins in the last six years and hasn't had a winning season since 1999.
In 2012, the Little Giants have a young team looking to turnaround a struggling program.
Waynesboro hasn't won three games in a season since 2004 and has 20 total wins since 2000.
"You know, losing is just like winning," said McDaniel. "You get used to winning, you walk on the field, you expect to win, and losing can do the same thing to you in an adverse way. Kids get used to losing, and the first time something goes bad, bam, here we go."
"If you walk around our school, a lot of people are like, 'the reason I didn't come out for football is because you all are bad and whatever,' said Waynesboro junior fullback/linebacker Kahwan Veney. "But I think if we're in the game, a lot more people are going to jump on."
"We just want to put in work and do better than we've been doing," Waynesboro senior running back/cornerback Juan Gray. "I only won one game, so I want to improve that."
"It's a long process," said McDaniel. "It's not going to happen in a year or overnight. It's going to take some time, but we're still in the early stages of the process."
Head coach and athletic director Derek McDaniel and his staff are in the process of changing the culture in their second year leading the Little Giants.
"I think they now know Coach Mac, and they understand what Coach Mac expects," said McDaniel.
"He can be very inspirational in telling us how to do stuff," said Gray. "We should all want to listen to him, because he's been there and won it."
"He's an energetic person," Veney said. "He's fun, but when it's time to be serious, he's a serious person. He's a great coach."
Despite having success for over 30 years with his I-formation offense, McDaniel and his staff decided to try something new this season with senior Matt Rowe at quarterback.
"We're switching it up a little bit," said Rowe, who also plays safety on defense. "I don't want to give too much away. I think the new offense is going to do good for us."
"We have all the pieces," Veney said. "We have athletes. We just have to put things together."
"32 years, I've never done this," said McDaniel. "People that know me, when they hear this offense associated with me, they'll go, 'no way.' It's a very tough offense to defense, and that's what I'm looking for, and if we can do that, and become consistent with it, not turn it over, it's going to keep us in ball games."
The Little Giants return four starters on offense and three on defense. A team full of sophomores and juniors wants to jumpstart a program transformation.
"We're right there," said Gray. "We've just go to put it together. We just got to come together as a team and play."
"We're all ready to get going and catch up with everyone in the (Valley) district," Rowe said. "We're all ready for it. We've been together for a long time."
"We're coming up that hill," said McDaniel. "Once we get where you can see over that edge, I think you'll really see a change. It's just, we've got to get over that hump. The only way you'll do that is win a couple close ball games, going some confidence. You got to get to that .500 plateau first."
The Little Giants open the season at home against Wilson Memorial August 24 at 7:00 and then play three straight road games at Rockbridge County, Stuarts Draft, and Broadway.
McDaniel also said the team has more speed than last year but is smaller than the 2011 squad and lacks depth on the line. In the new offense, 4-6 players will be running the ball, and Waynesboro has depth at the skill positions, going two-deep at each skill position.
Freshman quarterback Chris Baker along with running backs Jordan Alexander and Michael Brooks will be in the mix for playing time, joining Rowe, Veney, and Gray in the backfield.
42 players are practicing with the varsity team. McDaniel hopes to have 50 in his third year at Waynesboro.
