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No way!

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Youngins are really starting to get on my damn nerves!

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Prepare your eyes, lads!

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Yes, sir!

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This is the High School Punching John Infanter.

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Please take your time and watch this.

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Jesus Christ!

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He's no body's owner!

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Chris!

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BAM!

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Yeah.

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Alright, this is Episode 4.

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Coach David Throer just retired this year after being carried out on the field

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and high in high school.

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One of my best friends, he's like a big brother to me.

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He started out his career as a recreation,

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Parks and Recreation Director in Baxley, Georgia, and Claxton, Georgia,

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and actually started his coaching and teaching career in Temple High School in Carroll County.

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He spent some time in the middle of his career in Carroll County and then finished up again

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at Mount Zion Carrollton in Carroll County.

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So today, tonight, this week, we've got Coach David Throer.

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If you don't know him, you need to get to know him.

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Coach Throer, it's great to have you.

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Hey, Chris, I appreciate you letting me come over to your show.

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Man, this is quite a honor, especially considering this is State Championship Week

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and you have a lot of coaches, a lot better resumes than your phone,

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that I think a lot better resumes than I do that are on you.

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You got numbers and access to you, so, but now it's a pleasure to be here.

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I've enjoyed listening to the last couple of podcasts, so it's all been a lot of fun.

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Well, Coach, I laughed and told my wife that we were talking about getting you on here and she said,

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well, crap, y'all have been doing this for the past 15 years.

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About once a week, you're just recording at this time.

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So it's actually kind of fun to say.

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I just want to make sure the scores that time move on.

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Well, everybody's fired, everybody's in trouble.

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That's more PG than right at all.

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You don't make a difference.

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Oh, yeah, I got you.

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We've got some feelings that go on both sides, but not on the cross.

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That's fantastic.

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You're a lot on it, but I think you're a cute, fairly clean.

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So when you started at Temple back in, what would that have been?

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Ninety-four was my first year there.

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And Coach Oglesby, was he your head coach?

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John Oglesby, that was my first major coach.

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We were the same age.

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John was from Manchester originally.

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A lot of people know his brother, Greg, was the head coach of Manchester in the 90s,

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when they helped Great Run and the fielded Manchester actually named after Greg.

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John was a fantastic guy.

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He and I were great friends, and still are.

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And he went straight into coaching out of college, and I went into the rec business

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for about five and a half years, and I worked two great channels down south towards,

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and worked for two great record records.

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I was kind of an athletic director, type guy.

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That was kind of the second I am, but I was kind of overall the youth programs,

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that kind of thing, which was a great, really great opportunity

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to kind of get myself aligned and start coaching,

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because I never felt like I was really a rookie coach,

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because I did so much for the great department days,

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and as far as toward athletics and supervising, and coaching kids,

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and making a home, and organizing and scheduling,

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and purchasing some equipment, and uniforms, that kind of stuff.

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So I had a pretty good background going into it.

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Had an older brother that was a high school coach.

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He was a basketball coach for 24 years, but he was 18 years older than me,

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so he was like the second I had.

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So I kind of grew up watching him coach,

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and I was always running a lot of football coaches,

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and just kind of grew from there.

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I mean, John O was my first boss, and he gave me my first job,

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and gave me a great opportunity to coach.

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Spent two years in the temple, and that was two of the best years I could read.

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The temple was a school.

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I think we had 20 players, maybe my first year,

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maybe 20, six, or seven, second year.

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There were about 200 kids in high school.

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Maybe, I don't know, there were like maybe eight or ten schools in the state,

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playing football, that had less enrollment than we did.

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So, you know, the program was only about five or six years old at that time.

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So we started from scratch, didn't have a lot of facilities, didn't have a lot of money.

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But our kids played hard, they worked hard, and it was a lot of fun.

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It was a great experience.

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I got a fave of left, and just coaching on class A level,

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and really having an opportunity to,

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John O gave me a lot of responsibility.

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You know, I had a small staff, I had about five coaches,

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so I ran the weight room, you know, I ran the special teams.

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For a second year, I called the offense, and we were able to do what I was ready to do.

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But it was a great opportunity to coach, and kind of learn, and I didn't go from there.

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So it was a, yeah, that was a totally great experience.

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I lived in a temple those two years.

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So where did you leave, I mean, where'd you go after that?

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Well, I had to temple up in that tree, which is where I grew up.

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And I was down there, and spent seven years down there.

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I had some work from three different heads, those were down there.

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My writings were from a teacher, and a work from Tommy Walden.

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And it was kind of unique, and I think that's true,

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that kind of, because that was the first time the Calaway High School was built,

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it was that 96th school year.

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So they had re-drawn all the kind of songs down there.

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So basically, Calaway opened up with about 600 students.

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And they closed out Hoganville, High School,

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and Hoganville, and they started all those kids in Calaway.

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So when they built Calaway, they built the town north in the town there.

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And those hosel kids went to Calaway and the crew.

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And LaGraines, both of them, kids in Calaway with the re-zone,

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and then LaGraines spot kids.

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I think the Department of Justice came in there

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and wanted to make sure that all the schools were kind of lined up

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around 60-40, or racially, because that's kind of what the community represented.

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So LaGraines, where their school was a majority,

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and then the troop had gotten where it was heavily Caucasian,

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and it was almost like a different deal.

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Like, almost like a segregated deal there for a while.

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So when they came in there, they re-drawn those hens zones,

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so they could make sure that, you know,

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all the schools basically the same,

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this way it was a racially made school.

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It's really a long way back there.

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Right.

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But at the same time, it's built down there those first few years,

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because a lot of those kids were very resistant

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about coming out of the troop, because, you know,

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obviously their dads and their uncles and their brothers and their cousins,

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and everybody they knew were great.

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And it was tough those first few years

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to kind of get those kids kind of playing together.

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The kids played hard down there,

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but they were just a situation where those kids kind of grew up

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not liking each other.

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And for those first three or four years, it was tough.

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They all, I mean, the whole school was tough.

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We probably had, we had fights after fights.

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You had jumps, you had jumps to go back and forth every day.

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And it's probably a good thing.

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I told the staff was all the way to the 30s,

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because my line is, I mean, they were going to scrap down there,

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because those kids just didn't like each other.

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So getting them to play football together

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was even a bigger challenge.

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But like I said, by four years after that,

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it's kind of started getting better each year.

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And I think it's obviously, you know,

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that's kind of time it took here, land.

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But it was a real challenge down there,

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and it was true, I get to see that.

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Now, which staff were you on where y'all had the guy

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that y'all had to have him on?

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What was that?

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Who was that story you're telling me about?

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Oh, well, hey, well, this was actually not true.

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I don't know what it was, but you know what I think,

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although he can't do it.

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Yes.

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Yeah, well, I don't want to go into that one without a thought.

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And I really want true.

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I don't think we're going to get it by trouble.

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But yeah, we have to get it out of trouble.

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We're alone over the summer, and it wasn't anything major.

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It was just kind of those days where he was wrong place,

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wrong time, and we're on a trial.

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Well, the judge down there, since in 30 days,

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the jail had to pay us fine.

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And we're fixed off the top right,

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just like we did at a hawks.

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And you know, we're like, well, don't they, you know,

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we got to have these kids get fired,

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and you know, we don't see the jail going on.

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So we ended up, the money paid fine,

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but he still out 30 days.

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So the judge got our football fan.

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And we got him to consent to what he did.

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He was to come over to our band,

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and the kids could go to jail on the weekends.

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But if he, you know, they don't do nothing Friday,

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he could play on Friday night,

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but then he had no jail Friday night to get him to midnight.

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So we have to get him back from the bottle game on midnight.

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And if we play that on the aisle, you know,

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we got to spread out some bags of some regions.

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Oh, we're going to just have to get him back here.

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So thank you.

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Yeah, thank you.

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They were there to go home the Sunday evening, you know,

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so he could, so he could come to the school on Sunday,

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but yeah, and then the big deal was,

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you know, if you ever have Saturday games,

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you know, you never have to work through a year.

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And you had to get that joke,

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you had to have special places to get him out on Saturday.

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I was about to go, you know, to go play, so it was,

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so it was a guy that was,

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but it actually worked out pretty good.

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I think the kid ended up,

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got straight enough to LaVenny and didn't bring my up and sale.

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But that actually wanted to prove,

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that was another school that I would have had.

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It's the only school that I've talked about.

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I don't want to run by the game.

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Well, I know it was true where you had,

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you played a lot of Saturday games.

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We did.

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We did play a lot of Saturday games.

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It was pretty fun.

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And this happened after I left Brooklyn.

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Coach Walburn had a kid that,

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I think he played night great when I was down there.

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So all the games, you know,

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he was basically playing through Thursday night,

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and we didn't dress in the best way right now.

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But a couple of years later, I got left.

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The kid of Cal worked his way to the start lineup,

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and they had some Saturday games in the lineup on the schedule,

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because, you know, we're in a region with those home schools.

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They had like seven or eight school weekend schools in the region.

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They shared two days of the incident,

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the truth, we were sharing the grains, Cal away.

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So there's always like 20 Thursday games back then

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of most of Friday Saturday.

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And the Sunday, he was seven-day in Venice.

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That was his religion.

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So, I mean, his family was thrilled about, you know,

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that was their religion.

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They were serious about it.

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But they couldn't play all Saturday either.

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So it had to be, it was a big ordeal.

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I remember Tommy Dellman,

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this was Coach Walburn's head coach,

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that he had to, I mean, he had a right of letter.

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He hadn't gone meet with the parents.

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He hadn't gone meet with the local chapter of the seven-day advantage.

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He hadn't gone meet with the head guy somewhere else.

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He hadn't got the president of the seven-day advantage.

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Or whatever it's called, the man who was on there.

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I don't know what he's saying.

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He's going to go, this was a challenge, just hit the board.

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Opportunity to play, because you didn't want to start

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seven games where you're on Friday,

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and then find a back up three different times.

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You know, so, but they didn't have to play on Saturday.

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You know, so it was always something, you know what I mean?

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So, yeah, Tommy Dellman pulled off,

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but it was a, I thought it was always something

245
00:11:09,120 --> 00:11:10,800
that he could get you in the master,

246
00:11:10,800 --> 00:11:12,960
but Coach, he could go in there and talk to him.

247
00:11:12,960 --> 00:11:14,720
Talk to everybody, got to get what he needed.

248
00:11:14,720 --> 00:11:18,320
But, yeah, he had to go through a big, big chaboo,

249
00:11:18,320 --> 00:11:19,920
had to write a letter, had to meet with,

250
00:11:19,920 --> 00:11:21,920
I don't know how many times he had to meet with somebody,

251
00:11:21,920 --> 00:11:25,280
but it was like, it's, you know, seven-day advantage.

252
00:11:25,280 --> 00:11:27,600
They don't do anything on Saturday, that's their religion.

253
00:11:28,240 --> 00:11:30,240
Saturday was the Sabbath, you know, for them.

254
00:11:30,240 --> 00:11:34,400
So, it was just a done deal that he couldn't play on Saturday.

255
00:11:34,400 --> 00:11:35,680
He couldn't come to school on Saturday.

256
00:11:35,680 --> 00:11:37,840
But, yeah, that's how it would take care of things.

257
00:11:37,840 --> 00:11:39,520
So, it was always a challenge.

258
00:11:39,520 --> 00:11:40,000
I'm sure.

259
00:11:40,000 --> 00:11:43,040
Well, were you on Coach Wahlberg's staff?

260
00:11:43,040 --> 00:11:47,040
Were you on his staff that time?

261
00:11:47,040 --> 00:11:49,360
Y'all came out at halftime and couldn't find him?

262
00:11:49,360 --> 00:11:51,120
Oh, that was the year, I was actually,

263
00:11:51,120 --> 00:11:52,560
the year after I left.

264
00:11:52,560 --> 00:11:56,400
I left after the 2001 season, and he,

265
00:11:56,400 --> 00:11:58,880
this was in 02, they played at the playoffs,

266
00:11:59,520 --> 00:12:00,560
and played Thompson.

267
00:12:01,200 --> 00:12:04,320
And I had been Thompson a year, so I can't remember

268
00:12:04,880 --> 00:12:06,720
that your big race of a locker race,

269
00:12:06,720 --> 00:12:09,520
but I think they were underneath the home side,

270
00:12:09,520 --> 00:12:11,760
but they were on the safe side of the locker.

271
00:12:12,320 --> 00:12:15,280
So, they went at a halftime, but this was your top

272
00:12:15,280 --> 00:12:16,080
in the warm-up state.

273
00:12:16,080 --> 00:12:17,680
I mean, that was loaded.

274
00:12:17,680 --> 00:12:20,960
And, the group was playing up pretty tough.

275
00:12:20,960 --> 00:12:22,720
You know, we had a lot of people that

276
00:12:22,720 --> 00:12:25,040
had to do things like seven and a half

277
00:12:25,040 --> 00:12:27,520
down, just filled a ball game, you know.

278
00:12:27,520 --> 00:12:28,960
They just big crowd there, you know,

279
00:12:28,960 --> 00:12:30,160
Thompson's like, you know, they're right

280
00:12:30,160 --> 00:12:31,600
line of warm-up state.

281
00:12:31,600 --> 00:12:32,880
But, the group's in there and they're playing

282
00:12:32,880 --> 00:12:34,640
up, you know, they're ball game.

283
00:12:34,640 --> 00:12:36,400
They go into the locker room half time,

284
00:12:36,960 --> 00:12:38,720
and they go through the normal halftime deal.

285
00:12:38,720 --> 00:12:41,680
And, they got rid of it, they got a second half.

286
00:12:41,680 --> 00:12:44,480
They told me, he said, hey, here we go, get in his

287
00:12:44,480 --> 00:12:45,280
restroom.

288
00:12:45,280 --> 00:12:47,120
So, Tommy goes into his restroom,

289
00:12:47,120 --> 00:12:48,240
he's in there for a few minutes,

290
00:12:48,880 --> 00:12:51,440
and he comes to come out, and he's locked in.

291
00:12:52,160 --> 00:12:53,200
So, he's locked inside.

292
00:12:53,200 --> 00:12:55,280
So, I don't know if it was a stadium, security guy,

293
00:12:55,280 --> 00:12:56,720
somebody locked him in the locker room.

294
00:12:57,280 --> 00:12:58,560
Well, that joker couldn't get out.

295
00:12:59,120 --> 00:13:01,360
And, he was trying to kind of get up,

296
00:13:01,360 --> 00:13:03,680
but the guy was shaking, figure out where he was at.

297
00:13:03,680 --> 00:13:05,840
He was trying to go from this place to that place.

298
00:13:05,840 --> 00:13:08,160
And, you know, they found him out on the top,

299
00:13:08,160 --> 00:13:09,840
and he was sitting on the cracker,

300
00:13:09,840 --> 00:13:10,960
when they finally caught him.

301
00:13:11,440 --> 00:13:13,520
But, this game had already been started.

302
00:13:13,520 --> 00:13:15,280
And, they go out for the third quarter,

303
00:13:15,840 --> 00:13:18,240
and they kick off, and he got to ball.

304
00:13:18,240 --> 00:13:19,920
But, truth starts marching up the field,

305
00:13:19,920 --> 00:13:21,360
and this is their best drive of the night.

306
00:13:21,360 --> 00:13:23,520
They get to report down the road.

307
00:13:23,520 --> 00:13:25,040
So, they got to ball about the field,

308
00:13:25,040 --> 00:13:26,400
and Tommy, wherever he was at,

309
00:13:26,400 --> 00:13:27,360
I need the home side.

310
00:13:28,080 --> 00:13:32,800
The home side fans, they could see him under the fence.

311
00:13:33,520 --> 00:13:35,520
And, I recognize him as being the head coach,

312
00:13:35,520 --> 00:13:37,120
but they just started talking, talking,

313
00:13:37,120 --> 00:13:39,200
and they're going to be back to him.

314
00:13:39,200 --> 00:13:41,120
And, the game's already four, five minutes

315
00:13:41,120 --> 00:13:43,760
into the third quarter, and the ball makes him look back.

316
00:13:43,760 --> 00:13:46,080
You know, and the group got to ball,

317
00:13:46,080 --> 00:13:47,280
and everybody was talking about this problem,

318
00:13:47,280 --> 00:13:49,440
and the defensive guy, he was trying to board

319
00:13:49,440 --> 00:13:51,520
on the back side of the ball, so he wasn't unusual.

320
00:13:51,520 --> 00:13:52,960
He might have got there.

321
00:13:52,960 --> 00:13:54,560
You know, he wasn't his ball, but he honestly,

322
00:13:54,560 --> 00:13:56,560
it's so he got down to 4,000,

323
00:13:56,560 --> 00:13:58,560
three, about four to four in midfield.

324
00:13:59,120 --> 00:14:00,720
So, they looked for Tommy,

325
00:14:00,720 --> 00:14:02,080
to figure out if they want to go or not,

326
00:14:02,080 --> 00:14:02,480
go far.

327
00:14:02,480 --> 00:14:03,280
Tommy ain't there.

328
00:14:03,840 --> 00:14:04,960
I was walking the locker room,

329
00:14:04,960 --> 00:14:06,000
but no one could realize it.

330
00:14:06,000 --> 00:14:08,320
So, it was funny, because the man's brother,

331
00:14:08,320 --> 00:14:10,080
you know, they just made a call to Tommy.

332
00:14:10,080 --> 00:14:10,560
They called.

333
00:14:10,560 --> 00:14:11,600
They called.

334
00:14:11,600 --> 00:14:12,400
They called.

335
00:14:12,400 --> 00:14:15,200
Y'all got the ball, just four to five.

336
00:14:15,200 --> 00:14:16,720
Just four to five.

337
00:14:16,720 --> 00:14:18,400
And Tommy's like, you can hide it.

338
00:14:18,400 --> 00:14:20,480
And, Tommy, he was there.

339
00:14:20,480 --> 00:14:21,280
Tommy was there.

340
00:14:21,280 --> 00:14:22,800
And, Tommy was there, and he called.

341
00:14:22,800 --> 00:14:23,920
And, he was there.

342
00:14:23,920 --> 00:14:24,240
He was there.

343
00:14:24,240 --> 00:14:25,600
Hey, don't y'all going far?

344
00:14:25,600 --> 00:14:27,200
He was there going far.

345
00:14:27,200 --> 00:14:28,800
And, I think Carolina,

346
00:14:28,800 --> 00:14:30,320
I think Kyle's at his far back,

347
00:14:30,320 --> 00:14:31,600
and says, don't you share a line?

348
00:14:31,600 --> 00:14:33,280
And, he wanted to just drill the truth,

349
00:14:33,280 --> 00:14:34,800
put him back in the line, and he's like,

350
00:14:34,800 --> 00:14:36,480
hey, Kyle, y'all did it.

351
00:14:36,480 --> 00:14:37,040
Hey, Kyle.

352
00:14:37,040 --> 00:14:41,040
They finally got by the locker room.

353
00:14:41,040 --> 00:14:43,200
He got Tommy out of the circle.

354
00:14:43,200 --> 00:14:46,400
He was 59, but unfortunately,

355
00:14:46,400 --> 00:14:47,280
I missed that one.

356
00:14:47,280 --> 00:14:48,560
That was the year after I left,

357
00:14:48,560 --> 00:14:51,040
but Tommy was always just fun.

358
00:14:51,040 --> 00:14:52,640
He was probably the guy that I would have

359
00:14:52,640 --> 00:14:53,680
the most stories about.

360
00:14:54,400 --> 00:14:56,720
The fit just got a thing, because he was just a.

361
00:14:57,440 --> 00:14:58,880
He was a funny guy himself.

362
00:14:58,880 --> 00:15:00,080
Anybody out there that goes,

363
00:15:00,080 --> 00:15:01,520
there's the rest of the world.

364
00:15:02,160 --> 00:15:03,200
And, no, it's him.

365
00:15:03,200 --> 00:15:04,560
And, it was the way on.

366
00:15:04,560 --> 00:15:06,640
And, he's always been a rising party.

367
00:15:06,640 --> 00:15:08,480
And, that's the way,

368
00:15:08,480 --> 00:15:10,560
he's the sport that we need to get him on this show.

369
00:15:10,560 --> 00:15:15,120
But, he was, he was, he died when they talked about it.

370
00:15:15,120 --> 00:15:17,840
He's like, they're like jazz,

371
00:15:17,840 --> 00:15:19,120
still about there, 20 years.

372
00:15:19,120 --> 00:15:20,320
They're still playing them, you know.

373
00:15:20,320 --> 00:15:23,040
They're like, there's a group that's like,

374
00:15:23,040 --> 00:15:24,880
he's retired like that, since then,

375
00:15:24,880 --> 00:15:26,000
since then, but,

376
00:15:26,000 --> 00:15:27,040
that was when my coach,

377
00:15:27,040 --> 00:15:27,920
city-wide, he was like,

378
00:15:27,920 --> 00:15:29,920
you know, that's somebody's gonna make sport up.

379
00:15:29,920 --> 00:15:31,120
That's gonna make it.

380
00:15:32,320 --> 00:15:33,280
Yeah, he's a good dude.

381
00:15:33,280 --> 00:15:35,360
He's always, he always, he always laughs about his stuff.

382
00:15:35,360 --> 00:15:36,800
He laughs at himself too.

383
00:15:36,800 --> 00:15:38,000
So, he didn't think that he said,

384
00:15:38,720 --> 00:15:39,520
now, I was playing,

385
00:15:40,080 --> 00:15:40,880
you're ripping him up solid,

386
00:15:40,880 --> 00:15:41,280
hey, Coach.

387
00:15:41,280 --> 00:15:42,320
He's all in.

388
00:15:42,320 --> 00:15:43,040
Hey, Coach.

389
00:15:46,560 --> 00:15:46,960
Yeah.

