February 13, 2024 • 39 mins
In an exhilarating episode of the Demand Excellence Podcast, we are honored to be joined by Coach JT Wall of John Milledge Academy. As the state's most successful coach, Coach Wall discusses his remarkable journey from his humble origins in Milledgeville to coaching prestigious NFL teams like the Pittsburgh Steelers and Indianapolis Colts.
Get a glimpse of the man behind the legend as Coach Wall shares his personal anecdotes, deep-seated love for his hometown, and his journey from being a student at John Milledge Academy to becoming its head coach. The episode also highlights how his mentors, especially Coach Rick, influenced his decision to pursue coaching.
Listen in as we take a deep dive into the inner workings of prominent NFL teams, exploring their unique strategies and ethos, as narrated by Coach Wall. Inspired by playing with extraordinary talents like Jerome Bettis, Hines Ward, Ben Roethlisberger, Peyton Manning, and others, he shares how their influence shaped his coaching style.
Experience a riveting comeback tale as we explore a challenging time in Coach Wall's career—a winless season at the beginning of his tenure at John Milledge Academy. Learn how he faced the trials, tribulations, and emerged victorious, establishing a powerhouse team and building a winning culture from scratch.
This episode offers a captivating view into the world of a football titan. Immerse yourself in the inspiring stories, excellent sports wisdom, and the profound personal journey of Coach JT Wall—a man marked by resilience, an enduring spirit, and a relentless pursuit of excellence.
In this episode, we further discuss the evolution from an offensive to a defensive perspective, showcasing the importance of teamwork and consistent effort. The podcast delivers valuable insights into effective practice time management and transitioning strategies—these revelations are all a part of the complex journey of maintaining a state championship legacy.
Finally, Coach Wall shares critical life-changing experiences, including overcoming adversity through a heart attack and close encounters with the championship that ultimately transformed him into a better coach. His advice to aspiring coaches—never box yourself into a specific role, gain experience in multiple areas, and surround yourself with individuals better than you for continuous learning and personal growth.
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
(00:00):
All right, everybody, I am back for another episode of the Demand Excellence Podcast.
And today I have coach JT Wall on the program.
He is the head coach of John Millage Academy, and he is the state's most successful coach.
And I don't know if the state, everybody in the state knows it.
(00:22):
He has won 62 games in a row. That streak came to an end this past season,
but he had the state's all-time winning streak at 62 games.
They won four consecutive titles between 2019 to 2022, and then between 2017,
2016, and now they've been in seven of the eight last state championships and won five of them.
(00:47):
So, Coach, tell us a little bit about yourself. I mean, Georgia fans are going
to know, hey, you play football at Georgia.
But give us a little bit of your background, man. You played high school at
John Milledge. You go to UGA or you went to a D2 school.
Go to UGA. Give us a history of yourself.
Yeah, thanks for having me on, Coach.
(01:10):
No, I'm just a Milledgeville dude, born and raised, actually living in the house
that I was born and raised in.
And that's the hardest, longest negotiations I ever had in my life was buying
that house from my mom and you know but you know grew up here and you know a
lot of our core values and stuff we do i mean we talk about later but kind of
(01:33):
comes from that upbringing,
kind of out in the country just having to work and you know went to went actually
went to wilkinson county high school i mean wilkinson county school from kindergarten
to eighth grade and then then transferred over here to john millage played here
for four years and then played at a division two school in Bolivar,
Missouri with Coach Dennis Rowland.
And, you know, I'd always dreamed of being a dog and dreamed of going to Georgia
(01:58):
and, you know, left that Division II scholarship and walked on to Georgia.
And, you know, back then, you know, if you transferred up, you had to, you know, lose a year.
But luckily, you know, I started and played every game as a freshman and sophomore at that D2 school.
So I had a, I still have my red shirt year. So, when I transferred in,
(02:19):
we just used that year as my redshirt year.
So, man, that was Coach Donnan. We didn't know it at the time,
but that was his last year.
And then, you know, then in comes Coach Rick. And I thought that,
you know, the world had ended. You know, they brought this guy in from Florida State.
