The Week of ALPHA begins with the first letter of the standard.
A is for Aggressive.
On Episode 6: (A)ggressive, Coach Nate Garner and Jim Padgett sit down with Jeremiah Lomax to break down what aggression really means inside the ALPHA mentality at North Greenville.
ALPHA stands for Aggressive, Loyal, Prepared, Humble, and Armored. It is more than a word. It is the identity of the program. It is how players are expected to live, train, compete, and carry themselves every day.
This episode focuses on the first piece of that identity.
Being aggressive does not mean being reckless. It does not mean losing control. It does not mean letting emotion take over. Being aggressive means attacking everything in front of you with max effort, full commitment, and the mindset that nothing gets done halfway.
That is the message Jeremiah Lomax brings to this episode.
Jeremiah’s journey has not been simple. He is from Abbeville, South Carolina, and his path has taken him through Limestone, UConn, and now North Greenville University. After starting at Limestone and then taking a redshirt year at UConn, Jeremiah found his way back home to finish with coaches he already knew and trusted.
That full-circle story matters.
For Jeremiah, every move was about chasing growth. He wanted to test himself. He wanted to see a different level. He wanted to find out what he was capable of. And now, back closer to home, he is building with a program and coaching staff that understands him.
That is part of being aggressive too.
Aggression is not just what happens between the whistles. It is in the decisions you make. It is in the way you chase opportunities. It is in how you respond when the path changes. It is in the willingness to keep moving instead of staying comfortable.
Jeremiah did not always see football as the main path. Growing up, he was around his older brother, who was a basketball player. For a while, basketball was the focus. Jeremiah trained for it, worked at it, and thought that might be where he belonged.
But eventually, he realized something important.
He was athletic, but basketball was not really his game. Football was.
Once he made that switch, the work changed. He started taking football more seriously. He got into the weight room. He focused more on field work. He committed to becoming better at the sport instead of just being talented enough to get by.
That is a key lesson in this episode.
Talent may get you started, but aggression in the ALPHA sense is about intentional effort. It is about making the choice to train, compete, and improve before anyone else forces you to.
A major influence in Jeremiah’s life has been his trainer, Jamar Crawford. Jeremiah describes how he first wanted one-on-one training, but his trainer made it clear that the environment was built around family, competition, and accountability. That pushed Jeremiah outside of his comfort zone.
And it changed him.
He was surrounded by older guys, stronger guys, faster guys, and what he called “dogs.” At first, he was the younger one trying to catch up. Over time, he closed the gap. The competition became tit for tat. Every day became a chance to push, respond, and get better.
That is the kind of environment that builds real aggression.
Not fake toughness.
Not loud talk.
Not emotion with no direction.
Real aggression is disciplined competition.
One of the strongest lessons from this episode comes from something Jeremiah’s trainer taught him: be comfortable being bored.
That may sound simple, but it is powerful.
Most people are always chasing entertainment, attention, or the next exciting thing. But growth often happens in the quiet work. The lonely work. The repeated work. The work that does not get posted. The work that nobody claps for.
If you can be comfortable being bored, you can build something real.
That connects directly to the ALPHA mentality. Being aggressive every day does not always look exciting. Sometimes it looks like doing the same drill again. Getting another rep. Studying another play. Training when nobody sees it. Staying disciplined when it would be easier to coast.
Aggression is not always loud.
Sometimes aggression is consistency.
Jeremiah also talks honestly about a moment where aggression crossed the line. During a game against Emory and Henry, he got beat on a deep ball, heard some trash talk, reacted emotionally, and got thrown out of the game.
That moment taught him something.
There is a difference between being aggressive and being reckless.
That is an important distinction for any athlete. The ALPHA standard does not call players to lose control. It calls them to attack with purpose. If a player gets beat, the answer is not to lose composure. The answer is to line back up, learn from it, and win the next rep.
That is where the next-play mentality comes in.
Coach Garner talks about this often. Good play, bad play, ugly play, it does not matter. What matters is what comes next. Aggression has to be paired with focus. It has to be channeled into the next opportunity.
Jeremiah explains it simply. If someone beats him, he starts thinking about what he has to do on the next play to be better than that man.
That is aggressive.
Not complaining.
Not quitting.
Not making excuses.
Responding.
Another major theme in this episode is refusing to quit. Jeremiah talks about how his training environment taught him that quitting is not an option. When you show up for a reason, you have to stick to that reason. You also never know who is watching or looking up to you.
That line matters.
Aggression is not just personal. It has an impact on the people around you. When you compete the right way, you raise the standard for the room. When you refuse to quit, someone else sees it. When you attack your work with full effort, it gives others permission to do the same.
That is how culture spreads.
That is why this episode is the right start to the Week of ALPHA.
Because everything begins with how you attack what is in front of you.
Before you can be loyal, prepared, humble, and armored, you have to decide how you are going to show up. Are you going to drift through the day, or are you going to attack it? Are you going to let one bad play define you, or are you going to respond? Are you going to be reckless, or are you going to be aggressive with discipline and purpose?
For Jeremiah Lomax, aggressive means attacking anything you do with max effort.
That is the standard.
From the time you wake up to the time you lay your head back down, be aggressive.
Attack the day.
Attack the work.
Attack the next rep.
Attack the next play.
That is ALPHA.