390
00:15:48,320 --> 00:15:48,960
I can see.

391
00:15:53,360 --> 00:15:55,040
Well, where were you when you left?

392
00:15:55,040 --> 00:15:56,080
Truth, where did you,

393
00:15:56,640 --> 00:15:59,040
is that when you went with a draw?

394
00:15:59,040 --> 00:16:01,600
I was like, I'm playing a little like they said,

395
00:16:01,600 --> 00:16:03,200
he got the other player.

396
00:16:03,200 --> 00:16:06,240
And, you know, I never get

397
00:16:06,240 --> 00:16:08,080
toward Atlanta or Douglas County,

398
00:16:08,080 --> 00:16:09,600
where like, I know much about it.

399
00:16:09,600 --> 00:16:12,480
So, but I never got a whole seat.

400
00:16:12,480 --> 00:16:14,400
And Tommy, you know,

401
00:16:14,400 --> 00:16:15,600
we had a great office for that,

402
00:16:15,600 --> 00:16:17,040
for Stacey Carter's there.

403
00:16:17,040 --> 00:16:18,720
He, you know, just,

404
00:16:18,720 --> 00:16:20,560
I work out where I'm from, for Stacey.

405
00:16:20,560 --> 00:16:23,600
So, I wasn't really gonna move up the group,

406
00:16:23,600 --> 00:16:25,600
you know, anytime the near future.

407
00:16:25,600 --> 00:16:28,000
And I had interviewed for a little head coach at God,

408
00:16:28,000 --> 00:16:29,440
and I don't see, you know,

409
00:16:29,440 --> 00:16:34,000
I've been coaching for nine years.

410
00:16:34,000 --> 00:16:35,280
You know, I had a win in the weight room,

411
00:16:35,280 --> 00:16:36,800
and I did the special team guide,

412
00:16:36,800 --> 00:16:37,920
and they kind of stood the truth.

413
00:16:37,920 --> 00:16:39,280
And I'll actually have this,

414
00:16:39,280 --> 00:16:40,400
this head coach title.

415
00:16:40,400 --> 00:16:42,320
So, you know, I want to be a head coach

416
00:16:42,320 --> 00:16:43,200
to that point in my career,

417
00:16:43,200 --> 00:16:44,880
but I've never really been overseas.

418
00:16:44,880 --> 00:16:45,760
And that's kind of rare.

419
00:16:45,760 --> 00:16:47,200
I've never been there before,

420
00:16:47,200 --> 00:16:48,240
that least I know.

421
00:16:48,880 --> 00:16:50,480
And so, I guess,

422
00:16:50,480 --> 00:16:53,520
I was at a job, and I was outside the win.

423
00:16:53,520 --> 00:16:55,600
And I didn't know much about Atlanta.

424
00:16:55,600 --> 00:16:57,600
I know we had scrimmaged on a couple of times

425
00:16:57,600 --> 00:16:58,480
while I was in the crew.

426
00:16:58,480 --> 00:17:00,480
Like in 96, maybe 98,

427
00:17:00,480 --> 00:17:01,760
that's a good football player.

428
00:17:01,760 --> 00:17:02,880
That's good things there.

429
00:17:02,880 --> 00:17:05,040
What a generalized couple of years

430
00:17:05,040 --> 00:17:07,920
who have been built just down the road from them

431
00:17:07,920 --> 00:17:10,000
around that 98, 99 period,

432
00:17:10,000 --> 00:17:11,840
and it took a bunch of other players away.

433
00:17:11,840 --> 00:17:14,640
And we got Alexandria, man, it was a challenge.

434
00:17:14,640 --> 00:17:16,000
We just didn't have any kids.

435
00:17:16,000 --> 00:17:20,160
I knew Alexandria was a bad football situation at that time.

436
00:17:20,160 --> 00:17:22,400
I think it's kind of credit.

437
00:17:22,400 --> 00:17:24,080
I think the school systems coming there,

438
00:17:24,080 --> 00:17:25,280
they built facilities,

439
00:17:25,280 --> 00:17:27,360
and they try to hook the coaches' pay.

440
00:17:27,360 --> 00:17:30,160
So, it's a lot better job now than it was in Amber.

441
00:17:30,160 --> 00:17:32,720
They actually went 15 years in a row while I went to the city.

442
00:17:32,720 --> 00:17:35,200
I like it, like from 98 to 2013.

443
00:17:35,200 --> 00:17:37,040
That was a good end job.

444
00:17:37,040 --> 00:17:38,480
I mean, there was really good jokes

445
00:17:38,480 --> 00:17:39,440
that you could go through there.

446
00:17:39,440 --> 00:17:40,960
Tim Baird, water safety,

447
00:17:40,960 --> 00:17:42,560
he was gonna hurt people there.

448
00:17:42,560 --> 00:17:43,520
He couldn't win there.

449
00:17:43,520 --> 00:17:46,320
His family followed up, Rich was gonna have a big seat.

450
00:17:46,320 --> 00:17:48,320
Rich just went to the state to do the foul.

451
00:17:48,320 --> 00:17:49,360
He couldn't win there.

452
00:17:49,360 --> 00:17:50,480
We couldn't win there.

453
00:17:50,480 --> 00:17:52,400
I mean, the guy that came behind us,

454
00:17:52,400 --> 00:17:54,160
you know, the guy that came behind Rich,

455
00:17:54,160 --> 00:17:55,520
and his mama did the break down.

456
00:17:55,520 --> 00:17:56,560
He couldn't win there.

457
00:17:56,560 --> 00:17:57,600
He couldn't win there.

458
00:17:57,600 --> 00:18:00,800
So, you know, he was just a total tough, big place.

459
00:18:00,800 --> 00:18:02,880
But when we got out of Amber,

460
00:18:02,880 --> 00:18:05,840
the first spring practice, we were all driving up

461
00:18:05,840 --> 00:18:06,680
different places.

462
00:18:06,680 --> 00:18:08,240
You know, I was holding his back.

463
00:18:08,240 --> 00:18:10,480
It was Baird, he was taking one of the guys

464
00:18:10,480 --> 00:18:12,720
there, in the Hurd County city.

465
00:18:12,720 --> 00:18:16,320
And, you know, it was the spring practice, he ended.

466
00:18:16,320 --> 00:18:17,200
Okay?

467
00:18:17,200 --> 00:18:19,600
We took all the stuff we had for the spring.

468
00:18:19,600 --> 00:18:21,360
Like, you know, I think it's like us

469
00:18:21,360 --> 00:18:22,480
who have a big family,

470
00:18:22,480 --> 00:18:25,120
and have a bunch of tires that you use to use.

471
00:18:25,120 --> 00:18:26,080
So, for a lineup.

472
00:18:26,080 --> 00:18:28,080
So, he put tires down.

473
00:18:28,080 --> 00:18:30,640
Like, they were working, you know, flanks and that kind of stuff.

474
00:18:30,640 --> 00:18:33,360
He put those tires down to fill it up.

475
00:18:33,360 --> 00:18:34,640
And that was how the lineup,

476
00:18:34,640 --> 00:18:37,360
he would have a tire where it would paint up

477
00:18:37,360 --> 00:18:39,680
a one, a two, or a three, whether it was like head up,

478
00:18:39,680 --> 00:18:41,680
but, you know, inside the shoulder to go over,

479
00:18:41,680 --> 00:18:43,920
head up, go over, outside the shoulder.

480
00:18:43,920 --> 00:18:46,800
Well, Rich packed the tires up over outside the Bayrun.

481
00:18:46,800 --> 00:18:48,400
He got my six of them.

482
00:18:48,400 --> 00:18:50,360
And then I had a bunch of hoses that I used

483
00:18:50,360 --> 00:18:51,880
and off I went to the line.

484
00:18:51,880 --> 00:18:53,520
I had them rolled up real nice and deep.

485
00:18:53,520 --> 00:18:55,720
I'll put them over there outside the Bayrun.

486
00:18:55,720 --> 00:18:57,760
So, when spring practice ended,

487
00:18:57,760 --> 00:18:59,480
we got through the spring like March,

488
00:18:59,480 --> 00:19:02,120
I mean like May the 19th or something.

489
00:19:02,120 --> 00:19:04,160
And then, we had like one more week of school,

490
00:19:04,160 --> 00:19:05,200
and we were gonna start to wait,

491
00:19:05,200 --> 00:19:07,960
wait, like two and a second or something like that.

492
00:19:07,960 --> 00:19:09,360
We'll come back two and a second,

493
00:19:09,360 --> 00:19:11,240
and all of our stuff's gone.

494
00:19:11,240 --> 00:19:12,160
And I'm like, what's going on?

495
00:19:12,160 --> 00:19:13,240
And what's all our stuff at?

496
00:19:13,240 --> 00:19:15,320
You know, we couldn't figure out what's going on.

497
00:19:15,320 --> 00:19:18,960
And they said, we kind of investigated,

498
00:19:18,960 --> 00:19:22,320
found out, oh yeah, County Inspector came by,

499
00:19:22,320 --> 00:19:24,120
and he said, your tires and your hose,

500
00:19:24,120 --> 00:19:27,080
he said it was a haven from black, put us on spiders.

501
00:19:27,080 --> 00:19:29,160
So we're like, are you kidding me?

502
00:19:29,160 --> 00:19:31,080
I mean, this was what their mentality was.

503
00:19:31,080 --> 00:19:32,800
Like somebody came by there

504
00:19:32,800 --> 00:19:34,560
and didn't even realize we were actually using this.

505
00:19:34,560 --> 00:19:36,800
This was not trash, this was something

506
00:19:36,800 --> 00:19:37,960
that we used every day in Bryan.

507
00:19:37,960 --> 00:19:39,560
So, it was a challenge.

508
00:19:39,560 --> 00:19:41,280
I was in the end of the play.

509
00:19:41,280 --> 00:19:44,280
I think we won five ball games in two years.

510
00:19:44,280 --> 00:19:45,720
I was probably five ball to have.

511
00:19:45,720 --> 00:19:48,120
I don't think we had enough players to beat anybody,

512
00:19:48,120 --> 00:19:51,040
but we had a good staff though.

513
00:19:51,040 --> 00:19:53,520
We had to really get coaches on that staff.

514
00:19:53,520 --> 00:19:55,120
Stephen Holmes, who was a Manchester,

515
00:19:55,120 --> 00:19:56,800
was the first year coach on that staff.

516
00:19:56,800 --> 00:19:59,960
Justin Brown, who went on to be a head coach at TRION,

517
00:19:59,960 --> 00:20:01,720
was a great runner at TRION.

518
00:20:01,720 --> 00:20:03,320
He was on that staff.

519
00:20:03,320 --> 00:20:04,720
We had a really good group of coaches,

520
00:20:04,720 --> 00:20:06,520
Mike White and who played out towards the Southern,

521
00:20:06,520 --> 00:20:08,320
was Willis and great guys.

522
00:20:08,320 --> 00:20:09,920
Everybody got along good,

523
00:20:09,920 --> 00:20:12,880
but it was just a real non-competitive situation.

524
00:20:12,880 --> 00:20:15,080
It was like flip-off to them.

525
00:20:15,080 --> 00:20:16,880
And I liked those principles down there.

526
00:20:16,880 --> 00:20:20,440
We had good guys, but, and they were all former coaches.

527
00:20:20,440 --> 00:20:21,520
Which drove me crazy.

528
00:20:21,520 --> 00:20:24,320
They come in there on the third to what we were practicing.

529
00:20:24,320 --> 00:20:25,800
And, and, well, they,

530
00:20:25,800 --> 00:20:27,400
that kind of did it in chess, you know.

531
00:20:27,400 --> 00:20:30,080
They come in there to drop a play

532
00:20:30,080 --> 00:20:32,360
and leave it on the board in the coach's office

533
00:20:32,360 --> 00:20:34,720
like it's something we'll see us run.

534
00:20:34,720 --> 00:20:36,560
And A.D. was the one that was doing it.

535
00:20:36,560 --> 00:20:39,000
Now this guy, he's just retired as a superintendent.

536
00:20:39,000 --> 00:20:40,440
I don't say what I'll say his name,

537
00:20:40,440 --> 00:20:42,160
but he didn't know our football.

538
00:20:42,160 --> 00:20:46,080
He's a good guy, but he drove his plays when we run.

539
00:20:46,080 --> 00:20:49,000
So I sit in our league head and I called him up the next day.

540
00:20:49,000 --> 00:20:50,840
I said, hey Rob, I'll tell you what,

541
00:20:50,840 --> 00:20:53,680
but I said, next time you drop something when we run,

542
00:20:53,680 --> 00:20:55,520
just make sure we have 11 on the field,

543
00:20:55,520 --> 00:20:57,080
seven on the left screens.

544
00:20:57,080 --> 00:21:00,840
Cause I took 12 guys on the 40 group on offense.

545
00:21:00,840 --> 00:21:02,520
I think he had five on the left screen.

546
00:21:02,520 --> 00:21:06,200
So it was a challenge to play.

547
00:21:06,200 --> 00:21:07,920
But that was Andrew.

548
00:21:07,920 --> 00:21:09,080
It was a good experience.

549
00:21:09,080 --> 00:21:11,680
Cause I guess we were coordinator for the first time.

550
00:21:11,680 --> 00:21:13,320
So we, they weren't very good.

551
00:21:13,320 --> 00:21:16,760
We got there and it was just like a few years.

552
00:21:16,760 --> 00:21:18,360
We were an analog ball game.

553
00:21:18,360 --> 00:21:21,640
Well, you left there and went, y'all went to VR after that.

554
00:21:21,640 --> 00:21:23,400
And they were Rick of seven years.

555
00:21:23,400 --> 00:21:25,040
And it worked with the white law too.

556
00:21:25,040 --> 00:21:26,000
And they robbed that kid.

557
00:21:26,000 --> 00:21:27,440
He comes to the job.

558
00:21:27,440 --> 00:21:31,000
Bill and Rick have, they had a lot of facilities there.

559
00:21:31,000 --> 00:21:32,240
They had a lot of money there,

560
00:21:32,240 --> 00:21:33,960
but they did care about football there.

561
00:21:33,960 --> 00:21:36,760
And our kids played hard and they worked hard

562
00:21:36,760 --> 00:21:37,600
and they ran.

563
00:21:37,600 --> 00:21:39,800
We had to put up things correctly.

564
00:21:39,800 --> 00:21:41,320
Which didn't really go to the home.

565
00:21:41,320 --> 00:21:43,880
I mean, it was one of those days where we went six

566
00:21:43,880 --> 00:21:45,960
or eight games a year, eight games a year.

567
00:21:45,960 --> 00:21:49,080
They went, we never got past the first round.

568
00:21:49,080 --> 00:21:51,120
We got to be here there.

569
00:21:51,120 --> 00:21:53,480
We just, we were tough, we were always.

570
00:21:53,480 --> 00:21:57,320
Bill and Rick people were, they were supportive,

571
00:21:57,320 --> 00:22:00,400
good fans, but then, you know, there was this kind of

572
00:22:00,400 --> 00:22:01,720
fractured community.

573
00:22:01,720 --> 00:22:04,480
I think some of them like this coach better.

574
00:22:04,480 --> 00:22:06,160
Some of them like that coach better.

575
00:22:06,160 --> 00:22:08,360
So one of those places that had some good athletes

576
00:22:08,360 --> 00:22:10,640
that had some good players, you know,

577
00:22:10,640 --> 00:22:12,720
they come through there and have some good teams

578
00:22:12,720 --> 00:22:13,840
that come through there.

579
00:22:13,840 --> 00:22:15,640
And I actually want to say championship in the 80s,

580
00:22:15,640 --> 00:22:18,680
but at that time it was in Blacksley,

581
00:22:18,680 --> 00:22:20,880
I was four, like 2011, I was there.

582
00:22:20,880 --> 00:22:23,480
It was just one of those days where we were competitive

583
00:22:23,480 --> 00:22:25,760
every year, we played hard, kids were, you know,

584
00:22:25,760 --> 00:22:28,080
well coached, we felt like, and did our will.

585
00:22:28,080 --> 00:22:30,880
But we weren't going to overtake the top teams

586
00:22:30,880 --> 00:22:32,600
in triple A or four A at that time.

587
00:22:32,600 --> 00:22:35,280
We were just good enough to put the team on the field.

588
00:22:35,280 --> 00:22:37,120
But you have your staff there,

589
00:22:37,120 --> 00:22:38,880
and we had some great coaches, some of those coaches,

590
00:22:38,880 --> 00:22:41,440
some of those guys that I've been to, coaches.

591
00:22:41,440 --> 00:22:44,880
And, you know, I can start,

592
00:22:44,880 --> 00:22:47,160
I can name some guys, eight guys or another,

593
00:22:47,160 --> 00:22:48,920
that have been head coached and all done well

594
00:22:48,920 --> 00:22:51,040
as head coaches that came through there,

595
00:22:51,040 --> 00:22:52,360
you know, during that time period.

596
00:22:52,360 --> 00:22:54,560
So, but you all was a fun experience,

597
00:22:54,560 --> 00:22:56,360
but it was a tough school day.

598
00:22:56,360 --> 00:22:57,440
That place was unique.

599
00:22:57,440 --> 00:23:02,440
Now it was, it was a situation where they would put 200 kids

600
00:23:02,440 --> 00:23:04,680
in that gym, and it'd be three teachers in there,

601
00:23:04,680 --> 00:23:05,800
and they'd give you a roster.

602
00:23:05,800 --> 00:23:08,400
You'd have 40 kids in team sports,

603
00:23:08,400 --> 00:23:11,080
and you may have 28 in personal fitness,

604
00:23:11,080 --> 00:23:12,160
and they were on your roster.

605
00:23:12,160 --> 00:23:13,120
The next teacher over here,

606
00:23:13,120 --> 00:23:15,240
he had two officers full of kids.

607
00:23:15,240 --> 00:23:17,240
We'd have two or three hundred kids in our gym.

608
00:23:17,240 --> 00:23:19,480
We call the gym the Thunder Don't.

609
00:23:19,480 --> 00:23:21,400
Scott Peed, he came up with that name for it.

610
00:23:21,400 --> 00:23:22,920
He was our staff.

611
00:23:22,920 --> 00:23:25,240
You know, it was like, we just tried to hold them together

612
00:23:25,240 --> 00:23:26,320
and keep anything from happening,

613
00:23:26,320 --> 00:23:27,880
because it was like, you know,

614
00:23:27,880 --> 00:23:31,600
my rules in team sports, by then I come up with this thing,

615
00:23:31,600 --> 00:23:34,240
and my rules were no fussing, no cussing, no fighting,

616
00:23:34,240 --> 00:23:38,280
no stealing, no disrespect, keep your clothes on.

617
00:23:38,280 --> 00:23:40,080
That was the number one rule.

618
00:23:40,080 --> 00:23:41,880
If you never know, you look on these bleachers,

619
00:23:41,880 --> 00:23:43,440
and they'd be somebody crawling up underneath there,

620
00:23:43,440 --> 00:23:45,440
and they're doing something they're supposed to.

621
00:23:45,440 --> 00:23:47,000
It's gonna get everybody in a world of trouble,

622
00:23:47,000 --> 00:23:50,120
so you had to be on guard at all times there.

623
00:23:50,120 --> 00:23:51,480
I can remember like,

624
00:23:51,480 --> 00:23:53,440
college coaches coming in recruiters,

625
00:23:53,440 --> 00:23:54,480
and Joe Phillips, some of them,

626
00:23:54,480 --> 00:23:56,040
he comes in at one time, and he looked around,

627
00:23:56,040 --> 00:23:58,320
and he says, I ain't used the word he used,

628
00:23:58,320 --> 00:24:00,480
but I'm just like, holy cow, how do you do this?

629
00:24:00,480 --> 00:24:02,480
You know, and I said, I leave them, I said,

630
00:24:02,480 --> 00:24:04,680
okay, there's a method to the madness,

631
00:24:04,680 --> 00:24:06,160
but there's a madness to the method.

632
00:24:06,160 --> 00:24:08,920
But Mike Nelson, the reconditioned guy,

633
00:24:08,920 --> 00:24:11,400
who worked with Rod Allen Shutt through all these years,

634
00:24:11,400 --> 00:24:12,920
he used to love to come by and see us,

635
00:24:12,920 --> 00:24:15,920
because it was like, it was like Little Oz Vegas in there,

636
00:24:15,920 --> 00:24:18,680
man, you'd be having a gambling,

637
00:24:18,680 --> 00:24:20,080
you'd be having a card game going over here,

638
00:24:20,080 --> 00:24:23,200
and there's kids over there, and there's $40 on the table,

639
00:24:23,200 --> 00:24:25,720
and they're over there, and the bleachers are just playing cards,

640
00:24:25,720 --> 00:24:28,520
or we had a kid one time coming through the gym,

641
00:24:28,520 --> 00:24:31,000
and I noticed he had the suitcase every day,

642
00:24:31,000 --> 00:24:32,200
and I'm like, you know,

643
00:24:32,200 --> 00:24:34,600
he's got a kind of suitcase, he walks around with it,

644
00:24:34,600 --> 00:24:35,600
and it was one of those suitcases,

645
00:24:35,600 --> 00:24:37,960
you know, he had the handle you could pull out,

646
00:24:37,960 --> 00:24:40,880
and I looked up, and then in the final week or two later,

647
00:24:40,880 --> 00:24:42,920
you know, he's got the suitcase open,

648
00:24:42,920 --> 00:24:45,400
so I walked down there, and I heard him,

649
00:24:45,400 --> 00:24:48,920
he's making change, and this kid is selling

650
00:24:48,920 --> 00:24:52,880
that gum snacks and drinks out of his dad's gum suitcase,

651
00:24:52,880 --> 00:24:55,560
and he had this little compartment, like a little cooler,

652
00:24:55,560 --> 00:24:57,400
and this kid's like, I said,

653
00:24:58,520 --> 00:25:00,680
we got him double cheese, I said, double cheese,

654
00:25:00,680 --> 00:25:02,080
I said, what are you doing?