And, you know, it ends up working out for me and benefiting me a lot better
because, I mean, he used a fullback, you know, a whole lot more than,
(02:39):
you know, Coach Donnan even did.
So, played two years with Coach Rick and, you know, made some lifelong friendships
down there in Athens and just some great guys and learned a lot of ball.
I was fortunate enough then to get drafted in the seventh round by Pittsburgh.
I was up there for two years on the practice squad and then signed with Indianapolis
(03:01):
and was up there for a while, not quite a year.
But while I was in Indianapolis, Pittsburgh wins the Super Bowl.
And then the very next year after I got let go by Indianapolis, they won the Super Bowl.
So I always thought I'd have a job. I always thought somebody in the NFL would
hire me, knowing they would definitely win the Super Bowl the next year after
they let me go. So, but, you know, crazy, you know, crazy how things work.
(03:24):
You know, that was, heck, man, that was three, four, probably like 2006,
2007, somewhere in there.
You know, my mom had been in education forever.
You know, my brother-in-law is Coach Alligood. He's been coaching forever.
And then, you know, even Coach Rick was telling me, you know,
when you get done playing, you need to get into coaching.
(03:45):
And to me, that was the furthest thing in the world from my mind,
was wanting to coach football, you know, was wanting to coach high school football.
You know, I didn't know what I wanted to do, but I knew I didn't want to get
into the whole rigmarole that I see a lot of guys getting in is the moving,
you know, and the jumping from job to job.
(04:06):
And, you know, I'm kind of a homebody, and that's probably why I've been here for 15, 16 years.
So I don't know. That was the one thing that kind of scared me away from it.
And then finally, back in 2009, you know, job comes open right here at John
Milledge and come in as an assistant for two years.
And I knew the first day when I walked on the field in spring practice,
(04:27):
this is where I was supposed to be.
I mean, I was supposed to be coaching, you know, and Coach Rick was,
you know, great, you know, met with me, you know, when I was trying to decide
whether I was going to make the decision or not.
And, you know, we met for, you know, half a day up there in Athens going over
everything, every possibility, you know. And one of the things that kind of
stuck out in my mind was, he said, JT, people coach their whole lives to get back home.
(04:51):
And you've got an opportunity to start at home.
So I kind of took that opportunity and ran with it and feel like we've tried
to get better and try to get the program better and try to become a better coach every year.
Sometimes we feel like we don't, but that's just a constant battle that we deal
with. So I'm all in all, you know, happy, you know, and just love doing what I do every day.
(05:15):
So talk a little bit about playing for Coach Rick and what do you feel like
you learned from him or how he influenced you that impacts you today?
Looking back on my playing career, I was super fortunate in the fact that I
(05:38):
was able to play for just straight-up Christian dudes.
Bruce Lane was my high school coach, my sophomore to senior year,
and he kind of set that model for me. Coach Rick took it to another level.
And then even in Indianapolis with Tony Dungy. I mean, these guys were not scared,
you know, to hide behind their fate and not put it out there.
(06:00):
I mean, they put it out there, you know, right in front of you.
And that's something I battle with every day.
I mean, and I've got to get better at it, you know, because I know every day
I'm a sin. But, you know, we're trying to get better.
But he's, you know, Coach Rent, you know, you knew where he stood.
And really, really tough, you know, those first few years coming in there on us.
(06:24):
And, you know, he came in and first thing he did was, you know,
we had Matt Drills and that's like really when Matt Drills really took off across the nation.
You know, I know Florida State and a bunch of people had been doing them for
years, but he kind of came in and it kind of caught fire when he brought in
Coach Van Hallinger, who's another great Christian man.
And they kind of, you know, just set the forefront of this is how it's going to be.
(06:49):
And it really, you know, kind of kick-started, you know, Georgia,
I think where Georgia is today.
You know, Kirby just kind of took it and took it to a whole other level once he got there.
But, you know, I think Coach Rick has a lot of, you know, a lot that he needs
to take a lot of credit for turning that program around and where it is today.