655
00:25:02,080 --> 00:25:05,520
He looked at me, he said, come to your place,

656
00:25:05,520 --> 00:25:07,920
he goes, dad is out of work just months,

657
00:25:07,920 --> 00:25:10,720
he goes, we just need a little help at the house,

658
00:25:10,720 --> 00:25:11,920
and I said, oh, cheese, have at it,

659
00:25:11,920 --> 00:25:12,760
but he was going to do it for me,

660
00:25:12,760 --> 00:25:13,960
I don't know what you gotta do,

661
00:25:13,960 --> 00:25:17,640
but he was selling drinks and snacks to kids,

662
00:25:17,640 --> 00:25:19,320
I guess he was going to the dollar general,

663
00:25:19,320 --> 00:25:21,000
and he turned out to sell it for a dollar at school,

664
00:25:21,000 --> 00:25:22,920
or two dollars or whatever, you know,

665
00:25:22,920 --> 00:25:26,360
just crazy stuff like agency, but we had a good place,

666
00:25:26,360 --> 00:25:29,320
I mean, it was a good school, but it was a challenge,

667
00:25:29,320 --> 00:25:30,160
that was a tough work,

668
00:25:30,160 --> 00:25:33,120
like truth and glory, both those places were challenged,

669
00:25:33,120 --> 00:25:34,000
they were the worst.

670
00:25:34,000 --> 00:25:36,520
And you left from there and went to Perry?

671
00:25:36,520 --> 00:25:39,120
Went to Perry, and stayed down there two years

672
00:25:39,120 --> 00:25:42,240
at Stacey Harden, had two good years down there,

673
00:25:43,080 --> 00:25:46,520
end up leaving Perry to go to Trann,

674
00:25:46,520 --> 00:25:49,320
with Justin Brown, Justin, where it was

675
00:25:49,320 --> 00:25:52,280
that Bill Rick and Stacey had worked with the truth.

676
00:25:52,280 --> 00:25:55,480
So I spent two at Perry, two at Trann,

677
00:25:55,480 --> 00:25:56,960
went back to Perry for two years,

678
00:25:56,960 --> 00:26:00,160
went with Carl Dixon, which I love Carl,

679
00:26:00,160 --> 00:26:03,280
he was been an assistant coach for like 38 years,

680
00:26:03,280 --> 00:26:04,760
and he ended up getting a head coach job,

681
00:26:04,760 --> 00:26:06,040
you know, kind of late in his career,

682
00:26:06,040 --> 00:26:08,840
but good guy, good football coach,

683
00:26:08,840 --> 00:26:10,240
and then go down there the first year

684
00:26:10,240 --> 00:26:13,040
and to be Carl gets cancer right there

685
00:26:13,040 --> 00:26:14,920
during that first season, and we were in a tough,

686
00:26:14,920 --> 00:26:18,720
tough region, I think we played four region champions,

687
00:26:18,720 --> 00:26:21,520
the games two through five, everybody played one region,

688
00:26:21,520 --> 00:26:23,640
so our non-regions get brutal,

689
00:26:23,640 --> 00:26:25,640
and actually beat Makin' County,

690
00:26:25,640 --> 00:26:27,680
which we probably had no business beating them,

691
00:26:27,680 --> 00:26:29,800
but went two and eight that year,

692
00:26:29,800 --> 00:26:31,320
and then come back the next year,

693
00:26:31,320 --> 00:26:34,200
when I think forward six, and Carl got let go,

694
00:26:34,200 --> 00:26:37,160
which, you know, Kevin Smith came in behind us,

695
00:26:37,160 --> 00:26:38,240
and Kevin did a great job,

696
00:26:38,240 --> 00:26:39,480
and I had a chance to stay with Kevin,

697
00:26:39,480 --> 00:26:41,480
he asked me to stay, and they counted us up,

698
00:26:41,480 --> 00:26:43,080
but at that time I wanted to get a little bit closer

699
00:26:43,080 --> 00:26:44,600
back to my home, where I was from,

700
00:26:44,600 --> 00:26:48,000
so, but Perry was a great school, great school system,

701
00:26:48,000 --> 00:26:50,040
had a lot of resources down there, good place,

702
00:26:50,040 --> 00:26:51,840
and the first time I was in Perry, we were good,

703
00:26:51,840 --> 00:26:54,840
we had some good, good teams, made playoffs,

704
00:26:54,840 --> 00:26:56,760
and always in a tough league,

705
00:26:56,760 --> 00:26:59,520
we had some players down there,

706
00:26:59,520 --> 00:27:02,000
and just the second time we come back,

707
00:27:02,000 --> 00:27:03,800
it had changed a little bit,

708
00:27:03,800 --> 00:27:05,440
we didn't quite have the same guys,

709
00:27:05,440 --> 00:27:07,200
and the schedule had gotten even more rugged,

710
00:27:07,200 --> 00:27:10,080
and it was a battle those two years,

711
00:27:10,080 --> 00:27:11,760
but it was a good experience,

712
00:27:11,760 --> 00:27:14,760
so Perry, a lot of his new friends down there,

713
00:27:14,760 --> 00:27:17,400
I've talked with some guys from Perry in the last,

714
00:27:18,400 --> 00:27:19,360
that's day or two, you know,

715
00:27:19,360 --> 00:27:21,120
since they played in State Championship yesterday,

716
00:27:21,120 --> 00:27:23,960
and a couple of old fans that kind of hung around,

717
00:27:23,960 --> 00:27:25,520
and kind of been around that program forever,

718
00:27:25,520 --> 00:27:27,000
they keep in touch with me,

719
00:27:27,000 --> 00:27:28,520
and it was a principle I worked for,

720
00:27:28,520 --> 00:27:29,760
he called me last week,

721
00:27:29,760 --> 00:27:32,880
and Perry was a really, really good place,

722
00:27:32,880 --> 00:27:35,440
I wish I probably would have spent a little more time down there,

723
00:27:35,440 --> 00:27:37,480
but it just didn't work out that way.

724
00:27:37,480 --> 00:27:41,040
How awesome was that for them to finally win one?

725
00:27:41,040 --> 00:27:41,880
I mean, that was-

726
00:27:41,880 --> 00:27:43,680
Oh man, for the Perry people, yeah,

727
00:27:43,680 --> 00:27:44,960
I said for years, I said,

728
00:27:44,960 --> 00:27:47,520
Perry, I said, you know,

729
00:27:47,520 --> 00:27:49,720
the thing about Perry was this,

730
00:27:49,720 --> 00:27:53,520
the Perry kids didn't have a lot of confidence in themselves,

731
00:27:53,520 --> 00:27:57,200
and I really feel like at that time when I was there,

732
00:27:57,200 --> 00:27:58,680
they were almost beat down,

733
00:27:58,680 --> 00:28:01,680
because everybody around us was good,

734
00:28:01,680 --> 00:28:03,680
Warner Robbins was a traditional power,

735
00:28:03,680 --> 00:28:05,400
George Sey was a power,

736
00:28:05,400 --> 00:28:08,080
Peach County was their big rival, was a power,

737
00:28:08,080 --> 00:28:09,920
and then even outside of our area,

738
00:28:09,920 --> 00:28:12,360
you know, like, Macon County had one State Championship,

739
00:28:12,360 --> 00:28:14,400
Hawkinsville had one State Championship,

740
00:28:14,400 --> 00:28:17,320
Dooley had played for the Championship a couple times,

741
00:28:17,320 --> 00:28:18,880
so it was almost like,

742
00:28:18,880 --> 00:28:22,200
every way you turned, everybody was good,

743
00:28:22,200 --> 00:28:24,400
and we were just kind of like, we were just fighting,

744
00:28:24,400 --> 00:28:28,400
and the Perry kids, we had some good athletes,

745
00:28:28,400 --> 00:28:29,400
but they just, I said,

746
00:28:29,400 --> 00:28:30,680
and I told somebody one time, I said,

747
00:28:30,680 --> 00:28:33,080
I think the average guy in Perry,

748
00:28:33,080 --> 00:28:34,880
I said, there were like three places

749
00:28:34,880 --> 00:28:36,040
that people worked at down there,

750
00:28:36,040 --> 00:28:38,040
they worked at the Air Force Base,

751
00:28:38,040 --> 00:28:40,720
they worked at the Frito-Lay plant down in Kathleen,

752
00:28:40,720 --> 00:28:42,840
or they worked at Bluebird and Fort Valley,

753
00:28:42,840 --> 00:28:46,560
and I said, I think the average 35, 40 year old guy, Perry,

754
00:28:46,560 --> 00:28:48,840
he goes to work every Monday,

755
00:28:48,840 --> 00:28:51,480
he wants to brag about his school and his team,

756
00:28:51,480 --> 00:28:53,080
but he really has a hard time doing it,

757
00:28:53,080 --> 00:28:54,400
because this guy's more side,

758
00:28:54,400 --> 00:28:56,160
this guy's worse alongside him,

759
00:28:56,160 --> 00:28:58,920
he went to, you know, he went to Warner Robbins,

760
00:28:58,920 --> 00:29:00,720
this guy's Peach, and you know,

761
00:29:00,720 --> 00:29:02,000
even when I was down there the second time,

762
00:29:02,000 --> 00:29:03,480
I was a Hokie, I was a Hokie,

763
00:29:03,480 --> 00:29:05,240
I was having their best teams in years,

764
00:29:05,240 --> 00:29:07,320
so everybody was good,

765
00:29:07,320 --> 00:29:10,160
and we were just kind of battling for what was left,

766
00:29:10,160 --> 00:29:13,400
but yeah, for Perry and Kevin,

767
00:29:14,360 --> 00:29:16,000
to do what they've done down there,

768
00:29:16,000 --> 00:29:16,960
I couldn't be more proud,

769
00:29:16,960 --> 00:29:18,640
I texted him today, I said,

770
00:29:18,640 --> 00:29:21,440
I think they did wonderful down there,

771
00:29:21,440 --> 00:29:23,200
and there's still a couple guys on that staff left

772
00:29:23,200 --> 00:29:25,040
that I know is pretty much turned over,

773
00:29:25,040 --> 00:29:26,680
but a lot of good people down there,

774
00:29:26,680 --> 00:29:27,720
a lot of good supporters,

775
00:29:27,720 --> 00:29:30,240
and a good community, good place to live,

776
00:29:30,240 --> 00:29:31,080
you know, like I said,

777
00:29:31,080 --> 00:29:32,320
I could spend more time down there,

778
00:29:32,320 --> 00:29:34,760
but you know, I didn't get fired,

779
00:29:34,760 --> 00:29:35,600
didn't get cut loose,

780
00:29:35,600 --> 00:29:37,760
they just, I just told the coach,

781
00:29:37,760 --> 00:29:39,000
and I was one thing I did,

782
00:29:39,000 --> 00:29:41,960
is you know, I worked for 10 different head coaches,

783
00:29:41,960 --> 00:29:43,440
and I never stayed anywhere

784
00:29:43,440 --> 00:29:46,000
when we had a coach staff that turned over,

785
00:29:46,000 --> 00:29:49,040
because unless somebody on staff got the job,

786
00:29:49,040 --> 00:29:51,400
because to me, that new head coach,

787
00:29:51,400 --> 00:29:53,720
he needs an opportunity to bring in his guy,

788
00:29:53,720 --> 00:29:55,000
and even though I was never,

789
00:29:55,000 --> 00:29:56,880
everybody I worked for,

790
00:29:58,000 --> 00:29:59,040
when they got let go,

791
00:29:59,040 --> 00:30:00,360
or when they took another job,

792
00:30:00,360 --> 00:30:01,560
when they went into administration,

793
00:30:01,560 --> 00:30:02,400
or when they retired,

794
00:30:02,400 --> 00:30:03,760
whatever reason,

795
00:30:03,760 --> 00:30:06,120
I never was asked to leave,

796
00:30:06,120 --> 00:30:07,120
but I always felt like,

797
00:30:07,120 --> 00:30:07,960
you know what,

798
00:30:07,960 --> 00:30:10,080
this guy may have somebody else he'd really have,

799
00:30:10,080 --> 00:30:12,600
and I had enough connections with coach,

800
00:30:12,600 --> 00:30:13,920
you know, I had enough friends and ties,

801
00:30:13,920 --> 00:30:15,800
I knew I could find another job,

802
00:30:15,800 --> 00:30:18,040
and so I always could land on my feet somewhere,

803
00:30:18,040 --> 00:30:19,640
but man, I was proud for a period,

804
00:30:19,640 --> 00:30:20,640
I really was,

805
00:30:20,640 --> 00:30:22,360
that was a fun ride to see them,

806
00:30:22,360 --> 00:30:24,040
and watching them to the tune of it.

807
00:30:24,040 --> 00:30:26,360
Well, didn't you take a head coaching job

808
00:30:26,360 --> 00:30:30,040
for a day one time in South Georgia?

809
00:30:30,040 --> 00:30:32,400
I did, and I was at Philadelphia,

810
00:30:33,720 --> 00:30:36,720
I went to Pelham and interviewed,

811
00:30:36,720 --> 00:30:39,880
this was in 2008, I believe it was,

812
00:30:40,800 --> 00:30:43,320
and I had been on some interviews,

813
00:30:43,320 --> 00:30:46,360
and I'd actually been offered a few other jobs before,

814
00:30:46,360 --> 00:30:47,640
but I liked them,

815
00:30:47,640 --> 00:30:48,680
by the idea of Pelham,

816
00:30:48,680 --> 00:30:50,800
you know, making some city school,

817
00:30:50,800 --> 00:30:52,520
and that was another, you know, area,

818
00:30:52,520 --> 00:30:54,200
well, there was good players down that area,

819
00:30:54,200 --> 00:30:55,640
I miss them at Pelham at that time,

820
00:30:55,640 --> 00:30:57,040
they were in that area,

821
00:30:57,040 --> 00:30:59,560
so I go down there and I interview,

822
00:30:59,560 --> 00:31:00,720
and I went down on Friday,

823
00:31:00,720 --> 00:31:02,560
and I asked the guy that was interviewing me,

824
00:31:02,560 --> 00:31:04,160
I said, look, I said,

825
00:31:04,160 --> 00:31:05,560
they had a home basketball game at nine,

826
00:31:05,560 --> 00:31:08,280
I said, you mind if I stay,

827
00:31:08,280 --> 00:31:09,720
and watch the basketball game night,

828
00:31:09,720 --> 00:31:11,920
cause I spent the night in a little hotel anyhow,

829
00:31:11,920 --> 00:31:13,680
and he said, yeah, that's great, you know,

830
00:31:13,680 --> 00:31:15,040
and I said, okay, and I said, look,

831
00:31:15,040 --> 00:31:16,800
can I see the weight ring?

832
00:31:16,800 --> 00:31:19,040
And they were in an old school that was like downtown,

833
00:31:19,040 --> 00:31:20,960
they wanted to go, they were building a new school,

834
00:31:20,960 --> 00:31:22,960
but they weren't gonna be ready for another year,

835
00:31:22,960 --> 00:31:24,720
so I knew where we were gonna be at that year,

836
00:31:24,720 --> 00:31:26,680
was gonna be right there where I was, you know,

837
00:31:26,680 --> 00:31:28,200
interviewed at, he said, wow,

838
00:31:28,200 --> 00:31:30,200
I don't have a key for it, he goes,

839
00:31:30,200 --> 00:31:32,240
our head coach, his coach's wrestling,

840
00:31:32,240 --> 00:31:34,160
and he's almost got a key for it,

841
00:31:34,160 --> 00:31:35,240
and they just let you go to the tournament,

842
00:31:35,240 --> 00:31:38,520
I'm like, ooh, this is kind of a red flag there,

843
00:31:38,520 --> 00:31:41,240
so I wanted to at least see what it looked like, you know,

844
00:31:41,240 --> 00:31:45,000
and, but anyhow, I went out and interviewed on Friday,

845
00:31:45,000 --> 00:31:45,840
well, they told me,

846
00:31:45,840 --> 00:31:48,440
look, we're gonna make a decision,

847
00:31:48,440 --> 00:31:51,040
and let them by know something by next week,

848
00:31:51,040 --> 00:31:53,600
and I said, that's okay, that's fine,

849
00:31:53,600 --> 00:31:56,760
so I wasn't sure if I had a chance or not,

850
00:31:56,760 --> 00:31:59,280
but the guy called me back, like on Tuesday,

851
00:31:59,280 --> 00:32:01,280
Monday or Tuesday, he goes, Luke, the job's yours,

852
00:32:01,280 --> 00:32:03,480
he said, you interested, and I turned it down,

853
00:32:03,480 --> 00:32:06,600
I said, look, I appreciate it, but I really don't,

854
00:32:06,600 --> 00:32:09,200
I said, you know, I'm sure y'all gonna find a good guy

855
00:32:09,200 --> 00:32:12,840
to set me up, and we kinda let it go with that,

856
00:32:12,840 --> 00:32:14,480
but he calls back on Friday, and he goes,

857
00:32:14,480 --> 00:32:15,920
hey man, he goes, look, I've been trying,

858
00:32:15,920 --> 00:32:18,360
but his sister principal's working all this out,

859
00:32:18,360 --> 00:32:19,800
I think the principal's about retired,

860
00:32:19,800 --> 00:32:21,360
so sister principal, I guess he was gonna be

861
00:32:21,360 --> 00:32:22,920
the next principal, he was trying to work already,

862
00:32:22,920 --> 00:32:25,480
he's playing going, and I appreciate it, that was,

863
00:32:25,480 --> 00:32:27,880
but he called me back on Friday, and he goes, hey man,

864
00:32:27,880 --> 00:32:29,440
he goes, look, I got more money for you,

865
00:32:29,440 --> 00:32:31,000
and he said, I got my spot for the sister coach,

866
00:32:31,000 --> 00:32:33,280
and blah, blah, blah, he goes, this is gonna be,

867
00:32:33,280 --> 00:32:35,000
you know, this is gonna be a pretty old situation

868
00:32:35,000 --> 00:32:36,400
when we want you to come down here,

869
00:32:36,400 --> 00:32:38,880
and I said, Luke, I said, I said,

870
00:32:38,880 --> 00:32:40,000
and I was kind of torn,

871
00:32:40,000 --> 00:32:41,800
because I really wanted an opportunity,

872
00:32:41,800 --> 00:32:44,040
but I wasn't sure if this is the right one,

873
00:32:44,040 --> 00:32:46,800
or if there's, you know, they were like, oh, and 23,

874
00:32:46,800 --> 00:32:48,680
they lost like 23 in a row,

875
00:32:48,680 --> 00:32:50,520
so I knew it was gonna be a big time deal,

876
00:32:50,520 --> 00:32:52,360
you know, it was gonna take at least two, three years,

877
00:32:52,360 --> 00:32:54,400
at least get it competitive,

878
00:32:54,400 --> 00:32:57,440
and go down, so he said, look, he goes,

879
00:32:57,440 --> 00:32:58,880
can you let me know something?

880
00:33:00,160 --> 00:33:01,880
And he let me know something to date,

881
00:33:01,880 --> 00:33:05,080
I said, look, I said, let me kind of process this,

882
00:33:05,080 --> 00:33:06,240
so I hung up the phone, I said,

883
00:33:06,240 --> 00:33:08,760
I'll call you back to that name, so I hung up the phone,

884
00:33:08,760 --> 00:33:10,880
and we were leaving, go to Nike clinic,

885
00:33:10,880 --> 00:33:14,320
and I took the job, and I called him out back,

886
00:33:14,320 --> 00:33:16,000
about two hours later, I actually got my truck,

887
00:33:16,000 --> 00:33:17,640
and it rode around the way,

888
00:33:17,640 --> 00:33:19,280
and I thought, I just want to thank you, myself,

889
00:33:19,280 --> 00:33:20,800
you know, I kind of want to get away from the class,

890
00:33:20,800 --> 00:33:23,680
and the gym, and the white raven, and all,

891
00:33:23,680 --> 00:33:24,920
so I didn't want to be around anybody,

892
00:33:24,920 --> 00:33:26,080
because I just kind of want to thank you,

893
00:33:26,080 --> 00:33:27,280
you know, for what I want to do here,

894
00:33:27,280 --> 00:33:29,200
this is kind of a big deal,

895
00:33:29,200 --> 00:33:32,000
and I think you know, talk about relocating,

896
00:33:32,000 --> 00:33:34,240
and that kind of stuff, and he goes,

897
00:33:34,240 --> 00:33:35,600
so I called him back, and I said, look,

898
00:33:35,600 --> 00:33:37,720
I'm gonna take the job, I said, I want it,

899
00:33:37,720 --> 00:33:39,880
he said, that's great, he goes, I'll tell you what,

900
00:33:39,880 --> 00:33:41,880
because I gotta go to a conference next week,

901
00:33:41,880 --> 00:33:43,360
on Monday and Tuesday, he said,

902
00:33:43,360 --> 00:33:44,560
I'll be back in town Wednesday,

903
00:33:44,560 --> 00:33:46,600
he said, I'll call me back on Wednesday,

904
00:33:46,600 --> 00:33:47,640
he said, we'll get together, he said,

905
00:33:47,640 --> 00:33:48,680
I want you to come down here next week,

906
00:33:48,680 --> 00:33:51,640
and meet the superintendent, and I said, oh, that's fine,

907
00:33:51,640 --> 00:33:55,400
so by the time I got to the Nike clinic,

908
00:33:55,400 --> 00:33:57,480
word had already kind of leaked out, I'd taken the job,

909
00:33:57,480 --> 00:34:00,600
so I mean, I had like 10 people with Nike Clinic,

910
00:34:00,600 --> 00:34:03,240
congratulations on your job, done a lot of that,

911
00:34:03,240 --> 00:34:05,400
and I'd already talked to a couple coaches down there,

912
00:34:05,400 --> 00:34:07,360
they knew, and they had to send me some film,

913
00:34:07,360 --> 00:34:10,520
that's before I turned it down the first time,

914
00:34:10,520 --> 00:34:13,520
and so the film was already in the mail,

915
00:34:13,520 --> 00:34:15,600
I got back on Sunday from the clinic,

916
00:34:15,600 --> 00:34:17,800
and I knew I didn't want that job at that point,

917
00:34:17,800 --> 00:34:19,680
but I had to get to it in there too, to figure it out,

918
00:34:19,680 --> 00:34:21,040
and I couldn't sleep, I was like,

919
00:34:21,040 --> 00:34:22,640
I don't know, I don't really want to do that,

920
00:34:22,640 --> 00:34:24,640
that's just not where I want to go,

921
00:34:24,640 --> 00:34:27,080
they got to, and they don't,

922
00:34:27,080 --> 00:34:29,200
they deserve to have a coach that wants to be there,

923
00:34:29,200 --> 00:34:32,840
so I ended up calling the guy back on Wednesday,

924
00:34:32,840 --> 00:34:34,040
and turned it back down again,

925
00:34:34,040 --> 00:34:35,600
cause he got hot bad on that one,

926
00:34:35,600 --> 00:34:38,120
and I don't blame him, but bottom line is,

927
00:34:38,120 --> 00:34:39,800
they did better by getting somebody else,

928
00:34:39,800 --> 00:34:41,640
because I didn't really want that job,

929
00:34:41,640 --> 00:34:44,080
but it was an opportunity to be in coach,

930
00:34:44,080 --> 00:34:47,000
and I think the next year was like 2008,

931
00:34:47,000 --> 00:34:48,520
so the economy kind of busted,

932
00:34:48,520 --> 00:34:50,560
they ended up losing a bunch of those things,

933
00:34:50,560 --> 00:34:52,520
they promised me anyhow,

934
00:34:52,520 --> 00:34:54,320
sports financially and that kind of stuff,

935
00:34:54,320 --> 00:34:56,640
so it worked out better, yeah.

936
00:34:56,640 --> 00:34:58,440
I told everybody, I said, I was the head coach,

937
00:34:58,440 --> 00:34:59,960
four days, and Pelham, I said,

938
00:34:59,960 --> 00:35:03,320
I'm the only coach that's undefeated in school history,

939
00:35:03,320 --> 00:35:05,120
never gave up the point, so,

940
00:35:05,120 --> 00:35:08,160
Pelham has done well down there,

941
00:35:08,160 --> 00:35:09,920
I think they've got a good program in there now,

942
00:35:09,920 --> 00:35:12,000
but I just, I didn't feel like I was gonna be right fit

943
00:35:12,000 --> 00:35:14,080
down there, so, that's not what happened.

944
00:35:14,080 --> 00:35:17,480
Well, I only asked that question to set up

945
00:35:17,480 --> 00:35:19,040
the Price Jones story,

946
00:35:19,040 --> 00:35:24,040
because I know Price Jones had success in Pelham,

947
00:35:24,920 --> 00:35:26,760
that's right, he did, he's the last guy

948
00:35:26,760 --> 00:35:28,120
before that end of the world,

949
00:35:28,120 --> 00:35:31,200
and you must tell everyone,

950
00:35:31,200 --> 00:35:33,160
the Price Jones story.

951
00:35:33,160 --> 00:35:35,200
I got a friend of mine, Tony Graziano,

952
00:35:35,200 --> 00:35:36,280
if I know he's been rocked,

953
00:35:36,280 --> 00:35:38,440
he lives down in Columbus, down in Chattano,

954
00:35:38,440 --> 00:35:40,280
and rockin' Price was buddies,

955
00:35:40,280 --> 00:35:42,200
this boy I knew either one of them,

956
00:35:42,200 --> 00:35:45,360
but rockin' was coaching at Madison,

957
00:35:45,360 --> 00:35:46,200
not like,

958
00:35:46,200 --> 00:35:48,200
what's the,

959
00:35:48,200 --> 00:35:49,520
Morgan County.

960
00:35:49,520 --> 00:35:51,120
Morgan County, Madison, Georgia,

961
00:35:51,120 --> 00:35:52,120
he was coaching at Morgan,

962
00:35:52,120 --> 00:35:54,280
I think Price had been at it with him,

963
00:35:54,280 --> 00:35:55,760
but anyhow, they were buddies,

964
00:35:55,760 --> 00:35:57,400
and they worked together, and that kind of stuff,

965
00:35:57,400 --> 00:35:59,200
so, rock's telling me this story later on,

966
00:35:59,200 --> 00:36:03,400
and I think Price might have been up in Athens,

967
00:36:03,400 --> 00:36:05,200
or something, I'm not sure where he was at,

968
00:36:05,200 --> 00:36:07,120
but they talked to each other on the phone,

969
00:36:07,120 --> 00:36:09,400
they said, hey, I'm gonna be up in Athens Saturday,

970
00:36:09,400 --> 00:36:10,840
and Rock was like, hey, yeah,

971
00:36:10,840 --> 00:36:12,160
I'm going up there, Christmas shopping,

972
00:36:12,160 --> 00:36:13,520
or this, that, and the other,

973
00:36:13,520 --> 00:36:15,720
so, he ended up, he goes,

974
00:36:15,720 --> 00:36:18,800
well, we're gonna go to eat together,

975
00:36:18,800 --> 00:36:20,000
and he says, ah, let me get that,

976
00:36:20,000 --> 00:36:22,200
so let's do that Saturday, let's kind of plan on,

977
00:36:22,200 --> 00:36:23,760
so, when they got ready to go eat,

978
00:36:23,760 --> 00:36:25,080
they said, hey, let's go meet by that,

979
00:36:25,080 --> 00:36:26,280
you know, Price told Rock,

980
00:36:26,280 --> 00:36:29,080
he goes, let's meet by that Mexican restaurant,

981
00:36:29,080 --> 00:36:31,720
over there by the Tessara store,

982
00:36:31,720 --> 00:36:33,720
and Rock's like, the what?

983
00:36:33,720 --> 00:36:35,280
And he goes, the Tessara store,

984
00:36:35,280 --> 00:36:36,800
you know, where I'm talking about Atlanta,

985
00:36:36,800 --> 00:36:39,400
Ohio, well, there, there by such, such, such, such,

986
00:36:39,400 --> 00:36:41,520
and Rock didn't have a clue what Price stopped by,

987
00:36:41,520 --> 00:36:44,480
he says, Tessara, he goes, what,

988
00:36:44,480 --> 00:36:46,040
what are you talking about? He goes,

989
00:36:46,040 --> 00:36:48,160
he goes, yeah, the Tessara store,

990
00:36:48,160 --> 00:36:50,600
and Rock said, well, spell it for me,

991
00:36:50,600 --> 00:36:53,200
and he goes, and he spelled out Toys R Us,

992
00:36:53,200 --> 00:36:54,560
that was the name of the store,

993
00:36:54,560 --> 00:36:57,400
and he goes, I want to go use the names,

994
00:36:57,400 --> 00:36:58,800
because I didn't really know Price that well,

995
00:36:58,800 --> 00:37:00,440
I didn't know he was getting to him later,

996
00:37:00,440 --> 00:37:01,640
great guy, great coach,

997
00:37:01,640 --> 00:37:03,320
but he wasn't much of a shopper,

998
00:37:03,320 --> 00:37:04,800
I don't know what to say,

999
00:37:04,800 --> 00:37:05,520
but the Tessara store is on the,

1000
00:37:05,520 --> 00:37:08,080
children's, children's toys,

1001
00:37:08,080 --> 00:37:09,320
because they kept calling it Tessara,

1002
00:37:09,320 --> 00:37:11,120
Tessara, Tessara, that's the Toys R Us price,

1003
00:37:11,120 --> 00:37:12,640
we talked about it, so,

1004
00:37:12,640 --> 00:37:14,160
I don't know if they ever got together or not,

1005
00:37:14,160 --> 00:37:16,200
but anyhow, yeah, the Tessara store,

1006
00:37:16,200 --> 00:37:17,440
that was the funny one,

1007
00:37:17,440 --> 00:37:19,400
so, yeah, that was the,

1008
00:37:19,400 --> 00:37:20,240
that was the,

1009
00:37:20,240 --> 00:37:23,760
you were trying to tell me the other day,

1010
00:37:23,760 --> 00:37:25,600
that's the story about,

1011
00:37:25,600 --> 00:37:26,920
and I'd never heard it,

1012
00:37:26,920 --> 00:37:29,280
you never told me about it,

1013
00:37:29,280 --> 00:37:31,960
the two kids on the ambulance.

1014
00:37:31,960 --> 00:37:33,680
Oh yeah, that happened,

1015
00:37:33,680 --> 00:37:35,080
that happened in truth,

1016
00:37:35,080 --> 00:37:38,680
that was actually right before he got down there,

1017
00:37:38,680 --> 00:37:41,120
they played like Riverdale in a home game,

1018
00:37:41,120 --> 00:37:41,960
and I'm gonna tell you,

1019
00:37:41,960 --> 00:37:42,800
I'm gonna tell you another story too,

1020
00:37:42,800 --> 00:37:43,960
after that, it's pretty good by that,

1021
00:37:43,960 --> 00:37:45,760
they played Riverdale,

1022
00:37:45,760 --> 00:37:48,040
and it was the quarterback for truth,

1023
00:37:48,040 --> 00:37:49,840
they put him in the game on defense,

1024
00:37:49,840 --> 00:37:51,280
right at the end of the half,

1025
00:37:51,280 --> 00:37:52,880
I guess they were like pre-vamp or something,

1026
00:37:52,880 --> 00:37:56,120
so, Riverdale gets the kid,

1027
00:37:56,120 --> 00:37:57,320
he gets hurt on that play,

1028
00:37:57,320 --> 00:37:58,160
last play of the half,

1029
00:37:58,160 --> 00:38:00,360
I think it was, I'll say,

1030
00:38:00,360 --> 00:38:03,600
well, the ambulance comes out and checks on the kid,

1031
00:38:03,600 --> 00:38:06,720
well, the true quarterback was on the field,

1032
00:38:06,720 --> 00:38:07,600
still on the field,

1033
00:38:07,600 --> 00:38:08,880
so the team goes in the locker room,

1034
00:38:08,880 --> 00:38:09,920
they had time,

1035
00:38:09,920 --> 00:38:11,400
and when the guys are out there,

1036
00:38:11,400 --> 00:38:13,440
they're tending to the kid from Riverdale,

1037
00:38:13,440 --> 00:38:15,360
the true quarterback walked over there too,

1038
00:38:15,360 --> 00:38:17,480
and goes, hey, dog, he goes,

1039
00:38:17,480 --> 00:38:19,400
I got hurt with shoulder that last play,

1040
00:38:19,400 --> 00:38:20,240
and when I got tacked,

1041
00:38:20,240 --> 00:38:22,400
and he goes, well, you look at it,

1042
00:38:22,400 --> 00:38:23,960
and the doctor looked at him,

1043
00:38:23,960 --> 00:38:26,040
and they're putting the kid from Riverdale on the ambulance,

1044
00:38:26,040 --> 00:38:27,280
to take him to the hospital,

1045
00:38:27,280 --> 00:38:28,120
and the doctor looks at him,

1046
00:38:28,120 --> 00:38:30,120
and goes, hey, you just go on getting the ambulance,

1047
00:38:30,120 --> 00:38:31,680
we'll take the hospital,

1048
00:38:31,680 --> 00:38:34,040
so this was the starting quarterback,

1049
00:38:34,040 --> 00:38:35,880
and the coaches are going to the locker room,

1050
00:38:35,880 --> 00:38:37,240
perhaps I went on the players,

1051
00:38:37,240 --> 00:38:38,760
and they started the quarterback,

1052
00:38:38,760 --> 00:38:40,400
they just dinged his shoulder,

1053
00:38:40,400 --> 00:38:42,440
gets in the ambulance with the kid from Riverdale,

1054
00:38:42,440 --> 00:38:45,240
who's got apparently a pretty significant injury,

1055
00:38:45,240 --> 00:38:49,600
so they hauled off to the hospital in LaGrange,

1056
00:38:49,600 --> 00:38:51,720
and the truth goes in the locker room,

1057
00:38:51,720 --> 00:38:54,040
in the old Calaway Stadium locker room down there,

1058
00:38:54,040 --> 00:38:57,080
it was small, so you can only put just so many kids in there,

1059
00:38:57,080 --> 00:38:59,800
so I think they brought the defense in there first,

1060
00:38:59,800 --> 00:39:02,160
and the defensive coaches were going over there,

1061
00:39:02,160 --> 00:39:04,400
you know, they're second half of justice,

1062
00:39:04,400 --> 00:39:06,760
so then by halfway through the halftime,

1063
00:39:06,760 --> 00:39:09,120
they come out, and the offensive coaches go in,

1064
00:39:09,120 --> 00:39:10,560
but the offensive coach, the coordinator,

1065
00:39:10,560 --> 00:39:11,560
he jumps up on the board,

1066
00:39:11,560 --> 00:39:13,360
he immediately starts drawing something,

1067
00:39:13,360 --> 00:39:15,080
and he starts talking to Tony,

1068
00:39:15,080 --> 00:39:17,080
he goes, Tony, make sure that we're in this for a while,

1069
00:39:17,080 --> 00:39:18,120
he said, none of the,

1070
00:39:18,120 --> 00:39:19,360
he goes, now they got too high,

1071
00:39:19,360 --> 00:39:21,120
we're gonna do this, got one high,

1072
00:39:21,120 --> 00:39:22,760
and he's mentioned, he said, Tony,

1073
00:39:22,760 --> 00:39:24,600
now where you at?

1074
00:39:24,600 --> 00:39:26,360
And the kids looked at the rest,

1075
00:39:26,360 --> 00:39:27,720
Coach Tony got in the ambulance

1076
00:39:27,720 --> 00:39:29,080
without walking Riverdale,

1077
00:39:29,080 --> 00:39:32,320
so the coaches are in sitting there,

1078
00:39:32,320 --> 00:39:36,240
it's about six or seven minutes before the end of the halftime,

1079
00:39:36,240 --> 00:39:37,400
they gotta go off in the third quarter,

1080
00:39:37,400 --> 00:39:38,440
and the starting quarterbacks

1081
00:39:38,440 --> 00:39:41,680
rode into the ambulance with the kid from Riverdale,

1082
00:39:41,680 --> 00:39:44,400
the guy heard, so it was like the end of the third quarter,

1083
00:39:44,400 --> 00:39:45,240
the fourth quarter,

1084
00:39:45,240 --> 00:39:47,880
when they finally got the kid back to the stadium,

1085
00:39:47,880 --> 00:39:49,240
the two of them got there to play,

1086
00:39:49,240 --> 00:39:51,960
so I mean, kids would do stuff like that,

1087
00:39:51,960 --> 00:39:53,160
but the doctor just looked at him,

1088
00:39:53,160 --> 00:39:54,000
they said, just let me say,

1089
00:39:54,000 --> 00:39:55,400
yeah, two on the ambulance,

1090
00:39:55,400 --> 00:39:57,480
we'll catch you when you get the hospital.

1091
00:39:57,480 --> 00:39:59,520
He said, I did.

1092
00:39:59,520 --> 00:40:00,920
And I just like, what the kid did,

1093
00:40:00,920 --> 00:40:03,320
so he didn't want to talk to me,

1094
00:40:03,320 --> 00:40:04,800
so it didn't really fault him,

1095
00:40:04,800 --> 00:40:06,400
but yeah, I think the truth,

1096
00:40:06,400 --> 00:40:08,280
truth coach, they were going nuts on the Allen,

1097
00:40:08,280 --> 00:40:09,760
so, and I tell you,

1098
00:40:09,760 --> 00:40:12,040
I know when they told me down there,

1099
00:40:12,040 --> 00:40:14,120
when I got down there, it was pretty good.

1100
00:40:14,120 --> 00:40:16,880
They had a Saturday game of a Terris Stadium,

1101
00:40:16,880 --> 00:40:18,320
I think it was actually Riverdale again,

1102
00:40:18,320 --> 00:40:21,280
what I'm saying, this is another year,

1103
00:40:21,280 --> 00:40:22,840
and they played up a Terris Stadium,

1104
00:40:22,840 --> 00:40:24,560
and it was a Saturday game,

1105
00:40:24,560 --> 00:40:26,680
well, the truth, the biggest deal in truth

1106
00:40:26,680 --> 00:40:28,640
was getting all the kids there,

1107
00:40:28,640 --> 00:40:31,280
because we had like 75% of your team

1108
00:40:31,280 --> 00:40:33,840
that lived eight to 12 miles away from the school,

1109
00:40:33,840 --> 00:40:36,360
they were scattered all over the South of that county,

1110
00:40:36,360 --> 00:40:39,440
so they used to run these buses down to West Point,

1111
00:40:39,440 --> 00:40:40,800
and they had these pickup points,

1112
00:40:40,800 --> 00:40:43,160
they'd go to the church, they'd go to the rec park,

1113
00:40:43,160 --> 00:40:46,080
and they'd go out there in front of the house

1114
00:40:46,080 --> 00:40:48,520
authority place, they'd pick up all these kids,

1115
00:40:48,520 --> 00:40:49,560
and they would get them on a bus,

1116
00:40:49,560 --> 00:40:50,560
and they'd bring them back to school,

1117
00:40:50,560 --> 00:40:52,200
they did that year round, 12 months a year,

1118
00:40:52,200 --> 00:40:53,760
they did that for every sport,

1119
00:40:53,760 --> 00:40:54,800
I mean, that was part of the agreement

1120
00:40:54,800 --> 00:40:56,200
when they shared our West Point school,

1121
00:40:56,200 --> 00:40:58,960
and the merged truth was they'd run these activity buses,

1122
00:40:58,960 --> 00:41:01,760
well, they had a new bus driver that day,

1123
00:41:01,760 --> 00:41:04,160
the guy was subbing for the main driver,

1124
00:41:04,160 --> 00:41:08,880
and the guy was supposed to pick up like at 2.30,

1125
00:41:08,880 --> 00:41:12,000
well, he shows up at 2, not 2.30,

1126
00:41:12,000 --> 00:41:14,720
well, they only like two or three kids were even there,

1127
00:41:14,720 --> 00:41:16,760
and there's like 30 kids supposed to ride this bus,

1128
00:41:16,760 --> 00:41:19,680
and this was like nine of the defense's starters,

1129
00:41:19,680 --> 00:41:21,320
and about five of the office's starters

1130
00:41:21,320 --> 00:41:22,920
supposed to be on this bus,

1131
00:41:22,920 --> 00:41:26,600
well, the guy that drives the bus, he gets there at 2,

1132
00:41:26,600 --> 00:41:27,920
well, he picks up three or four kids,

1133
00:41:27,920 --> 00:41:29,640
he thinks that's his load,

1134
00:41:29,640 --> 00:41:32,240
so he just takes them back to the school,

1135
00:41:32,240 --> 00:41:34,320
well, when he gets back to the school, all the coaches,

1136
00:41:34,320 --> 00:41:36,520
you know how it is, you got a Saturday game too,

1137
00:41:36,520 --> 00:41:39,040
you know, they're fixing to go to a pre-game meal,

1138
00:41:39,040 --> 00:41:40,080
and they're kind of getting around,

1139
00:41:40,080 --> 00:41:41,960
and they're getting all the things together,

1140
00:41:41,960 --> 00:41:42,960
you know, this kind of stuff,

1141
00:41:42,960 --> 00:41:44,160
because they're going on the roads,

1142
00:41:44,160 --> 00:41:45,800
they gotta get all the bags packed and everything,

1143
00:41:45,800 --> 00:41:49,320
they're leaving like at 4.30 or 4.00 to go to Terrestate,

1144
00:41:49,320 --> 00:41:53,480
and maybe 7.00, and they look up, they said,

1145
00:41:53,480 --> 00:41:54,840
where's everybody at?