(07:10):
You know, I'm thinking about you as you talk. You know, Bill Belichick's got a book out there.
It's The Education of a Coach, and it's basically how he evolved as a coach.
I mean, what's interesting about you, I mean, we started off saying,
hey, you just won 62 games in a row. That's a state record, four state championships in a row.
But as you're talking, I'm sitting there like he worked for Mark Rick.
I mean, he played for Mark Rick.
(07:31):
And then he goes to one of the best organizations in football,
which is the Pittsburgh Steelers, over time.
The ownership is great from the outside looking in from my perspective.
And then you play with the Indianapolis Colts with Tony Dungy.
So these are great programs, even though they won the Super Bowl after you left.
(07:52):
But obviously great organizations.
You know, what are those things that you learned that really stick out to you
that have molded you as a coach?
You know, I think a lot of it just has to go back to hard work.
And kind of the blue-collar hard work mentality that kind of Pittsburgh's built
(08:15):
on when you kind of look at, you know, the Pittsburgh Steelers and Pittsburgh,
Every organization is different. They weren't as ticky-tacky,
picky on as far as nutrition and all this. They probably are now.
But early on back then in 2000s, the early 2000s, they weren't.
And then you go to Indianapolis, and they were one of the first people kind
(08:38):
of on the cutting edge of kind of training the core, you know,
getting your core strength up. That's where a lot of that really started.
And they had you color-coded on, you know, what you could eat in the cafeteria
and this and that. And, like, they were to another level.
But it was crazy to see how both of those organizations were super successful
(08:58):
and have been over time doing it their way.
But you know you i
was also fortunate to be around great players
at those organizations you know jerome bettis
hines ward you know ben roethlisberger's first you know his rookie year was
when i was there just great dudes and then transfer to indianapolis and you
(09:23):
see peyton manning you know edgar and jane morgan harrison these guys dallas
clark and that's where you know One thing, and I still tell our kids today.
Even though a lot of times you forget that a lot of these guys may not even
know who Peyton Manning is anymore because we're getting so old.
But one of my first days there in the summer, I was going to be one of the first
(09:48):
ones there and just make sure.
I always felt like I had something to prove. you
know as being a walk-on at georgia you always felt
like you had you know had to prove something or prove your worth is
why you were there so you know indianapolis we get
there get there early you know work out hard and you know and peyton
asked some guys you know hey y'all want to stay after
and throw i mean if peyton manning asks you if you
(10:10):
want to stay after throw you're flipping idiot if you say no you
know so yeah we said heck yeah it was you know stay after
and you know two to three hours later we're going what in the
heck are we doing i mean this guy is a maniac he was
was the first person in the building and he was the last person to leave every
day you know he's he was probably the hardest worker i had been around as far
as a player when you take it from the field to the film room he was just on
(10:35):
another level which is crazy because like when i finally first got into high
school coaching i said man this is easy you know this is going to be a breeze.
We took a lot of the stuff that we ran in indianapolis and i was you know you
put it on on the board and you can't stop it.
You know, you can't do it. You can't do it. You know, and I come in as an assistant,
(10:55):
oh, nine, and we go, oh, and 10.
So, uh, then I'm sitting here going, man, I don't know if this coaching thing's for me or not. So.
You know, and then you fast forward to what we've been able to do lately.
I mean, it's just being able to, like you said, with Coach Belichick,
you know, the evolution of a coach, you know, how you're able to change every
year and kind of learn from your mistakes,
(11:16):
and not so much dumb it down, but kind of slow that, you know,
because there's a reason those guys are in the NFL and that's what they do for a living.
They don't have to go sit in a math class all day long and, you know,
worry about, you know, their dates to the prom.
You know, it's just, it was crazy. Just small stuff like that,
just seeing those guys work and just understanding the benefit of leadership
(11:37):
and just some small things that you think are small that the attention to detail
that still you can see today.
Yeah. You know, I was somewhere this weekend and, you know, we were just talking
about building a program and, you know, everybody talks about work.
You got to work. You got to work. You got to work. And then somebody's like, well, everybody works.