1146
00:41:54,840 --> 00:41:57,440
They said, and the guy goes, this was all that was on the bus,

1147
00:41:57,440 --> 00:41:59,880
he goes, what do you mean, that's all that was on the bus,

1148
00:41:59,880 --> 00:42:01,280
and the guy, and they looked at the watch,

1149
00:42:01,280 --> 00:42:02,680
and they realized the guy went down there early,

1150
00:42:02,680 --> 00:42:04,040
and the other kids were there,

1151
00:42:04,040 --> 00:42:07,160
so all the kids showed up after the bus had left,

1152
00:42:07,160 --> 00:42:09,080
and then they hung around, and she got frustrated,

1153
00:42:09,080 --> 00:42:12,640
and they all just left, so now the kids have all gone back home,

1154
00:42:12,640 --> 00:42:14,760
and walked back home, and rode the bike back home,

1155
00:42:14,760 --> 00:42:17,560
they all left, and then we got a Saturday night game,

1156
00:42:17,560 --> 00:42:20,040
we're leaving in less than an hour,

1157
00:42:20,040 --> 00:42:21,400
and we don't have any players,

1158
00:42:21,400 --> 00:42:23,720
all the kids are having golf scattered,

1159
00:42:23,720 --> 00:42:26,640
so the coaches, you know, they're in panic mode now,

1160
00:42:26,640 --> 00:42:29,400
it's a sense of urgency, so they all jump in their vehicles,

1161
00:42:29,400 --> 00:42:31,000
and they just go run down to West Point,

1162
00:42:31,000 --> 00:42:33,880
which is like 12 miles away, you know, in the interstate,

1163
00:42:33,880 --> 00:42:35,520
probably breaking every, you know,

1164
00:42:35,520 --> 00:42:38,560
while they can to get down there, you know, speed limit-wise,

1165
00:42:38,560 --> 00:42:41,160
and they get down there, and, you know,

1166
00:42:41,160 --> 00:42:44,200
they find this kid, find that kid, they can't find this kid,

1167
00:42:44,200 --> 00:42:47,320
so they're scattered all over the place,

1168
00:42:47,320 --> 00:42:51,240
well, down there in a little project area over there,

1169
00:42:51,240 --> 00:42:52,760
that's where a lot of those kids live,

1170
00:42:52,760 --> 00:42:54,880
so the one coach kind of knew that area real good,

1171
00:42:54,880 --> 00:42:56,680
he just parked his vehicle and started walking,

1172
00:42:56,680 --> 00:42:58,600
because he knew, we all knew when I coached that,

1173
00:42:58,600 --> 00:43:01,560
well, you know, which little apartment they all lived in,

1174
00:43:01,560 --> 00:43:04,080
you know, we'd been taking those kids home so many times,

1175
00:43:04,080 --> 00:43:07,320
well, he goes down in this little back alley corner

1176
00:43:07,320 --> 00:43:09,680
where people used to kind of congregate sometimes,

1177
00:43:09,680 --> 00:43:12,920
and there's about six guys over there in this corner,

1178
00:43:12,920 --> 00:43:14,600
over there in this little alley,

1179
00:43:14,600 --> 00:43:16,440
and he recognizes his linebacker's over there,

1180
00:43:16,440 --> 00:43:19,600
this kid's like 230 linebacker, he's a stud,

1181
00:43:19,600 --> 00:43:21,280
and he walks over and when he,

1182
00:43:21,280 --> 00:43:24,640
and the kid's name was Babboose,

1183
00:43:24,640 --> 00:43:26,320
he came to, you know, he's a dog,

1184
00:43:26,320 --> 00:43:28,640
and this guy was the house for the defense,

1185
00:43:28,640 --> 00:43:32,520
and Babboose's got two dice in his hand,

1186
00:43:32,520 --> 00:43:34,080
and about $200 in his hand,

1187
00:43:34,080 --> 00:43:36,520
one hand he got two of them, about 200 bucks in the other hand,

1188
00:43:36,520 --> 00:43:38,440
and he's gambling, he's on the road,

1189
00:43:38,440 --> 00:43:42,720
and the coach goes, Babboose, we gotta go,

1190
00:43:42,720 --> 00:43:45,800
since this is Riverdale, we gotta go on the road,

1191
00:43:45,800 --> 00:43:47,800
he goes, coach, you go have to wait for a little bit,

1192
00:43:47,800 --> 00:43:49,360
because I'm on the road right now,

1193
00:43:49,360 --> 00:43:51,000
so he's throwing dice and winning money,

1194
00:43:51,000 --> 00:43:53,160
he's like, Babboose, we gotta go,

1195
00:43:53,160 --> 00:43:56,120
he's trying to tell the kid how to go,

1196
00:43:56,120 --> 00:43:58,440
and you know what I mean?

1197
00:43:58,440 --> 00:44:01,480
We gotta go, so this is one of those days where,

1198
00:44:01,480 --> 00:44:02,520
I don't know, and they actually,

1199
00:44:02,520 --> 00:44:04,320
when I ate two of that, that was one of the guys,

1200
00:44:04,320 --> 00:44:06,760
they lost, I think they probably should have won that one,

1201
00:44:06,760 --> 00:44:08,800
but they couldn't find half the damn go team

1202
00:44:08,800 --> 00:44:10,840
when the bus driver messed up.

1203
00:44:10,840 --> 00:44:14,000
This is the kind of stuff that the normal person

1204
00:44:14,000 --> 00:44:15,520
that sits in the stands on Friday night,

1205
00:44:15,520 --> 00:44:16,680
pays eight dollars for a ticket,

1206
00:44:16,680 --> 00:44:18,800
they have no clue you're going through all this during the week,

1207
00:44:18,800 --> 00:44:21,760
you know, try to just round up kids and get them there.

1208
00:44:21,760 --> 00:44:23,200
Well, some of my favorite times

1209
00:44:23,200 --> 00:44:24,680
after I left Carroll County,

1210
00:44:24,680 --> 00:44:27,040
because I remember you used to bring in,

1211
00:44:27,040 --> 00:44:30,880
you still took the LaGrange Daily Times,

1212
00:44:30,880 --> 00:44:34,000
the actual paper, and you used to read

1213
00:44:34,000 --> 00:44:36,400
the police blotter to me,

1214
00:44:36,400 --> 00:44:41,320
and we would just get tickled with the level of writing,

1215
00:44:41,320 --> 00:44:44,360
and the way the guy said whatever, you know,

1216
00:44:44,360 --> 00:44:47,800
two women got into a fight out in the Dollar General

1217
00:44:47,800 --> 00:44:51,640
parking lot, and she was beat about the face and neck,

1218
00:44:51,640 --> 00:44:52,480
or whatever.

1219
00:44:52,480 --> 00:44:54,760
They would beat repeatedly about the face and head,

1220
00:44:54,760 --> 00:44:56,840
that was their favorite line.

1221
00:44:56,840 --> 00:44:58,160
One thing about the Grays, George,

1222
00:44:58,160 --> 00:45:00,040
now people don't have a fight down there.

1223
00:45:00,040 --> 00:45:03,840
I mean, like, they were not afraid to throw hands down there.

1224
00:45:03,840 --> 00:45:06,240
Probably why they're so good at football.

1225
00:45:06,240 --> 00:45:08,600
Well, that's probably true.

1226
00:45:08,600 --> 00:45:10,400
That was what they bought, you know,

1227
00:45:10,400 --> 00:45:12,520
by kids down there, they knew how to fight.

1228
00:45:12,520 --> 00:45:15,000
We never had to worry about kids being physical.

1229
00:45:15,000 --> 00:45:17,920
They could all run, and they didn't mind striking it.

1230
00:45:17,920 --> 00:45:19,520
That sometimes getting them to play together

1231
00:45:19,520 --> 00:45:20,760
was a challenge,

1232
00:45:20,760 --> 00:45:23,760
but that other part, you don't have to worry about you.

1233
00:45:23,760 --> 00:45:25,880
You know, we had a corn one year

1234
00:45:25,880 --> 00:45:28,640
that was a really good player on our dunk team,

1235
00:45:28,640 --> 00:45:32,440
and he got into some trouble, some kind of domestic deal,

1236
00:45:32,440 --> 00:45:37,280
and that whole season, we played us in 2001.

1237
00:45:37,280 --> 00:45:40,040
That whole year, we had to go offense first

1238
00:45:40,040 --> 00:45:41,840
on Monday's and Wednesday's,

1239
00:45:41,840 --> 00:45:44,160
because he had 10-angle management classes.

1240
00:45:44,160 --> 00:45:47,440
So, I mean, that was one corner,

1241
00:45:47,440 --> 00:45:51,320
another corner led to recent interceptions,

1242
00:45:51,320 --> 00:45:54,800
and that joke we made like 420 on the SAT.

1243
00:45:54,800 --> 00:45:58,840
Great little player, and took the SAT and made 420.

1244
00:45:58,840 --> 00:46:01,080
They gave you 400 points for signing up,

1245
00:46:01,080 --> 00:46:04,960
but the thing about it was the kid was actually an intelligent kid.

1246
00:46:04,960 --> 00:46:06,760
I just don't think he knew how to task him,

1247
00:46:06,760 --> 00:46:09,200
and anyhow, he ended up getting in college,

1248
00:46:09,200 --> 00:46:11,080
played four years, played two years,

1249
00:46:11,080 --> 00:46:13,440
I think, at a Jukko, then two more years,

1250
00:46:13,440 --> 00:46:15,200
and decided we were going to end up playing at a Canadian League

1251
00:46:15,200 --> 00:46:16,360
for about three years,

1252
00:46:16,360 --> 00:46:19,200
but we had one corner that was anger management,

1253
00:46:19,200 --> 00:46:21,120
the other corner was a 420,

1254
00:46:21,120 --> 00:46:22,440
and then the free safety,

1255
00:46:22,440 --> 00:46:25,640
who ended up playing major cost football,

1256
00:46:25,640 --> 00:46:29,040
we had a kid, I mean, the first day of practice,

1257
00:46:29,040 --> 00:46:30,480
he didn't show up,

1258
00:46:30,480 --> 00:46:33,960
and this kid ain't missed a workout or a practice in three years,

1259
00:46:33,960 --> 00:46:34,880
and he's not there.

1260
00:46:34,880 --> 00:46:36,560
He's the only kid we had to play both ways that year.

1261
00:46:36,560 --> 00:46:39,200
He was our faculty tell about in our start of the free safety,

1262
00:46:39,200 --> 00:46:41,360
and he's stuck now.

1263
00:46:41,360 --> 00:46:42,600
This was his junior year.

1264
00:46:42,600 --> 00:46:44,960
He ain't missed a day in the first two years he was there.

1265
00:46:44,960 --> 00:46:46,200
He's not there.

1266
00:46:46,200 --> 00:46:47,960
And it's like August 1st, the first day,

1267
00:46:47,960 --> 00:46:49,440
you know how everybody's geeked up the first day,

1268
00:46:49,440 --> 00:46:50,560
but he's not there.

1269
00:46:50,560 --> 00:46:52,960
So, second day didn't show up.

1270
00:46:52,960 --> 00:46:55,040
So, we're calling him, we can't find him,

1271
00:46:55,040 --> 00:46:56,280
talk to mama.

1272
00:46:56,280 --> 00:46:57,800
Mama's like, Coach, how are we?

1273
00:46:57,800 --> 00:46:59,600
He's there, this is Joker, he's sorry.

1274
00:46:59,600 --> 00:47:01,160
I tell you what he's doing, I don't know what he's doing,

1275
00:47:01,160 --> 00:47:04,600
but anyhow, we go down there and find out.

1276
00:47:04,600 --> 00:47:07,200
He's been shocked up with some 28-year-old woman,

1277
00:47:07,200 --> 00:47:08,800
about a mile from where he lived,

1278
00:47:08,800 --> 00:47:10,440
and she doesn't, you know, got hold of him,

1279
00:47:10,440 --> 00:47:12,480
and he's like, this is the whole lot

1280
00:47:12,480 --> 00:47:14,280
that's going on here, this is the second-court guy,

1281
00:47:14,280 --> 00:47:16,880
and he's a lot better than football right now.

1282
00:47:16,880 --> 00:47:21,000
So, you know, and we've had no other instances of that.

1283
00:47:21,000 --> 00:47:24,040
I know when I coached wrestling, it's true.

1284
00:47:24,040 --> 00:47:25,600
This is a good one, I don't know if I've touched that,

1285
00:47:25,600 --> 00:47:27,880
but I was an assistant wrestling coach,

1286
00:47:27,880 --> 00:47:31,080
and our wrestling program was like nine times state champions.

1287
00:47:31,080 --> 00:47:33,680
The coach was a character now.

1288
00:47:33,680 --> 00:47:35,320
I mean, he never met anybody like him.

1289
00:47:35,320 --> 00:47:37,680
He was a lot of type A personality,

1290
00:47:37,680 --> 00:47:40,040
would bend and break and circle in every role.

1291
00:47:40,040 --> 00:47:42,080
He didn't mind doing it.

1292
00:47:42,080 --> 00:47:45,280
But we had wrestling over Christmas holidays.

1293
00:47:45,280 --> 00:47:47,120
We were probably having a tournament,

1294
00:47:47,120 --> 00:47:48,760
and we go to this big two-day tournament,

1295
00:47:48,760 --> 00:47:52,400
they got it, McIntosh, December 22nd, 23rd.

1296
00:47:52,400 --> 00:47:54,120
So it was right before the holiday,

1297
00:47:54,120 --> 00:47:56,480
and we took the team up there, we competed,

1298
00:47:56,480 --> 00:47:58,120
we came back, dropped everybody off,

1299
00:47:58,120 --> 00:48:01,280
you know, we'll see, I think we're gonna meet back on the 26th.

1300
00:48:01,280 --> 00:48:03,560
So he won't give them the next two days off.

1301
00:48:03,560 --> 00:48:05,360
Well, we had two kids that showed up,

1302
00:48:05,360 --> 00:48:06,880
and I didn't know beans about wrestling.

1303
00:48:06,880 --> 00:48:08,600
I mean, he had a legitimate assistant coach

1304
00:48:08,600 --> 00:48:11,000
at the wrestling farm, and coached him for a while.

1305
00:48:11,000 --> 00:48:12,680
So he had, he didn't need me,

1306
00:48:12,680 --> 00:48:14,000
only he needed me for was to make sure

1307
00:48:14,000 --> 00:48:15,360
the football players were there.

1308
00:48:15,360 --> 00:48:17,960
And that was my job, make sure the football guys were there.

1309
00:48:17,960 --> 00:48:20,760
And I could kind of coach the heavyweights a little bit

1310
00:48:20,760 --> 00:48:22,360
because they were all in alignment.

1311
00:48:22,360 --> 00:48:25,240
And that guy, two kids that showed.

1312
00:48:25,240 --> 00:48:26,480
So he's perturbed, though,

1313
00:48:26,480 --> 00:48:28,480
because that's kind of my job to make sure they were there.

1314
00:48:28,480 --> 00:48:31,280
So I try to call them, they can't get hold of them,

1315
00:48:31,280 --> 00:48:32,360
get anybody to answer the phone.

1316
00:48:32,360 --> 00:48:34,760
So the next day, they don't show back in again.

1317
00:48:34,760 --> 00:48:36,840
So he's like, go down there and find him.

1318
00:48:36,840 --> 00:48:38,800
Well, I said, I'm gonna call him around one more time.

1319
00:48:38,800 --> 00:48:41,120
So I called, I called the Lewitti grandmother.

1320
00:48:41,120 --> 00:48:43,560
So I called grandma and I said,

1321
00:48:43,560 --> 00:48:45,440
I said, ma'am, I said, this is Coach Thoreau

1322
00:48:45,440 --> 00:48:46,280
at the high school.

1323
00:48:46,280 --> 00:48:49,680
I said, I hadn't seen, and I'm gonna use her name,

1324
00:48:49,680 --> 00:48:52,240
I'm gonna use her name, but I said, I hadn't seen dogs.

1325
00:48:52,240 --> 00:48:55,200
These two kids, the last couple of days of practice,

1326
00:48:55,200 --> 00:48:57,800
and we just tried to check on them, make sure they okay.

1327
00:48:57,800 --> 00:49:00,680
And she goes, oh, coach, don't worry about it.

1328
00:49:00,680 --> 00:49:02,680
The boys are doing good.

1329
00:49:02,680 --> 00:49:03,680
And it was that, in principle,

1330
00:49:03,680 --> 00:49:06,280
I was like in the 90s, we had like a record coach,

1331
00:49:06,280 --> 00:49:09,360
they got over like 30 degrees the whole week.

1332
00:49:09,360 --> 00:49:11,400
I mean, it was like the low would be 14 every day,

1333
00:49:11,400 --> 00:49:13,800
and I'd be like 28, it was brutal.

1334
00:49:13,800 --> 00:49:18,800
And I said, ma'am, I said, I said, where are they at?

1335
00:49:19,920 --> 00:49:24,240
She goes, oh, they up there at a hotel in Atlanta.

1336
00:49:24,240 --> 00:49:26,280
The rest of the team went to the tournament

1337
00:49:26,280 --> 00:49:29,080
and they got the bus locked up, as we just said,

1338
00:49:29,080 --> 00:49:32,560
the bus locked up and they couldn't get back,

1339
00:49:32,560 --> 00:49:34,920
but the schools got them at a hotel and they feed them

1340
00:49:34,920 --> 00:49:37,640
and the boys are fine, they're gonna be home in a few days.

1341
00:49:37,640 --> 00:49:39,440
And I'm like, wait a minute,

1342
00:49:39,440 --> 00:49:41,800
I was on that same bus and we got back fine.

1343
00:49:41,800 --> 00:49:43,080
And I know they got off the bus,

1344
00:49:43,080 --> 00:49:44,440
it's all in the left.

1345
00:49:44,440 --> 00:49:46,560
Well, same thing.

1346
00:49:46,560 --> 00:49:48,160
Go investigate down there,

1347
00:49:48,160 --> 00:49:50,880
them jokers done found them a couple 30 year old gals

1348
00:49:50,880 --> 00:49:54,880
down there and they were just enjoying life.

1349
00:49:54,880 --> 00:49:56,720
You know what I mean?

1350
00:49:56,720 --> 00:49:58,280
It was always, so, you know,

1351
00:49:58,280 --> 00:50:00,200
we had the same thing with Billarick at one time.

1352
00:50:00,200 --> 00:50:02,760
Kid goes missing for about three days

1353
00:50:02,760 --> 00:50:04,560
and not grateful about playing.

1354
00:50:04,560 --> 00:50:06,000
They had a bunch of foreclosed houses

1355
00:50:06,000 --> 00:50:07,240
over there around the old school.

1356
00:50:07,240 --> 00:50:08,840
Now they're pulling those houses down now,

1357
00:50:08,840 --> 00:50:10,960
but I think he got off the bus one day

1358
00:50:10,960 --> 00:50:12,680
and instead of taking a right,

1359
00:50:12,680 --> 00:50:14,400
going toward the school building,

1360
00:50:14,400 --> 00:50:17,160
he took a left and went toward those foreclosed houses.

1361
00:50:17,160 --> 00:50:18,400
We missed him for about a week.

1362
00:50:18,400 --> 00:50:21,160
He was some gal down there that I didn't call home.

1363
00:50:21,160 --> 00:50:23,760
So you got about a lot of,

1364
00:50:23,760 --> 00:50:24,920
there's a lot of things you got to balance

1365
00:50:24,920 --> 00:50:26,360
some of these places.

1366
00:50:26,360 --> 00:50:29,120
That was, those were interesting,

1367
00:50:29,120 --> 00:50:30,560
interesting conversations,

1368
00:50:30,560 --> 00:50:32,680
but Grandma didn't have a clue,

1369
00:50:32,680 --> 00:50:35,520
that's for hard, but the boys had done,

1370
00:50:35,520 --> 00:50:37,920
they didn't convince her that they're fine,

1371
00:50:37,920 --> 00:50:40,680
they're getting fed and the schools got them

1372
00:50:40,680 --> 00:50:42,640
to take care of and they'll be home

1373
00:50:42,640 --> 00:50:43,800
soon as the weather breaks.

1374
00:50:43,800 --> 00:50:45,120
I think get them a new bus.

1375
00:50:45,120 --> 00:50:46,040
There you go.

1376
00:50:46,040 --> 00:50:47,600
I mean, fair enough.

1377
00:50:47,600 --> 00:50:49,760
Yeah, so, and I never talked about it

1378
00:50:49,760 --> 00:50:52,240
to Grandma as more like, I just told her,

1379
00:50:52,240 --> 00:50:54,200
she's gotta get some practice, let's go.

1380
00:50:54,200 --> 00:50:55,040
We got that.

1381
00:50:55,040 --> 00:50:57,640
You know what I mean?

1382
00:50:57,640 --> 00:50:59,640
You can't really get totally mad at the kid.

1383
00:50:59,640 --> 00:51:01,880
You can't act like you're mad at him,

1384
00:51:01,880 --> 00:51:03,160
but really true, like, you know,

1385
00:51:03,160 --> 00:51:05,520
I get what you're telling him from, you know what I mean?

1386
00:51:05,520 --> 00:51:07,880
So it was always funny.

1387
00:51:07,880 --> 00:51:09,400
That old wrestling coach we had,

1388
00:51:12,520 --> 00:51:15,920
he was a recruiter too now, and always,

1389
00:51:15,920 --> 00:51:20,480
and when they hosted the Olympics in Atlanta in 96,

1390
00:51:20,480 --> 00:51:22,760
the South African Olympic team,

1391
00:51:22,760 --> 00:51:25,040
used to come out of practice at the Olympic,

1392
00:51:25,040 --> 00:51:27,680
or the practice facility, true, for wrestling,

1393
00:51:27,680 --> 00:51:29,360
and they were housed in the middle of the Grange College,

1394
00:51:29,360 --> 00:51:31,800
so they were practicing there for like four, five months.

1395
00:51:31,800 --> 00:51:34,600
Well, he got to know all those international coaches

1396
00:51:34,600 --> 00:51:36,600
for the South African team.

1397
00:51:36,600 --> 00:51:39,320
Well, then a little behold, about three, four years later,

1398
00:51:39,320 --> 00:51:42,880
we got to see foreign exchange students from South Africa,

1399
00:51:42,880 --> 00:51:44,680
and apparently they were like, you know,

1400
00:51:44,680 --> 00:51:46,600
younger kids then, I don't know how they connected

1401
00:51:46,600 --> 00:51:49,560
with these coaches, but they had rolled in our scope.

1402
00:51:49,560 --> 00:51:51,440
And like, these guys aren't ranked number one

1403
00:51:51,440 --> 00:51:52,760
in the state of Georgia.

1404
00:51:52,760 --> 00:51:54,760
These guys aren't ranked number one in the world.

1405
00:51:54,760 --> 00:51:58,160
I mean, they're like 100, and it was like 170 pounds,

1406
00:51:58,160 --> 00:51:59,800
that was like 152 or something,

1407
00:51:59,800 --> 00:52:01,840
but I mean, they're just drilling people.

1408
00:52:01,840 --> 00:52:04,080
Nobody can even come close to those guys.

1409
00:52:04,080 --> 00:52:06,400
So their junior year, they both go undefeated,

1410
00:52:06,400 --> 00:52:08,920
team wins the state, the whole nine yards.