But my thing was, is not everybody works the same.
(12:00):
Like not everybody works like Peyton Manning
you know so now you're
0 and 10 your first year as an assistant okay so
you know for the listener all right they just won
62 games in a row okay you're only
44 I know you said you're getting old but I'm 44 too
so we're not we're in between and um and so
(12:23):
you get there you're 0 and 10 and
then you become the head coach you've got to turn this
program around you have won 62 games in
a row but like what was it like you go 0
and 10 what was the culture like what did you have to change what
did you have to do just go through that well
I mean we went we went 0 and 10 at first year you know in the
(12:45):
second year was my second year as an assistant we went
four five and one you know and coach Don Marksman
he he was a coach forever and he he was my high school coach as a freshman you
know he was he came in and you know during this two-year stint he was gonna
be the head coach for two years and then i was gonna kind of take over and and
all this and it just i had a lot to learn as far as being a head coach you know.
(13:09):
And he kind of came in and and allowed me to learn really that first year and
just kind of stood back and and i kind of was looking and i said man we we got
to reevaluate everything we're doing and how we're doing it because we were like,
and that's kind of to the core of me is being, being that walk on growing up
(13:30):
in the, in the country, having horses and cows and having to haul hay and,
you know, build fences and all that stuff.
And, you know, my dad was a state trooper and just believed in working,
working, working, you know, he,
he believed if, you know, if you were inside during the day,
you were lazy or sorry, you know, because, you know, grown men,
ain't supposed to do that. Boys ain't supposed to do that.
(13:51):
You're supposed to work, you know, and I grew up with that.
So I would you know, I'd be in the bed on Saturday mornings just hoping he had
to work, you know, hoping he had to, you know, be at the state patrol that day, you know, and.
But that's where all that came from. It's just work, work, work.
And I've got a few guys on my staff now that played for me in 09.
(14:13):
And we look at it, and that year, we ran more that year.
We did more conditioning that year. We hit more that year. We were overboard.
And you look at it, and I think we were kind of trying to do too much too fast.
(14:33):
And so we kind of simplified it and took a few steps back.
And instead of trying to have, you know, 15 run plays in a game,
you know, we said, you know, this second year, this third year,
we're going to go in with four good ones.
And we'll eventually get to where we'll have 10, 12 formations we can run those
(14:55):
four or five plays out of, you know.
And, you know, for a high school kid, that's a lot easier than having to learn new schemes.
That was some things I had to learn, just managing time, you know,
whereas now we won't have a practice longer than an hour and 45 minutes.
Back then, you know, we would practice forever.
And we were having four days back when you used to have camp.
(15:18):
And it was just horror stories, just thinking like, because the harder you work
doesn't always result in a win, you know, and you got to do it the right way.
And that's what ultimately you
know i kind of figured out and and
you got to have you know buy-in and it takes it
(15:39):
takes a while to get your program to where you want it you know as far as it
takes a while to get that that strength and conditioning program rolling it's
not going to happen in one year those guys got to get bigger faster and stronger
every year and that's kind of what we were dealing with trying to change the
culture and that's that's kind of where we're at now.
So as you begin that journey, so you go to your first state championship game.
(16:07):
Talk about what you became from an offensive standpoint.
So by this point, you pretty much had your offensive mindset,
what you want, your defensive mindset, what you want.
Walk through that a little bit about who you were when you first started winning
championships from an my offense and defensive mindset.
(16:28):
Yeah, I mean, like this whole thing, like the run and all this,
like we were probably back in 2012 is when a lot of things started changing defensively for us.
I mean, I'm an offensive guy, but I'll be the first one to tell you,
you know, our success over the last, you know, 10, 12 years,
whatever it is, is basically, you know, offense gets the credit,
(16:51):
but we hang our hat on our defense.
And we had an old retired guy, Stan Shepard, came in and kind of helped us out.
And, you know, he's always helped us and been a DC for us for a year or two
during a coaching change.
And, you know, we've been blessed with great coaches. And basically,
you know, we've been a 4-4, cover three team since then, which,
(17:15):
you know, it'll morph to a 4-2-5 depending on our personnel.