1411
00:52:08,920 --> 00:52:11,960
And then the next year, of course,

1412
00:52:11,960 --> 00:52:14,720
foreign exchange students, I don't know what the rule is now,

1413
00:52:14,720 --> 00:52:15,760
but the rule is you're going to ask you,

1414
00:52:15,760 --> 00:52:18,160
is you got one year and you're eligible,

1415
00:52:18,160 --> 00:52:22,040
and then you can't go beyond one year with us,

1416
00:52:22,040 --> 00:52:23,800
but with the foreign exchange.

1417
00:52:23,800 --> 00:52:27,480
So they show up to school in August the next year.

1418
00:52:27,480 --> 00:52:30,040
And I asked the coaches, I said,

1419
00:52:30,040 --> 00:52:32,400
I thought they couldn't wrestle this year.

1420
00:52:32,400 --> 00:52:34,120
I said, I don't worry about it.

1421
00:52:34,120 --> 00:52:36,360
I'm gonna get to take care of them, get a fish, so.

1422
00:52:36,360 --> 00:52:37,200
I said, what are you talking about?

1423
00:52:37,200 --> 00:52:38,320
I said, I went to high school.

1424
00:52:38,320 --> 00:52:39,360
I said, everybody knows that rule,

1425
00:52:39,360 --> 00:52:41,080
Darrell said, how are you gonna do this?

1426
00:52:41,080 --> 00:52:41,920
You know, I don't worry about it.

1427
00:52:41,920 --> 00:52:43,960
I'm like, I'll take care of it.

1428
00:52:43,960 --> 00:52:46,040
That joker, he either knew somebody

1429
00:52:46,040 --> 00:52:48,080
that had a rental property or he had some rental property,

1430
00:52:48,080 --> 00:52:50,240
but he knew somebody was a traitor.

1431
00:52:50,240 --> 00:52:53,800
He got those jokers lined up,

1432
00:52:53,800 --> 00:52:56,280
and they were like two girls.

1433
00:52:56,280 --> 00:52:57,680
They were like in their 20s,

1434
00:52:57,680 --> 00:53:01,280
and these little, just 20 young women,

1435
00:53:01,280 --> 00:53:04,080
and they agreed to marry these kids.

1436
00:53:04,080 --> 00:53:06,280
They were gonna marry these two high school seniors,

1437
00:53:06,280 --> 00:53:09,160
South African kids, so that they could become

1438
00:53:09,160 --> 00:53:10,880
American citizens.

1439
00:53:10,880 --> 00:53:13,160
And then under the white book,

1440
00:53:13,160 --> 00:53:15,240
towards the high school, they would have to recognize them

1441
00:53:15,240 --> 00:53:17,400
as, you know, they were not gonna fall

1442
00:53:17,400 --> 00:53:20,360
under the foreign exchange deal.

1443
00:53:20,360 --> 00:53:21,760
Now they were gonna be US citizens.

1444
00:53:21,760 --> 00:53:23,520
He's gonna marry these girls,

1445
00:53:23,520 --> 00:53:25,160
line up to get married.

1446
00:53:25,160 --> 00:53:26,680
They're like, what do you mean you gonna do that?

1447
00:53:26,680 --> 00:53:27,520
And he goes, how do I worry about it?

1448
00:53:27,520 --> 00:53:30,520
He goes, we'll get them an old and March after season.

1449
00:53:30,520 --> 00:53:33,760
He goes, so, I mean, he would do it.

1450
00:53:33,760 --> 00:53:35,480
I don't, that kind of blew up in his face.

1451
00:53:35,480 --> 00:53:36,600
I don't think that ever worked out,

1452
00:53:36,600 --> 00:53:39,560
but he actually had two of these girls

1453
00:53:39,560 --> 00:53:41,120
that he probably taught at school

1454
00:53:41,120 --> 00:53:43,440
that were just got a, you know, young women.

1455
00:53:43,440 --> 00:53:44,720
They were just looking to have some fun.

1456
00:53:44,720 --> 00:53:45,560
They're gonna marry them,

1457
00:53:45,560 --> 00:53:46,920
because they were both actually kids.

1458
00:53:46,920 --> 00:53:48,200
They were both old and poor.

1459
00:53:48,200 --> 00:53:50,320
And one of them probably like a male model, you know,

1460
00:53:50,320 --> 00:53:52,880
he's like one of those guys, like Tom Brady, you know.

1461
00:53:52,880 --> 00:53:55,120
And so they didn't have on shorts of girls

1462
00:53:55,120 --> 00:53:56,480
that were clamored after them guys,

1463
00:53:56,480 --> 00:53:57,880
anyhow, can win.

1464
00:53:57,880 --> 00:54:00,880
So he had two grown women that were gonna marry them,

1465
00:54:00,880 --> 00:54:02,440
they were gonna move in Australia.

1466
00:54:02,440 --> 00:54:04,560
And they were all gonna live together and have a big time.

1467
00:54:04,560 --> 00:54:06,920
They were gonna get them through the wrestling season.

1468
00:54:06,920 --> 00:54:09,240
I was like, no man, I don't think that's gonna work.

1469
00:54:09,240 --> 00:54:10,080
No.

1470
00:54:10,080 --> 00:54:13,960
But he wouldn't do anything, he couldn't win a match.

1471
00:54:13,960 --> 00:54:14,800
That's for sure.

1472
00:54:14,800 --> 00:54:19,120
There was no rule.

1473
00:54:19,120 --> 00:54:20,960
He wouldn't buy and break it.

1474
00:54:20,960 --> 00:54:23,120
I promise you, he couldn't win.

1475
00:54:23,120 --> 00:54:25,800
But yeah, true, definitely used an interesting place.

1476
00:54:25,800 --> 00:54:28,720
So after your second standing parry,

1477
00:54:28,720 --> 00:54:32,920
you went back to Mount Zion, Carrollton,

1478
00:54:32,920 --> 00:54:35,680
and to finish off your career.

1479
00:54:35,680 --> 00:54:38,480
Yeah, I had moved, you know, like four times

1480
00:54:38,480 --> 00:54:39,560
seven years that point.

1481
00:54:39,560 --> 00:54:42,040
I said, I'm not going in, this is it for me.

1482
00:54:42,040 --> 00:54:42,960
Because you know, gotta remember,

1483
00:54:42,960 --> 00:54:44,160
I got late starting coaching.

1484
00:54:44,160 --> 00:54:47,320
So I mean, I was already in my, it's like 53 then.

1485
00:54:47,320 --> 00:54:48,520
It's like seven years ago.

1486
00:54:48,520 --> 00:54:51,440
So I wanted to finish up in one place

1487
00:54:51,440 --> 00:54:53,960
and Brad Gordon just got hit coaching at Mount Zion.

1488
00:54:53,960 --> 00:54:55,480
He had been to DC.

1489
00:54:55,480 --> 00:54:57,600
And if somebody would have told me in 2011

1490
00:54:57,600 --> 00:54:59,320
that when I left the league,

1491
00:54:59,320 --> 00:55:00,840
I was gonna come back and finish at Mount Zion.

1492
00:55:00,840 --> 00:55:02,400
I said, they ain't no way.

1493
00:55:02,400 --> 00:55:06,280
Cause Mount Zion was a football, you know,

1494
00:55:06,280 --> 00:55:09,040
it was a football, you know, it was a door map.

1495
00:55:09,040 --> 00:55:10,400
It was a pretty bad program.

1496
00:55:10,400 --> 00:55:13,160
It just never had really been very consistent,

1497
00:55:13,160 --> 00:55:15,760
but it just was a tough, tough place.

1498
00:55:15,760 --> 00:55:17,520
But they had come in there building these schools

1499
00:55:17,520 --> 00:55:19,680
and they had got a coach of staff

1500
00:55:19,680 --> 00:55:21,560
coming in and really worked at it hard.

1501
00:55:21,560 --> 00:55:23,240
I think the prior coaches worked hard too.

1502
00:55:23,240 --> 00:55:24,080
They did a good job,

1503
00:55:24,080 --> 00:55:26,040
they just didn't have much to work with.

1504
00:55:26,040 --> 00:55:28,080
They came in and kind of got that room resurrected

1505
00:55:28,080 --> 00:55:29,240
and had some good years.

1506
00:55:29,240 --> 00:55:31,320
So Brad was the DC then.

1507
00:55:31,320 --> 00:55:34,040
And then he got the head coach job to that 17.

1508
00:55:34,040 --> 00:55:35,600
And I've been here ever since.

1509
00:55:35,600 --> 00:55:40,560
So you saw us play down at a Clans one night.

1510
00:55:40,560 --> 00:55:41,920
I think you were in early then,

1511
00:55:41,920 --> 00:55:43,080
y'all drove on and watched us play

1512
00:55:43,080 --> 00:55:45,040
in semi finals that year.

1513
00:55:45,040 --> 00:55:46,840
So that was an interesting team.

1514
00:55:46,840 --> 00:55:47,680
We had that year too.

1515
00:55:47,680 --> 00:55:49,040
We had some characters on that team,

1516
00:55:49,040 --> 00:55:50,960
but we had some good football players.

1517
00:55:52,120 --> 00:55:54,400
That was the kid, that was the team I told you about.

1518
00:55:54,400 --> 00:55:56,920
We had the kid that was the center for me.

1519
00:55:56,920 --> 00:56:00,400
And real tenacious, little gritty little kid,

1520
00:56:00,400 --> 00:56:03,480
but his mom was the principal and the kid was brilliant.

1521
00:56:03,480 --> 00:56:06,720
He was smart, valedictorian, but he was autistic.

1522
00:56:06,720 --> 00:56:09,240
And coaching him was different.

1523
00:56:09,240 --> 00:56:11,360
And a great kid and also,

1524
00:56:11,360 --> 00:56:14,840
I mean, just wonderful family, great people,

1525
00:56:14,840 --> 00:56:17,440
but coaching him was a challenge.

1526
00:56:17,440 --> 00:56:20,880
And he was full blown autistic.

1527
00:56:20,880 --> 00:56:24,600
So when he would have a moment, he'd have a moment now.

1528
00:56:24,600 --> 00:56:27,480
And we were practicing one day and his granddaddy,

1529
00:56:27,480 --> 00:56:29,000
we used to go out and watch practice all the time.

1530
00:56:29,000 --> 00:56:30,360
And his stadium's named after him.

1531
00:56:30,360 --> 00:56:32,160
He was a former coach there in the 70s.

1532
00:56:32,160 --> 00:56:34,600
He was a schoolboy, man for like 20 years.

1533
00:56:34,600 --> 00:56:36,640
And we're in the middle of practice one day.

1534
00:56:36,640 --> 00:56:38,280
And he was argumentative.

1535
00:56:38,280 --> 00:56:40,920
Cause you know, that's part of his autism was, you know,

1536
00:56:40,920 --> 00:56:43,160
he was, he would ask a lot of questions.

1537
00:56:43,160 --> 00:56:44,640
I would say he's argumentative,

1538
00:56:44,640 --> 00:56:46,680
but he always wanted to ask a lot of questions.

1539
00:56:46,680 --> 00:56:48,400
And you know, in a group period,

1540
00:56:48,400 --> 00:56:50,160
coach office line, you got 15 minutes,

1541
00:56:50,160 --> 00:56:53,200
maybe 20 if you're lucky, fundamentals and all.

1542
00:56:53,200 --> 00:56:54,520
And you're trying to get all this stuff in

1543
00:56:54,520 --> 00:56:56,920
and he wanna stop and ask you questions.

1544
00:56:56,920 --> 00:56:59,240
And, you know, we'd already been on this a thousand times.

1545
00:56:59,240 --> 00:57:02,320
So we brawn it, we walked it, we talked it, you know,

1546
00:57:02,320 --> 00:57:04,480
put it on the board, everything, you know,

1547
00:57:04,480 --> 00:57:07,640
handouts every week, you know, so the rules like change,

1548
00:57:07,640 --> 00:57:08,480
you know what I mean?

1549
00:57:08,480 --> 00:57:11,240
But, you know, him being in his state of mind,

1550
00:57:11,240 --> 00:57:13,600
it was just, you know, it was just different.

1551
00:57:13,600 --> 00:57:16,320
And we're out discriminating one day

1552
00:57:16,320 --> 00:57:18,840
or actually doing team offense.

1553
00:57:18,840 --> 00:57:22,000
And the D scout team lined up wrong or something.

1554
00:57:22,000 --> 00:57:25,640
And whatever we were told to play before,

1555
00:57:25,640 --> 00:57:28,480
I had to go tell them, I said, go block back side, you know,

1556
00:57:28,480 --> 00:57:30,400
and it would blow his mind.

1557
00:57:30,400 --> 00:57:32,880
Because anytime he had to have to make a change like that,

1558
00:57:32,880 --> 00:57:34,160
he won the line.

1559
00:57:34,160 --> 00:57:36,120
And right in the middle of the play,

1560
00:57:36,120 --> 00:57:39,120
like the play kind of broke off, it was a big run.

1561
00:57:39,120 --> 00:57:41,880
And right as the back broke through the line,

1562
00:57:41,880 --> 00:57:43,880
he turned around to me and he had just,

1563
00:57:43,880 --> 00:57:46,080
he wanted to, he wanted to go out, he wanted to fight.

1564
00:57:46,080 --> 00:57:49,800
And he goes, Coach, that makes no sense at all.

1565
00:57:49,800 --> 00:57:51,960
And I just went off on the thing, you know,

1566
00:57:51,960 --> 00:57:54,600
I didn't, I didn't really curse you, but I said,

1567
00:57:54,600 --> 00:57:59,040
damn it, Cade, I said, I was coaching under George Dome

1568
00:57:59,040 --> 00:58:01,120
when you were shitting yellow in your diaper.

1569
00:58:01,120 --> 00:58:03,960
So I said, don't you ever question me.

1570
00:58:03,960 --> 00:58:06,240
I said, get your fuck back, you're all a huddle.

1571
00:58:06,240 --> 00:58:07,760
And he looked at me and said, all right, Coach,

1572
00:58:07,760 --> 00:58:09,560
you know, he was gonna do, he was gonna do,

1573
00:58:09,560 --> 00:58:10,520
he was gonna ask me to do,

1574
00:58:10,520 --> 00:58:12,720
he wanted to know why he had to do it.

1575
00:58:12,720 --> 00:58:14,200
And that was just him, you know,

1576
00:58:14,200 --> 00:58:17,920
a great, great kid, he was a pretty little kid,

1577
00:58:17,920 --> 00:58:20,360
but, and he'd never really played before.

1578
00:58:20,360 --> 00:58:22,240
He'd been in a program, but he'd never really played,

1579
00:58:22,240 --> 00:58:25,760
but he was a child to get him going.

1580
00:58:27,280 --> 00:58:30,640
Sometimes we would have an eight hour coach to meet on Sunday

1581
00:58:30,640 --> 00:58:32,320
and four hours over to meet him,

1582
00:58:32,320 --> 00:58:34,960
to make sure that he was getting out.

1583
00:58:34,960 --> 00:58:37,400
Because like I said, he was a struggle for him.

1584
00:58:37,400 --> 00:58:41,280
Football wise, he's already got a cost three,

1585
00:58:41,280 --> 00:58:42,480
he's gonna do well alive,

1586
00:58:42,480 --> 00:58:44,400
but football ain't gonna be anything.

1587
00:58:44,400 --> 00:58:46,800
You've seen that before, you got kids that are,

1588
00:58:46,800 --> 00:58:47,960
you know, they can be a valet tour

1589
00:58:47,960 --> 00:58:50,400
and the football wise sometimes they struggle.

1590
00:58:50,400 --> 00:58:53,160
And then you got kids that they can pick up football,

1591
00:58:53,160 --> 00:58:55,600
easy, but then they get to classroom and, you know,

1592
00:58:55,600 --> 00:58:56,440
they struggle.

1593
00:58:56,440 --> 00:58:57,880
So that just wasn't his element,

1594
00:58:57,880 --> 00:58:59,880
but he ended up doing a good job for us.

1595
00:58:59,880 --> 00:59:02,280
We had a great year that year, you know,

1596
00:59:02,280 --> 00:59:04,600
but that was the fun, the funny kid on that team.

1597
00:59:04,600 --> 00:59:08,480
He was always, we got a lineman camp the next year

1598
00:59:08,480 --> 00:59:11,600
after he graduated and our kids, for whatever reason,

1599
00:59:11,600 --> 00:59:14,160
they got kind of credit up with Grayson.

1600
00:59:14,160 --> 00:59:15,400
And Grayson, you know,

1601
00:59:15,400 --> 00:59:16,880
Honey Cubs coached there Christian

1602
00:59:16,880 --> 00:59:20,080
and they were power, you know, still all right.

1603
00:59:20,080 --> 00:59:22,840
He had all these, you know, power five guys

1604
00:59:22,840 --> 00:59:24,480
or his office life.

1605
00:59:24,480 --> 00:59:27,240
And all I had was a bunch of dirt dollars from my life.

1606
00:59:27,240 --> 00:59:29,000
We had some pretty little kids, they loved our kids,

1607
00:59:29,000 --> 00:59:31,560
Grayson kids, one of those kids of my life.

1608
00:59:31,560 --> 00:59:32,840
And they were like two different cultures.

1609
00:59:32,840 --> 00:59:36,280
We like, my design kids were mostly rural, poor,

1610
00:59:36,280 --> 00:59:38,440
kind of, you know, you know,

1611
00:59:38,440 --> 00:59:41,760
I mean, just, you know, kids that were just, you know,

1612
00:59:41,760 --> 00:59:44,200
you know, it was a challenge for them.

1613
00:59:44,200 --> 00:59:45,200
And the Grayson kids, you know,

1614
00:59:45,200 --> 00:59:46,520
you kind of got depressed and they were probably

1615
00:59:46,520 --> 00:59:47,360
pretty well to do.

1616
00:59:47,360 --> 00:59:48,360
They lived in good home.

1617
00:59:48,360 --> 00:59:50,760
We had a two or three, you know, cars and rods,

1618
00:59:50,760 --> 00:59:53,520
mom and dad were both educated and they had education.

1619
00:59:53,520 --> 00:59:54,920
They had degrees.

1620
00:59:54,920 --> 00:59:57,880
And this one kid, he's playing for Michigan now.

1621
00:59:57,880 --> 01:00:00,200
He started right after the Big Ten Championship game.

1622
01:00:00,200 --> 01:00:01,080
He comes over to me, he goes,

1623
01:00:01,080 --> 01:00:03,280
hey coach, he goes, where's your center at?

1624
01:00:03,280 --> 01:00:05,640
And I said, I said, his name was Trent Jones.

1625
01:00:05,640 --> 01:00:06,480
I said, Trent, I said,

1626
01:00:06,480 --> 01:00:08,600
where's your center at?

1627
01:00:08,600 --> 01:00:09,920
And he said, I thought he was coming back.

1628
01:00:09,920 --> 01:00:12,480
He goes, man, we were talking about him on the way down here.

1629
01:00:12,480 --> 01:00:13,560
So he was a great kid.

1630
01:00:13,560 --> 01:00:16,000
I mean, he had a personality everybody kind of liked.

1631
01:00:16,000 --> 01:00:17,360
But he was so smart.

1632
01:00:17,360 --> 01:00:19,960
It was hard to really coach him, you know what I mean?

1633
01:00:19,960 --> 01:00:20,960
Cause he was so smart.

1634
01:00:20,960 --> 01:00:22,320
I mean, just way smarter than I am.

1635
01:00:22,320 --> 01:00:23,240
I promise you that.

1636
01:00:23,240 --> 01:00:24,960
Well, I'm glad you said that about,

1637
01:00:24,960 --> 01:00:28,040
about those kids at Lyman camp.

1638
01:00:28,040 --> 01:00:30,680
Cause I know you were a staple at Hodges's.

1639
01:00:30,680 --> 01:00:32,600
Coach Hodges is Lyman camp.

1640
01:00:32,600 --> 01:00:35,160
And just the way things have changed

1641
01:00:35,160 --> 01:00:39,640
since you got in it, in the coaching profession.

1642
01:00:39,640 --> 01:00:42,960
And, you know, I know coach Rhett Parsons

1643
01:00:42,960 --> 01:00:46,120
and a couple of other guys tried,

1644
01:00:46,120 --> 01:00:48,880
they're trying to start a Lyman camp to get,

1645
01:00:48,880 --> 01:00:52,600
get something going again, like what coach Hodges had.

1646
01:00:52,600 --> 01:00:56,280
But I know you were a regular at coach Hodges's camp.

1647
01:00:56,280 --> 01:00:57,120
I was.

1648
01:00:57,120 --> 01:00:59,960
And I was at the,

1649
01:00:59,960 --> 01:01:00,800
I was at the game,

1650
01:01:00,800 --> 01:01:01,880
got one down at Georgia Southern,

1651
01:01:01,880 --> 01:01:03,600
I was at Ferrell last summer.

1652
01:01:03,600 --> 01:01:05,520
I didn't know about that one until after I've already

1653
01:01:05,520 --> 01:01:07,640
kind of committed to go who wanted to check on,

1654
01:01:07,640 --> 01:01:10,200
and Lance Held and Rhett put that one on.

1655
01:01:10,200 --> 01:01:13,040
But, you know, what coach Hodges did was special, man.

1656
01:01:13,040 --> 01:01:14,880
It was unbelievable.

1657
01:01:14,880 --> 01:01:16,480
And you know, he ran a quarterback receiver camp

1658
01:01:16,480 --> 01:01:17,320
a week before that.

1659
01:01:17,320 --> 01:01:19,160
And they would have 275 throughout the kids

1660
01:01:19,160 --> 01:01:20,520
and quarterback receiver camp.

1661
01:01:20,520 --> 01:01:23,880
With the Lyman camp, that was kind of coach Hodges favorite.

1662
01:01:23,880 --> 01:01:26,680
Now I think he had 400 plus kids,

1663
01:01:26,680 --> 01:01:27,920
I don't know how many years in a row,

1664
01:01:27,920 --> 01:01:29,840
probably 20 years running.