We'll mix and match some coverages, some stuff like that. But the whole onus
of the whole thing is when we turn the film on, there better be 11 hats flying
to the football every play.
And if we get out-efforted, then that's on us.
And that normally does not happen because we stress it so much in practice, so much in games.
(17:41):
You know, these coaches are grading film every day. They're giving you a loaf.
And, you know, the first thing I did when I got here in 2009 was we put in a,
you know, 55-yard sandpit. and we still wear that sucker out to this day.
But, I mean, it's all about effort. It's all about effort.
And because we're having to train guys to play both ways, you know,
(18:01):
due to number size, and we've had some years where we've had 60 guys on the
team, but, you know, usually we're around that high 30s, mid 40s.
But, you know, most of these guys are playing both ways. You try not to play as many as you can, but –,
You know, we just, that's kind of where defensively we've tried to fly around,
(18:23):
force turnovers, but it's all about effort. It's all about flying to the football.
And everybody we play knows that.
So, obviously, you know, we'll give a big play on the screen or on some different
things like that just because of everybody knows they can take advantage of us.
And we've had people lately take advantage of our D-line technique,
(18:44):
you know, Because we feel like our guys have them coached up so well,
they'll give them false reads.
And sure enough, they're playing their read, and they're running that ball right behind us.
And they don't even have to block us. But I told our coaches,
I feel like that's just a compliment to the job they're doing.
And offensively for us, I've always been an eye guy, a pro style.
(19:05):
We're going to line up. We're going to run power. We're going to run iso.
And we'll play action pass.
And then we'll get in the gun. We were going to mix and match and do a little
bit of everything. But we were pro style.
And that's who we were, and that's who I was always going to be.
And, you know, we were in the middle of this 62-game run.
(19:25):
We were two years into it. You know, we had won it in 19 and 20 and just graduated
the biggest senior class we had back in 2020.
And I just had to have a, you know, a long, hard look at myself and what we had coming back.
And we had always had big linemen, you know, that we could lean on you with.
Big fullbacks we'd kick you with we could iso you with
(19:48):
and just looking at what we had coming back we didn't have
it we had a lot of athletic dudes that could
run so you know we we were fortunate enough to to hire jim avra you know it's
this offensive mind mind to do from south georgia and we transitioned into like
the gun wing and people that knew me you know swore up and down i'd never never be in the wing,
(20:12):
but I do a lot of things to win a football game.
And, you know, I've learned a lot of football the last three years,
you know, doing what we do.
But, you know, we're running Buck Sweet, we're running, you know,
Power Reed, we're running a bunch of bash concepts.
But at the end of the day, when you look at it, we're still going back to we're
running Power, running ISO, we're running TOS. You know, we're still kind of
(20:36):
doing a lot of the same stuff we've always done.
We're just getting to it a different way because we had to.
Like, there's no way we were going to have the success the last three years
we had doing what we had always done. Now, we were going to win some games and make some runs.
I just knew we couldn't win a state championship doing what we had always done.
(20:56):
So, just tried to make a shot in the dark, and, you know, we did,
and we hit a home run with it.
And, you know, our kids are loving it. You know, it's a really fun offense.
It's kind of, you know, a pattern for our personnel, and depending on who that personnel is.
I mean, like two years ago, not this year, but last year, our quarterback ran
(21:19):
for 1,500 through 1,500, you know.
And this year, you know, that quarterback graduated.
So this year we had a quarterback that set every passing record we've had at
the school, you know, for a single season. So, I mean, and we still had a 2,000-yard back.
So it was really, really multiple in a lot of things we do, and it's really fun.
But out of those two facets, I mean, I think a lot of people,
(21:43):
you know, when it comes down to it, if you want to win a ball game damn,
and you want to win a championship.