1665
01:01:29,840 --> 01:01:32,120
And they started that camp when he was coaching the Southern

1666
01:01:32,120 --> 01:01:32,960
in the early nineties.

1667
01:01:32,960 --> 01:01:35,240
And it ran all the way to COVID year.

1668
01:01:35,240 --> 01:01:37,440
And then since COVID, you know, it's kind of shut down.

1669
01:01:37,440 --> 01:01:39,840
And I think he was getting close to the end anyhow.

1670
01:01:39,840 --> 01:01:41,960
I was hoping that I could get through my career

1671
01:01:41,960 --> 01:01:42,800
with him still doing it,

1672
01:01:42,800 --> 01:01:44,880
but you know, just missed going to that.

1673
01:01:44,880 --> 01:01:48,600
But no, I took seven different schools to coach Hodges camp

1674
01:01:48,600 --> 01:01:50,800
and enjoyed it every time.

1675
01:01:50,800 --> 01:01:52,240
I mean, the great coaches down there,

1676
01:01:52,240 --> 01:01:53,760
kids got a ton of work.

1677
01:01:54,680 --> 01:01:55,880
You couldn't ask for more.

1678
01:01:55,880 --> 01:01:57,040
And it was four nights.

1679
01:01:57,040 --> 01:01:59,520
I mean, they really got a chance to bond together.

1680
01:01:59,520 --> 01:02:02,000
It was a group with the coaching and the reps they got,

1681
01:02:02,000 --> 01:02:03,400
the tempo and the pace.

1682
01:02:03,400 --> 01:02:05,880
And you know, you couldn't beat it.

1683
01:02:05,880 --> 01:02:08,080
He asked me a couple of times early in my career,

1684
01:02:08,080 --> 01:02:09,880
if I wanted to work camp.

1685
01:02:09,880 --> 01:02:11,960
And you know, I'd already just worked

1686
01:02:11,960 --> 01:02:14,120
into three camps in the summer.

1687
01:02:14,120 --> 01:02:15,560
And I said, coach, I said, I'll be honest with you.

1688
01:02:15,560 --> 01:02:18,360
I said, I like to man watch this camp.

1689
01:02:18,360 --> 01:02:20,920
I said, because there's so much you all teach.

1690
01:02:20,920 --> 01:02:23,040
You're like 21 stations to rotate out.

1691
01:02:23,040 --> 01:02:25,320
They go seven stations per practice.

1692
01:02:25,320 --> 01:02:28,160
And they had like 12, 15 minute period each one.

1693
01:02:28,160 --> 01:02:29,400
So they hit on everything.

1694
01:02:29,400 --> 01:02:31,280
No matter why I've been here,

1695
01:02:31,280 --> 01:02:32,920
you can benefit from not going to his camp.

1696
01:02:32,920 --> 01:02:36,000
It was so fundamental base and pass game,

1697
01:02:36,000 --> 01:02:37,440
run game, the whole nine yards.

1698
01:02:37,440 --> 01:02:39,040
So I mean, you think about it,

1699
01:02:41,040 --> 01:02:43,760
every offense has a double team.

1700
01:02:43,760 --> 01:02:46,800
Every offense is going to have a scoop blog.

1701
01:02:46,800 --> 01:02:48,560
And every offense is going to have to buy a linebacker.

1702
01:02:48,560 --> 01:02:50,960
Every offense has got to reach what now block.

1703
01:02:50,960 --> 01:02:53,400
So all that stuff that he was teaching,

1704
01:02:53,400 --> 01:02:54,880
it helped me as a coach.

1705
01:02:54,880 --> 01:02:56,640
I know those first five or six years I went in there,

1706
01:02:56,640 --> 01:02:59,680
heck, I took a note that we sort of like stuff down.

1707
01:02:59,680 --> 01:03:01,400
Coaches would say stuff and I said,

1708
01:03:01,400 --> 01:03:03,520
they'd be teaching the same way I was teaching.

1709
01:03:03,520 --> 01:03:05,400
But maybe that coach is the one I thought

1710
01:03:05,400 --> 01:03:06,760
resonated with that kid a little better.

1711
01:03:06,760 --> 01:03:09,280
So I would try to just learn everything I could

1712
01:03:09,280 --> 01:03:10,600
when I went down there.

1713
01:03:10,600 --> 01:03:12,720
And it was just, that was great experience.

1714
01:03:12,720 --> 01:03:16,000
I think I went, coach, I used to always kind of teach

1715
01:03:16,000 --> 01:03:16,880
because I'd been down there.

1716
01:03:16,880 --> 01:03:18,840
I think he asked me before they to tell him,

1717
01:03:18,840 --> 01:03:22,080
I think I spent 22 summers down there with him.

1718
01:03:22,080 --> 01:03:23,560
Oh, if I'm not mistaken,

1719
01:03:23,560 --> 01:03:25,480
I think the first couple of years were towards Southern

1720
01:03:25,480 --> 01:03:27,280
and after that moved to Middle Georgia.

1721
01:03:27,280 --> 01:03:28,120
It was in Cochrane.

1722
01:03:28,120 --> 01:03:29,720
I think I told everybody, I used to tell them

1723
01:03:29,720 --> 01:03:32,400
about vacation, you know, Spive was a Cochrane Georgia.

1724
01:03:32,400 --> 01:03:35,640
I don't go to Florida, I don't go to Hawaii, I go to Cochrane.

1725
01:03:35,640 --> 01:03:38,360
And they stayed in the Royal Inn Hotel.

1726
01:03:38,360 --> 01:03:39,960
At the Royal Inn.

1727
01:03:39,960 --> 01:03:41,720
Well, the Royal Inn and then we graduated

1728
01:03:41,720 --> 01:03:44,160
to the Cochrane Inn, I think it was.

1729
01:03:44,160 --> 01:03:47,280
Yeah, the Royal Inn hosted us for a long time.

1730
01:03:47,280 --> 01:03:50,280
And that's one thing that I think young coaches,

1731
01:03:50,280 --> 01:03:52,960
these youngings need to understand is,

1732
01:03:52,960 --> 01:03:56,400
you know, they say old dog can't learn new tricks.

1733
01:03:56,400 --> 01:04:00,960
But I know for a fact that you spent 22 years at that

1734
01:04:00,960 --> 01:04:05,760
and you still up until, I don't imagine you'll go this year,

1735
01:04:05,760 --> 01:04:07,960
but you've been going to Coach Roger Holmes'

1736
01:04:07,960 --> 01:04:10,160
Wing T clinic every year.

1737
01:04:10,160 --> 01:04:12,760
I've been to Coach Holmes' clinic probably.

1738
01:04:12,760 --> 01:04:15,840
I think he started that around 0708.

1739
01:04:15,840 --> 01:04:18,920
So he's probably 15 years running.

1740
01:04:18,920 --> 01:04:20,200
I think I missed a year or two

1741
01:04:20,200 --> 01:04:22,120
when I was still coaching track.

1742
01:04:22,120 --> 01:04:24,960
He was doing it in mid-April when he started it

1743
01:04:24,960 --> 01:04:27,960
and they kind of moved into March a few years ago.

1744
01:04:27,960 --> 01:04:29,520
Well, after about three or four years,

1745
01:04:29,520 --> 01:04:31,920
they moved into March, which made it a lot easier for me.

1746
01:04:31,920 --> 01:04:36,920
So I've been to Coach Holmes' clinic probably 12, 13 times

1747
01:04:38,480 --> 01:04:40,440
out of 15 years probably.

1748
01:04:40,440 --> 01:04:42,280
Because he put on a great clinic

1749
01:04:42,280 --> 01:04:45,040
and I was always kind of involved with Wing T,

1750
01:04:45,040 --> 01:04:46,280
most schools I've been at.

1751
01:04:46,280 --> 01:04:51,120
So what he did was, he did a great job with that too.

1752
01:04:51,120 --> 01:04:52,720
That's one of those things.

1753
01:04:52,720 --> 01:04:54,640
And, you know, I always liked the clinic.

1754
01:04:54,640 --> 01:04:56,960
I used to go to Nike and Glacier every year.

1755
01:04:56,960 --> 01:04:58,960
And you just make a lot of contacts there too.

1756
01:04:58,960 --> 01:05:00,280
I think young coaches, you're right.

1757
01:05:00,280 --> 01:05:02,320
I think they missed out on some of that.

1758
01:05:02,320 --> 01:05:05,280
I think some of them missed out on,

1759
01:05:05,280 --> 01:05:06,400
they started just to put them all

1760
01:05:06,400 --> 01:05:08,280
for us to come where I'd report.

1761
01:05:08,280 --> 01:05:10,120
And it kind of all goes together,

1762
01:05:10,120 --> 01:05:12,160
the fellowship of it and that kind of stuff.

1763
01:05:12,160 --> 01:05:13,960
And you just make a lot of contacts too.

1764
01:05:13,960 --> 01:05:16,880
I can't tell you how many places I've been offered jobs

1765
01:05:16,880 --> 01:05:18,120
and throughout the years.

1766
01:05:18,120 --> 01:05:22,280
I mean, I sit there one day and I can remember

1767
01:05:22,280 --> 01:05:24,880
this family watching Griffin play Carrollton

1768
01:05:24,880 --> 01:05:26,480
at the George Donnellford State Championship.

1769
01:05:26,480 --> 01:05:27,880
I sit there about the third quarter

1770
01:05:27,880 --> 01:05:29,880
and it was a great game back forward.

1771
01:05:29,880 --> 01:05:31,560
And I just realized one thing.

1772
01:05:31,560 --> 01:05:34,080
I said, I was offered coordinator to all both these schools

1773
01:05:34,080 --> 01:05:35,120
and the guy sitting next to me,

1774
01:05:35,120 --> 01:05:36,760
like Andy Scott sitting next to me says,

1775
01:05:36,760 --> 01:05:38,160
you're a real dumbass.

1776
01:05:38,160 --> 01:05:39,000
You're a real dumbass.

1777
01:05:39,000 --> 01:05:42,400
Andy doesn't touch.

1778
01:05:42,400 --> 01:05:43,720
You're a dumbass.

1779
01:05:43,720 --> 01:05:45,080
You know, he can hurt you.

1780
01:05:45,080 --> 01:05:47,720
Yeah, Andy does it, cuss and you don't drink.

1781
01:05:47,720 --> 01:05:49,600
Yeah, he goes, I hear you're a dumbass.

1782
01:05:49,600 --> 01:05:50,880
Yeah, how do I hang around?

1783
01:05:50,880 --> 01:05:52,600
How do y'all let me hang around with y'all?

1784
01:05:52,600 --> 01:05:55,080
You don't drink, you don't cuss, and I do both.

1785
01:05:55,080 --> 01:06:01,320
I think I counted one time and I hate to say this,

1786
01:06:01,320 --> 01:06:03,440
but probably embarrassed to say this,

1787
01:06:03,440 --> 01:06:05,440
but yeah, I counted a lot of schools.

1788
01:06:05,440 --> 01:06:07,280
I was actually offered an opportunity to go work,

1789
01:06:07,280 --> 01:06:09,400
but you know, I don't loyalty to somebody

1790
01:06:09,400 --> 01:06:11,360
or I just like being in those rebuild places.

1791
01:06:11,360 --> 01:06:13,440
That's kind of where I spent most of my career

1792
01:06:13,440 --> 01:06:17,120
in a builder or rebuild, but yeah, I can't lie.

1793
01:06:17,120 --> 01:06:19,480
I'd like to go, I'd like to go be playing right now,

1794
01:06:19,480 --> 01:06:21,600
like I built the walls right right here on my TV,

1795
01:06:21,600 --> 01:06:23,520
but it was a great ride.

1796
01:06:23,520 --> 01:06:26,880
I had 30 years, I made a ton of friends

1797
01:06:26,880 --> 01:06:30,000
and coached a lot of good kids, great relationships.

1798
01:06:30,000 --> 01:06:31,520
I was getting texts the other night

1799
01:06:31,520 --> 01:06:33,000
when Manchester was playing violin

1800
01:06:33,000 --> 01:06:36,560
because both of those coaches I worked with

1801
01:06:36,560 --> 01:06:39,160
and Stephen Holmes played for me

1802
01:06:39,160 --> 01:06:42,320
and I'm getting texts from our old Villarico players

1803
01:06:42,320 --> 01:06:45,840
like coach, you watch the game, coach Holmes is on TV.

1804
01:06:45,840 --> 01:06:50,240
You know, like that stuff, you know what I mean?

1805
01:06:50,240 --> 01:06:51,880
That's priceless, that kind of stuff.

1806
01:06:51,880 --> 01:06:53,680
I got phone calls, kids were true,

1807
01:06:53,680 --> 01:06:56,640
but you know, I had kids trying to keep up with me

1808
01:06:56,640 --> 01:06:58,960
and after all these years, you know,

1809
01:06:58,960 --> 01:07:00,440
Perry, there's a couple kids in Perry

1810
01:07:00,440 --> 01:07:04,120
that reach out to me and you know, I got even Temple,

1811
01:07:04,120 --> 01:07:06,640
you know, like I said, that's where I took Tom's head.

1812
01:07:06,640 --> 01:07:09,480
There's some guys here locally that played for me at Temple.

1813
01:07:09,480 --> 01:07:11,240
I bump into him at a restaurant or something

1814
01:07:11,240 --> 01:07:12,760
and it's all worth it.

1815
01:07:12,760 --> 01:07:17,760
I mean, I think I did, I realized about year 10

1816
01:07:17,880 --> 01:07:19,960
what this job really entailed.

1817
01:07:19,960 --> 01:07:22,120
And I thought my first 10 years of coaching,

1818
01:07:22,120 --> 01:07:25,000
it was all about winning the state championship

1819
01:07:25,000 --> 01:07:26,040
and trying to come head coach.

1820
01:07:26,040 --> 01:07:28,400
I thought that was the only goal.

1821
01:07:28,400 --> 01:07:29,880
And when I went to Alexandria,

1822
01:07:29,880 --> 01:07:31,960
you know, I told you those two years were pretty rough.

1823
01:07:31,960 --> 01:07:33,640
And we had established a good program

1824
01:07:33,640 --> 01:07:35,160
through those last three or four years.

1825
01:07:35,160 --> 01:07:37,440
So, and I feel like we kind of laid the foundation

1826
01:07:37,440 --> 01:07:38,800
for what they've done now, right now,

1827
01:07:38,800 --> 01:07:40,320
because they've remained pretty good

1828
01:07:40,320 --> 01:07:42,120
through the last 25 years.

1829
01:07:42,120 --> 01:07:44,760
But, you know, when I went out of Zander,

1830
01:07:44,760 --> 01:07:47,360
that's my first OC job, I feel like I flopped, you know,

1831
01:07:47,360 --> 01:07:49,400
I mean, I feel like, hey, I've kind of played a little

1832
01:07:49,400 --> 01:07:52,280
of this one, well, it was really not the coaches

1833
01:07:52,280 --> 01:07:54,640
as much as we just didn't have the players.

1834
01:07:54,640 --> 01:07:57,560
But I go down and watch Trudy play a playoff game

1835
01:07:57,560 --> 01:07:58,840
a couple years after that.

1836
01:07:58,840 --> 01:08:01,360
I went out in Zander and it was my last year on Zander

1837
01:08:01,360 --> 01:08:03,160
and they lost believe it here.

1838
01:08:03,160 --> 01:08:05,400
And I go down and watch the play, there's a kid,

1839
01:08:05,400 --> 01:08:06,840
the plate for me, he said the game

1840
01:08:06,840 --> 01:08:08,720
and he's in his army fatigue, he graduated

1841
01:08:08,720 --> 01:08:12,280
like three or four years before like in 2001,

1842
01:08:12,280 --> 01:08:14,200
this was like 2003 game.

1843
01:08:14,200 --> 01:08:16,360
And I hadn't seen him in a couple of years.

1844
01:08:16,360 --> 01:08:17,920
We hugged, we talked a little bit,

1845
01:08:17,920 --> 01:08:19,600
and we just kind of carried on, just talking to him.

1846
01:08:19,600 --> 01:08:21,680
We hadn't seen somebody in two or three years.

1847
01:08:21,680 --> 01:08:23,320
And we're sitting there watching the game

1848
01:08:23,320 --> 01:08:24,840
about third quarter, he was coaching.

1849
01:08:24,840 --> 01:08:27,080
He'd already done a tour in Afghanistan.

1850
01:08:27,080 --> 01:08:28,880
And he told me he was on call to go back.

1851
01:08:28,880 --> 01:08:32,080
He said, I'm gonna go again, it's just a matter of win.

1852
01:08:32,080 --> 01:08:34,920
And by the fact, he left that night before the game was over

1853
01:08:34,920 --> 01:08:36,520
because he got a call to report back to Ben.

1854
01:08:36,520 --> 01:08:37,440
That's where he was stationed there.

1855
01:08:37,440 --> 01:08:39,960
Somebody gave him permission to go to the game.

1856
01:08:39,960 --> 01:08:42,000
And he told me, he goes, he goes, coach,

1857
01:08:42,000 --> 01:08:43,600
he goes, I want you to know something.

1858
01:08:43,600 --> 01:08:46,000
And I said, what's that, I said, what's that big man?

1859
01:08:46,000 --> 01:08:50,640
He goes up, he goes, you know, I got a desert out there.

1860
01:08:50,640 --> 01:08:52,080
He said, I put it lonely, he said,

1861
01:08:52,080 --> 01:08:53,920
I think it's lonely out there, so I took him to the match.

1862
01:08:53,920 --> 01:08:55,680
I can't even imagine.

1863
01:08:55,680 --> 01:08:58,440
He goes, I carry three pictures with me.

1864
01:08:58,440 --> 01:08:59,320
And I said, really?

1865
01:08:59,320 --> 01:09:02,000
I said, what do you mean?

1866
01:09:02,000 --> 01:09:03,080
He goes, well, I got a picture,

1867
01:09:03,080 --> 01:09:04,640
the name's little girlfriend,

1868
01:09:04,640 --> 01:09:06,960
high school, and the chest goes her name.

1869
01:09:06,960 --> 01:09:08,680
And he said, I got a picture of Joe.

1870
01:09:08,680 --> 01:09:10,280
That was his best friend that played left guard.

1871
01:09:10,280 --> 01:09:11,880
He played center, no kid by left guard.

1872
01:09:11,880 --> 01:09:13,200
They were best friends.

1873
01:09:13,200 --> 01:09:15,440
He said, I got you a picture.

1874
01:09:15,440 --> 01:09:19,480
And this guy is carrying a picture in Afghanistan.

1875
01:09:19,480 --> 01:09:20,920
And he's fighting for your country,

1876
01:09:20,920 --> 01:09:23,160
and he's got your picture in the pocket.

1877
01:09:23,160 --> 01:09:25,280
So at that moment in time,

1878
01:09:25,280 --> 01:09:27,800
Donnie Branch, he was the biggest four-head of the Grangs,

1879
01:09:27,800 --> 01:09:28,840
was standing next to me.

1880
01:09:28,840 --> 01:09:30,000
And he overheard that conversation.

1881
01:09:30,000 --> 01:09:31,600
Donnie looked at him, made one of the kid left,

1882
01:09:31,600 --> 01:09:35,360
he goes, dang DT's, that's good stuff right there.

1883
01:09:35,360 --> 01:09:37,160
So you just don't know as a coach

1884
01:09:37,160 --> 01:09:39,040
what kind of impact you're gonna have on kid.

1885
01:09:39,040 --> 01:09:40,840
Cause I didn't really do anything differently for that kid.

1886
01:09:40,840 --> 01:09:42,720
I've been close to kids like coach.

1887
01:09:42,720 --> 01:09:44,760
But whatever the message was, he got it.

1888
01:09:44,760 --> 01:09:45,840
You know what I mean?

1889
01:09:45,840 --> 01:09:48,360
And he was pretty sure of it still.

1890
01:09:49,360 --> 01:09:51,360
I can't remember him coming to watch me play at Little Rooka.

1891
01:09:51,360 --> 01:09:52,720
When I was coaching at Little Rooka,

1892
01:09:52,720 --> 01:09:54,640
six, seven years after he graduated,

1893
01:09:54,640 --> 01:09:55,640
he couldn't watch his play.

1894
01:09:55,640 --> 01:09:58,640
So, you know, you don't know as a coach

1895
01:09:58,640 --> 01:10:02,120
what kind of real impact you have on a kid

1896
01:10:02,120 --> 01:10:03,400
whether it's good or bad.

1897
01:10:03,400 --> 01:10:05,520
And that would hit me.

1898
01:10:05,520 --> 01:10:08,280
But that changed that conversation with that kid.

1899
01:10:08,280 --> 01:10:10,360
Cause I basically, I was feeling sorry for myself.

1900
01:10:10,360 --> 01:10:12,360
I was really kind of like being a loser

1901
01:10:12,360 --> 01:10:13,640
cause I just felt sorry for myself.

1902
01:10:13,640 --> 01:10:15,320
Hey, I should have left.

1903
01:10:15,320 --> 01:10:17,040
Here they are playing back in the quarterfinals.

1904
01:10:17,040 --> 01:10:18,960
And I hope they're coaching them two and 18.

1905
01:10:18,960 --> 01:10:21,280
I could stay right here and we'd still be winning.

1906
01:10:21,280 --> 01:10:23,920
And when he told me that, I'm like, okay,

1907
01:10:23,920 --> 01:10:25,040
this, I'm gonna be okay.

1908
01:10:25,040 --> 01:10:28,880
This business is way more than two than I thought.

1909
01:10:28,880 --> 01:10:31,320
And I knew that, but I kind of got mad.

1910
01:10:31,320 --> 01:10:32,880
So when I had that conversation with him,

1911
01:10:32,880 --> 01:10:35,040
I'm like, hey, this is, I'm gonna be okay.