Against like-minded teams you know you
got to win in that special teams category man i
feel like that's something we stress a lot is the
special teams is trying to be opportunistic in
special teams you know trying to steal a an
(22:03):
onside kick trying to steal a possession you know
we we pop up kick all the time and you
know fans you know forever they get they get all mad because yeah
i mean everybody would love to have the kicker they can kick it out the back of the end zone right
but early on like in 09 and 11 and
10 like man every game it seemed like
we'd have somebody run one back and it just that would just be
(22:25):
so demoralizing to have somebody run a kickoff back so
more and more we got to looking at this and we've been doing it
for a long time is you know you still got to have a good kicker to do it is
we try to pop that thing as high as we can pop it to the 30 right on the bottom
of the numbers because at worst you know you would would think if you get the
fair catch all you're giving up is one first down and you're going to get the
(22:47):
ball on the 30 they're going to get it now they're going to drop that ball some,
and a lot of times it doesn't really matter it takes a lot of guts for a guy
a coach to put his best guy on the 30 on the bottom of the numbers because we
can kick away from him too but,
still if you got it high enough and your guys are covering fast enough and they
(23:08):
have effort which is always back to effort, they're going to get down there
in time where he doesn't have a chance to return it. So that element of the game is over.
So that's the part that we feel like we stress special teams like crazy.
We do punt team every day.
And I know everybody does all that same stuff. But we just feel like special
teams has got to be special.
(23:29):
And I think that's a part that sometimes gets kind of overlooked when people talk football.
Absolutely. Coach, as you go through your 62-game win streak,
at what point did it start stressing you out? Yeah.
You know, we never said it did, but it was. I mean, it was stressful.
(23:51):
It started weighing on me pretty bad this year.
I mean, because, you know, winning a ball game is tough, you know,
and a lot of people, you know, kind of compare it to rich folks' problems.
You know, I mean, it's still problems.
And you start every little injury, every little this, this, every little,
(24:13):
that mounts up to, man, this could be the one.
And, you know, I, you know, it was really tough.
It was really stressful, but I felt like we did a really good job of,
you know, we come up with a saying every year and sometimes say and stick,
you know, your mantras, sometimes they stick and we'll keep them forever.
(24:37):
Sometimes they're not real good and they don't, you know, they kind of go away,
but we had went on a run back in. And I think it was 12, 13, 14, and 15.
And I think all those years, except maybe one, we had made the semifinals and had lost.
Made the semifinals and lost. Made the semifinals and lost. So going into 16,
(24:58):
which was the first year we won the state championship, that year,
our motto or our mantra that year was one more week, right? All we wanted was one more week.
That was our goal, was to play one more week. And it kind of got us to where
we focused on one more week.
And I know it's a lot of coach speak when people say, man, we're just focused
(25:23):
on the next game, focused on the next opponent.
And when you kind of look at that 62 game deal, it really kind of mounted up
into a two or three year span before you'd ever really kind of step back and
said, Lord, you know, we haven't lost one yet.
Because our guys were so used to, our coaches were so used to,
(25:44):
we were so used to, we won that one, we're walking off the field,
we're getting ready for the next one.
Like, and, you know, you know, you've been there.
Like, you win that state championship, you're walking off the field.
And you're not really having time to enjoy it because you're thinking about
how can I get back, you know? And then that's stressful.
(26:05):
So it's just, you know, and this year I'll probably, you know, enjoyed it the most.
And this was, I mean, it was a fun group. Every year is different.
Every group's different.
But it's been stressful, to say the least, for sure.
Yeah. No, I mean, people don't really understand that is, you know,
(26:26):
in a win streak, the stress just builds and builds and builds.
I love, I learned so much from De La Salle, right, Bob Laudisore, if I said it right.
But when the game stands tall, I think it was over 140 or maybe 150-game win streak.
But in the process, he had a heart attack, you know.
(26:47):
You know, so just the pressure and the stress to win.
What I find interesting is the struggle to win a championship.
So talk about this a little bit.
You know, you go to the semifinals, you said, you know, 12, 13,
14, 15, you're getting close, but you're not getting there, you know,
which can also drive a man to despair. fair.
(27:10):
Just talk about just what you learned in that process, how you became a,
how that adversity made you a better coach, which really led you to where,
you know, you got to where you want.