1912
01:10:35,040 --> 01:10:36,560
Next job, I'll be fine.

1913
01:10:36,560 --> 01:10:38,720
You know, but I realized then,

1914
01:10:38,720 --> 01:10:40,680
the Penn State champion was great.

1915
01:10:40,680 --> 01:10:42,400
Being a head coach was great.

1916
01:10:42,400 --> 01:10:43,840
But it wasn't the end, I'll be all.

1917
01:10:43,840 --> 01:10:45,800
You can still be successful and I'll be those things.

1918
01:10:45,800 --> 01:10:49,160
So, yeah, I ended up settling into some major

1919
01:10:49,160 --> 01:10:50,960
rebuild programs for most of my career.

1920
01:10:50,960 --> 01:10:53,040
I told somebody, I said, I'm just adjourning

1921
01:10:53,040 --> 01:10:54,800
when I was in line coach.

1922
01:10:54,800 --> 01:10:56,840
I said, I probably had more six of four teams

1923
01:10:56,840 --> 01:10:58,680
than anybody in the history of the state of Georgia.

1924
01:10:58,680 --> 01:11:01,200
You know, first round playoff losses

1925
01:11:01,200 --> 01:11:02,960
and anybody in the state of Georgia, you know what I mean?

1926
01:11:02,960 --> 01:11:05,400
We were always decent, always competitive.

1927
01:11:05,400 --> 01:11:07,840
Most places I've been, it's never great.

1928
01:11:07,840 --> 01:11:10,480
But yeah, I had a chance to get us really good places.

1929
01:11:10,480 --> 01:11:12,440
I just kind of, for whatever reason,

1930
01:11:12,440 --> 01:11:15,680
time and loyalty or didn't want to relocate or whatever.

1931
01:11:15,680 --> 01:11:17,600
I just didn't always jump on it.

1932
01:11:17,600 --> 01:11:19,600
But it was a great ride.

1933
01:11:19,600 --> 01:11:20,920
I mean, this is 30 years I've had.

1934
01:11:20,920 --> 01:11:22,680
It's been, I couldn't imagine doing anything else

1935
01:11:22,680 --> 01:11:23,920
the last 30 years.

1936
01:11:23,920 --> 01:11:26,080
It has been a lesson.

1937
01:11:26,080 --> 01:11:27,400
We are gonna miss you.

1938
01:11:27,400 --> 01:11:29,680
The children are gonna miss you.

1939
01:11:29,680 --> 01:11:31,600
I mean, you ain't going nowhere

1940
01:11:31,600 --> 01:11:33,560
because we're gonna keep doing this.

1941
01:11:33,560 --> 01:11:35,320
And we always joke.

1942
01:11:35,320 --> 01:11:36,440
Most people don't know this,

1943
01:11:36,440 --> 01:11:38,560
but we talk about once a week.

1944
01:11:38,560 --> 01:11:41,520
And you know, we've always joked and said

1945
01:11:41,520 --> 01:11:45,160
when I finally retire, because I got to catch up,

1946
01:11:45,160 --> 01:11:47,840
that me and you were gonna go do radio shows

1947
01:11:47,840 --> 01:11:49,920
and call obscure high school games

1948
01:11:49,920 --> 01:11:52,920
like Sturkey Equipment versus Central Talboton.

1949
01:11:52,920 --> 01:11:55,280
Let's go find a game nobody else is gonna wanna go to.

1950
01:11:55,280 --> 01:11:57,720
Yeah, that nobody's gonna go to,

1951
01:11:57,720 --> 01:12:00,720
that the kids don't ever get recognized,

1952
01:12:00,720 --> 01:12:03,600
that nobody, they don't have their own radio crew.

1953
01:12:03,600 --> 01:12:06,480
We'll get rocked to be one sideline reporter

1954
01:12:06,480 --> 01:12:09,280
and coach Walburn to be the other sideline reporter.

1955
01:12:09,280 --> 01:12:11,000
And we'll have a large time.

1956
01:12:11,000 --> 01:12:11,840
Hang on now.

1957
01:12:11,840 --> 01:12:13,360
Hang on for a minute.

1958
01:12:13,360 --> 01:12:15,440
I can remember going out watching Albany High School.

1959
01:12:15,440 --> 01:12:17,160
This was the last year I was a team down there.

1960
01:12:17,160 --> 01:12:18,840
Last year I was a school scout.

1961
01:12:18,840 --> 01:12:20,360
Then one night I played Daughter in.

1962
01:12:20,360 --> 01:12:22,840
And Albany had like 26 players.

1963
01:12:22,840 --> 01:12:24,600
And Daughter might have had 35.

1964
01:12:24,600 --> 01:12:26,120
They didn't have many either.

1965
01:12:26,120 --> 01:12:28,000
And it was a great game, there were both teams

1966
01:12:28,000 --> 01:12:29,400
on the fight and the battle.

1967
01:12:29,400 --> 01:12:30,400
But I was sitting there thinking,

1968
01:12:30,400 --> 01:12:32,120
you know, these kids are,

1969
01:12:32,120 --> 01:12:34,280
they're laying it on the line out here.

1970
01:12:34,280 --> 01:12:36,640
And they're not getting, nobody's,

1971
01:12:36,640 --> 01:12:39,520
you know, they want to be a handful of people in stands.

1972
01:12:39,520 --> 01:12:41,280
I'm like, really, these kids serve better

1973
01:12:41,280 --> 01:12:42,280
than what they're getting.

1974
01:12:42,280 --> 01:12:43,760
Cause they're putting it out right now.

1975
01:12:43,760 --> 01:12:46,200
And you're in a place to challenge,

1976
01:12:46,200 --> 01:12:47,280
challenge the school, you know,

1977
01:12:47,280 --> 01:12:48,920
with that kind of stuff.

1978
01:12:48,920 --> 01:12:51,880
But it was just a, I just remember thinking about,

1979
01:12:51,880 --> 01:12:54,520
you know, those kids, they deserve credit.

1980
01:12:54,520 --> 01:12:56,880
It was like these kids from Walden Milton's,

1981
01:12:56,880 --> 01:12:59,160
well, Walden Milton's playing right now.

1982
01:12:59,160 --> 01:13:02,440
Somebody's got to coach them guys, you know what I mean?

1983
01:13:02,440 --> 01:13:04,600
And if you look over there,

1984
01:13:04,600 --> 01:13:06,680
once again, it's got four coaches and 28 kids.

1985
01:13:06,680 --> 01:13:09,320
They're playing trip like Wally football, you know,

1986
01:13:09,320 --> 01:13:10,160
you know, it's tough.

1987
01:13:10,160 --> 01:13:12,320
So, but I mean, I hadn't been in a place like that.

1988
01:13:12,320 --> 01:13:13,840
I've been in places where we were decent,

1989
01:13:13,840 --> 01:13:15,760
you know, we were always competitive,

1990
01:13:15,760 --> 01:13:18,360
but I hadn't been in those places where we reeled off.

1991
01:13:18,360 --> 01:13:19,320
I told somebody, I said, you know,

1992
01:13:19,320 --> 01:13:22,840
Tommy Walburn was the truth for five years of head coach.

1993
01:13:22,840 --> 01:13:25,480
I think he won 45 games.

1994
01:13:25,480 --> 01:13:27,520
And I said, nobody remembers that.

1995
01:13:27,520 --> 01:13:29,000
I said, cause that was the same five years.

1996
01:13:29,000 --> 01:13:30,640
LaGrange was 66-30.

1997
01:13:32,920 --> 01:13:35,120
So it's kind of like Tommy told me one day,

1998
01:13:35,120 --> 01:13:36,920
he said, DT, the thing about you

1999
01:13:36,920 --> 01:13:39,760
is you always coached at the other school.

2000
01:13:39,760 --> 01:13:40,600
And I said, what do you mean?

2001
01:13:40,600 --> 01:13:43,320
He goes, well, you were treating those LaGrange.

2002
01:13:43,320 --> 01:13:44,960
He goes, when you were at Lillarick,

2003
01:13:44,960 --> 01:13:46,680
they was caroling, he goes,

2004
01:13:46,680 --> 01:13:48,800
and when you were at Perry, there was Peach.

2005
01:13:48,800 --> 01:13:49,640
You know what I mean?

2006
01:13:49,640 --> 01:13:51,080
He goes, now you're in mouth nine,

2007
01:13:51,080 --> 01:13:53,000
you're spouting, you know what I'm saying?

2008
01:13:53,000 --> 01:13:55,280
Because it hadn't changed for you.

2009
01:13:55,280 --> 01:13:56,680
And now it really hasn't, you know what I mean?

2010
01:13:56,680 --> 01:13:59,440
But it's okay, you know what I mean?

2011
01:13:59,440 --> 01:14:01,920
But that one conversation with that kid,

2012
01:14:01,920 --> 01:14:04,080
that kind of changed my perspective on it.

2013
01:14:04,080 --> 01:14:07,240
And like I said, it didn't mean that we weren't any less.

2014
01:14:07,240 --> 01:14:09,320
And we still busted our butt in the weight room

2015
01:14:09,320 --> 01:14:12,280
all season, and try to put all the time in,

2016
01:14:12,280 --> 01:14:14,960
he's supposed to, but hey, at the end of the day,

2017
01:14:14,960 --> 01:14:16,920
it's all about those children right there.

2018
01:14:16,920 --> 01:14:18,560
And those kids on the table with the shoulder pads,

2019
01:14:18,560 --> 01:14:20,960
and it ain't about me.

2020
01:14:20,960 --> 01:14:21,880
You know what I mean?

2021
01:14:21,880 --> 01:14:24,760
And some of these coaches, we get out of the,

2022
01:14:24,760 --> 01:14:26,360
you know, you get the Twitter coaches,

2023
01:14:26,360 --> 01:14:31,360
and the street agents, and the self-emoters,

2024
01:14:31,360 --> 01:14:33,880
and it's probably time for me to be long, you know?

2025
01:14:33,880 --> 01:14:36,040
It's probably a whole dinosaur like me,

2026
01:14:36,040 --> 01:14:38,560
probably needs to hang on up, you know?

2027
01:14:38,560 --> 01:14:42,760
Yeah, the Canva posts, I like to thank

2028
01:14:42,760 --> 01:14:45,400
in the love letters to everybody,

2029
01:14:45,400 --> 01:14:49,480
and I'm like to thank this person and that person,

2030
01:14:49,480 --> 01:14:54,360
and I'm taking my talents to, yeah, people like us,

2031
01:14:54,360 --> 01:14:56,440
that just didn't have, we were raised to.

2032
01:14:56,440 --> 01:14:58,760
No, you know, if I go somewhere,

2033
01:14:58,760 --> 01:15:01,520
you'll see me in a different coaching shirt at the clinic,

2034
01:15:01,520 --> 01:15:03,080
and you'll figure that out.

2035
01:15:03,080 --> 01:15:06,440
And you know, I can remember like going to those clinics

2036
01:15:06,440 --> 01:15:09,080
when I first started coaching, and seeing them,

2037
01:15:09,080 --> 01:15:11,240
and like, when I first started coaching,

2038
01:15:11,240 --> 01:15:14,840
there was Nick Hider, and Bob Dost, and Robert Davidson,

2039
01:15:14,840 --> 01:15:17,560
one of Rob's, Billy Anderson, of Clark Central,

2040
01:15:17,560 --> 01:15:21,800
T. McFair, Larry Campbell, Dan Pitts,

2041
01:15:21,800 --> 01:15:23,800
the Dwyer House sales never big clinic guy,

2042
01:15:23,800 --> 01:15:28,800
but I mean, those type of guys, they were like Jim Hughes,

2043
01:15:29,520 --> 01:15:32,520
they were like, there was an aura around them,

2044
01:15:32,520 --> 01:15:33,360
you know what I mean?

2045
01:15:33,360 --> 01:15:34,480
Ben Scott, you know what I mean?

2046
01:15:34,480 --> 01:15:37,360
You talking about a guy that had commanded a presence

2047
01:15:37,360 --> 01:15:41,280
in a room, so I was feel so fortunate just to have,

2048
01:15:41,280 --> 01:15:42,600
I didn't work for any of those guys,

2049
01:15:42,600 --> 01:15:44,560
but just to have been around them,

2050
01:15:44,560 --> 01:15:47,000
and just to see them, and how they operate,

2051
01:15:47,000 --> 01:15:49,520
and you know, they would talk, and heck,

2052
01:15:49,520 --> 01:15:52,200
I texted with Justin Rodgers today,

2053
01:15:52,200 --> 01:15:53,800
that we just wanted to say to Thomas County,

2054
01:15:53,800 --> 01:15:56,520
we texted a little bit, and I congratulated him on winning,

2055
01:15:56,520 --> 01:15:58,000
and we talked a little bit in our text,

2056
01:15:58,000 --> 01:16:00,360
just about this kind of same thing.

2057
01:16:00,360 --> 01:16:01,640
And I said, I remember going to clinic,

2058
01:16:01,640 --> 01:16:04,800
and just like hanging on to every word those guys said,

2059
01:16:04,800 --> 01:16:06,320
and then a few years later, you know,

2060
01:16:06,320 --> 01:16:08,160
it was Ed Pilcher, it's a group,

2061
01:16:08,160 --> 01:16:10,880
Milkmailer, My Heart is, you know, My Hero with Danny Chronic,

2062
01:16:10,880 --> 01:16:13,040
those guys like Jeff Haren, those guys,

2063
01:16:13,040 --> 01:16:14,880
you know what I mean, like, they were them,

2064
01:16:14,880 --> 01:16:17,720
for me, those were the real legends, the real guys,

2065
01:16:17,720 --> 01:16:21,680
I mean, I think the golden era of high school football

2066
01:16:21,680 --> 01:16:26,400
in Georgia, to me, and before we got into all this

2067
01:16:26,400 --> 01:16:30,080
crew stuff, was the 80s, and the 90s,

2068
01:16:30,080 --> 01:16:33,680
and the early mid 2000s, they started changing

2069
01:16:33,680 --> 01:16:36,960
about 15 years ago, but that, the 80s,

2070
01:16:36,960 --> 01:16:40,320
the 90s, and the 2000s was the golden era,

2071
01:16:40,320 --> 01:16:43,760
because you had towns that were just part of their team,

2072
01:16:43,760 --> 01:16:46,960
and the players, and recruiting's always existed,

2073
01:16:46,960 --> 01:16:50,280
it's never like, I'm not saying it never happened,

2074
01:16:50,280 --> 01:16:53,480
but people didn't build their programs around that,

2075
01:16:53,480 --> 01:16:55,440
you know what I mean, it's always been out there,

2076
01:16:55,440 --> 01:16:57,640
and it's always, you can always name this case

2077
01:16:57,640 --> 01:17:00,480
or that case, but for the most part,

2078
01:17:00,480 --> 01:17:02,880
you defile your players and you feed a program,

2079
01:17:02,880 --> 01:17:04,960
you got them ready to play in the weight room,

2080
01:17:04,960 --> 01:17:08,400
they came through your junior high, your middle school,

2081
01:17:08,400 --> 01:17:09,920
they're even the red league, to the,

2082
01:17:09,920 --> 01:17:12,520
to the ninth grade up to the varsity,

2083
01:17:12,520 --> 01:17:14,480
and those kids grew up playing cup ball

2084
01:17:14,480 --> 01:17:17,080
when they were nine years old, in the back of the end zone,

2085
01:17:17,080 --> 01:17:20,160
one place for their school, when they got to be old enough,

2086
01:17:20,160 --> 01:17:22,720
and that was high school football,

2087
01:17:22,720 --> 01:17:25,160
and two towns coming together and battling out,

2088
01:17:25,160 --> 01:17:27,160
and go out there and knock heads with each other,

2089
01:17:27,160 --> 01:17:29,120
and come back 12 months later and do it again,

2090
01:17:29,120 --> 01:17:31,280
and you got bragging rights for that amount of time

2091
01:17:31,280 --> 01:17:34,000
in between, that to me was the hero

2092
01:17:34,000 --> 01:17:36,440
that will never go back to you, you know what I mean,

2093
01:17:36,440 --> 01:17:37,960
just unfortunately, it's not going to,

2094
01:17:37,960 --> 01:17:41,040
it's come a business now, it's commercialized,

2095
01:17:41,040 --> 01:17:45,160
it's just like I said, with NIL, I was kind of self,

2096
01:17:45,160 --> 01:17:47,600
I don't know what has to change or how it's going to change,

2097
01:17:47,600 --> 01:17:51,360
but I know one thing, not everybody's going to benefit

2098
01:17:51,360 --> 01:17:53,800
from it, I tell you that, it won't be equal.

2099
01:17:53,800 --> 01:17:56,280
Now, y'all tickled me when y'all wrote up on the board

2100
01:17:56,280 --> 01:17:59,480
the Mount Zion NIL package and sent me a picture of it,

2101
01:17:59,480 --> 01:18:02,400
and that looked about like the one we got at our place,

2102
01:18:02,400 --> 01:18:04,680
except we couldn't offer the,

2103
01:18:04,680 --> 01:18:07,080
we couldn't offer the fishing experience,

2104
01:18:07,080 --> 01:18:08,760
ours was more of a hunting,

2105
01:18:08,760 --> 01:18:12,360
and we had the same Jimmy Joe's quick sack,

2106
01:18:12,360 --> 01:18:14,480
blue talkies and orange power.

2107
01:18:14,480 --> 01:18:17,800
There you go, we had Burwell corn stored,

2108
01:18:17,800 --> 01:18:22,800
they had fresh biscuits, live bait, cold beer,

2109
01:18:22,960 --> 01:18:26,560
and they were all stored down the road,

2110
01:18:26,560 --> 01:18:29,400
this looks questionable in there sometimes,

2111
01:18:29,400 --> 01:18:34,400
and I think we put out overpriced chips, underage babes,

2112
01:18:34,400 --> 01:18:39,400
and gasoline that's quality 70% gas,

2113
01:18:40,000 --> 01:18:41,200
only 30% water.

2114
01:18:41,200 --> 01:18:43,880
So, that's what we had with the deal.

2115
01:18:43,880 --> 01:18:45,720
We had local beets there,

2116
01:18:45,720 --> 01:18:47,640
where we got, you know, bass fish.

2117
01:18:47,640 --> 01:18:52,640
Yeah, y'all are six miles from Carrollton,

2118
01:18:53,080 --> 01:18:56,120
where they've got whatever.

2119
01:18:56,120 --> 01:18:58,280
All the coaches are flying to see Juju Lewis,

2120
01:18:58,280 --> 01:19:01,320
like stop there, 20 miles down in Carrollton,

2121
01:19:01,320 --> 01:19:03,560
it's actually in our old school zone,

2122
01:19:03,560 --> 01:19:05,960
so the famous coaches that ride through,

2123
01:19:05,960 --> 01:19:09,400
the flying to Carrollton to go see these guys,

2124
01:19:09,400 --> 01:19:12,840
they're flying into the Mount Zion,

2125
01:19:12,840 --> 01:19:14,640
they're riding right by us heading to Carrollton,

2126
01:19:14,640 --> 01:19:15,680
somewhere to go see.

2127
01:19:15,680 --> 01:19:17,120
Central's gotta be running by now,

2128
01:19:17,120 --> 01:19:18,400
and it's like a Power Five guy,

2129
01:19:18,400 --> 01:19:20,360
so I guess it'll be the next one too.

2130
01:19:20,360 --> 01:19:25,360
But yeah, that's how we roll down here, baby.

2131
01:19:25,840 --> 01:19:27,800
Like I said, I wouldn't trade it for anything,

2132
01:19:27,800 --> 01:19:30,880
I couldn't make, I've done anything else the last three years,

2133
01:19:30,880 --> 01:19:34,280
a lot of good relationships with kids,

2134
01:19:34,280 --> 01:19:38,440
and then just great comrader and fellowship with coaches,

2135
01:19:38,440 --> 01:19:40,400
yeah, it's just, it's been a blessed,

2136
01:19:40,400 --> 01:19:41,600
ain't no question about that.

2137
01:19:41,600 --> 01:19:44,200
Well coach, I sure do appreciate you being on,

2138
01:19:44,200 --> 01:19:46,200
look forward to talking to you again,

2139
01:19:46,200 --> 01:19:50,320
and as always, thanks for being there for me.

2140
01:19:51,280 --> 01:19:55,120
You've been my friend, my brother for the past 15 years,

2141
01:19:55,120 --> 01:19:58,240
like a big brother I've never had, I love you,

2142
01:19:58,240 --> 01:20:02,400
and if I ever need anything, you'll always be there for me.

2143
01:20:02,400 --> 01:20:03,240
And I appreciate that.

2144
01:20:03,240 --> 01:20:04,480
You know, I've been the same here,

2145
01:20:04,480 --> 01:20:06,040
every bit of that, you know, that's true,

2146
01:20:06,040 --> 01:20:09,720
it's just one of those days where it's like,

2147
01:20:09,720 --> 01:20:14,120
like you just said, it's a brother, it's a fraternity,

2148
01:20:14,120 --> 01:20:17,000
and we made it work one way or the other,

2149
01:20:17,000 --> 01:20:18,880
you know what I mean, but I appreciate everything you just said,

2150
01:20:18,880 --> 01:20:21,000
and I feel the same as I was.

2151
01:20:21,000 --> 01:20:23,240
All right, thanks DT, and we'll talk to you later.

2152
01:20:23,240 --> 01:20:24,840
Talk to you Chris, man, we'll holla at you.

2153
01:20:24,840 --> 01:20:25,840
All right, bye bye.

2154
01:20:25,840 --> 01:20:26,680
Bye bye.

2155
01:20:26,680 --> 01:20:28,400
I'll see you later.

2156
01:20:28,400 --> 01:20:57,320
I'll see you later.