So, so you go four years, not making the championship, and then you went four
years winning the championship.
Talk about what you learned during that process.
(27:30):
Um, you know, you learn, you know, So, you know, you do have to stress the little things.
You know, I think a lot of people talk about the little things,
you know, you know, don't don't stress the little things, you know,
but I think when you're looking at the game of football,
especially in high school, you have to stress the little things because they
(27:51):
they will fester throughout the year and grow to be big things.
As far as, you know, substitution penalties, you know, this penalty or that penalty.
Like, I think, you know, if you let something go early on in the year,
it continued to grow or to continue to build.
Whereas if you just attack it early on in the year, you'll be better off for it.
(28:14):
We kind of went back and looked and, you know, how did we lose that one?
Why did we lose that one? You know, I mean, you kind of stress and kind of do that stuff.
But, you know, it does make it sweeter when you get there, you know,
going through all the trials and tribulations.
Of it, but it just makes you hungry, you know, and you, and you try to find
(28:36):
different ways and different ways to get there.
And we would, we would change things in the weight room.
We would change different ways that we do stuff, but you kind of got to step back too.
And, and not forget, you know, we can't blow the whole thing up.
You know, we, we went 12 and one, you know, we went 12 and one made the semis,
you know, we're not going to blow this whole thing up.
(28:57):
So we're going to make small adjustments. We're going to make small tweaks.
Whereas during the run you know
the 62 game run you know we
had to be real cautious not to get stale you know
just because something had worked the year before doesn't mean it would work
the next year and then you get so you know i don't call it superstitious i call
(29:20):
it routine oriented you know we do you always got to do this on this friday
bam bam you know and if one thing's not not right, then we're going to lose the ballgame.
We all know that's not true, but it kind of makes you feel that way.
So you have to change up some things, but at the same time, you've got to keep a lot of things the same.
(29:41):
I know that doesn't make a lot of sense, but just to kind of get what you want
to get, I don't think you blow up the whole house.
No, absolutely. So, Coach, talk about, I mean, 62-game win streak. All right.
It came to an end this year. Last game.
How did I mean? So so you get your team and like everybody, I don't care whether
(30:07):
you won that game or lost that game.
You're instantly thinking about, all right, we got, you know,
it's twenty twenty four.
How is your team responding to that, and what are you guys doing?
What's your philosophy in the offseason, kind of like right now,
to get yourself ready for 2024?
You know, it's staying in the weight room. I mean, I think everybody's the same.
(30:29):
You know, you try to stay in the weight room. You try to change some small things,
some tweaks, work on some smaller things, And we're looking at,
you know, offensively, what can we add schematically to change up?
You know, where in this last game were we deficient on some things that we could have gotten better at?
(30:51):
Can we change our practice schedule? You know, can we do some things different
to try to get to these guys?
Because that's the thing, too. Like, at the bottom of my practice sheet every
day, it's always got, you know, it's got to be fun.
You know because at the end of the day if it's not fun for these
guys they're not going to keep doing it so we've
(31:12):
got to make it fun and we're always trying to live with creative things to do
i mean i know i hear a lot of these guys doing the competition
tuesdays and different things like that i
mean we've done some things before to where you have them broken up into
groups and off season and they come in it's a point-based system but
at the same time you know the small
school like us you know we're encouraging all these
(31:33):
kids to play multiple sports so it's hard
you know we have our football guys in
the last period of the day you know year round but at
the same time if they're playing basketball and baseball you know they're leaving
early for away games and this and that so there's a lot of time we don't get
them so those guys will come in at you know 6 15 6 30 in the morning get their
(31:55):
stuff done you know chad freeman our strength conditioning guy does a great job of kind of,
pretty much juggling these guys when we get them in. And, you know,
that's what I would say, like, we did early on, and I know a lot of people do.
But if you don't have your guys all together in one class, you got to try to
get them there for sure because it makes a world of difference having those guys all together.
(32:19):
And then, you know, as soon as that horn blows, it moves on.
You know, everybody gives the same speech. You know, now juniors,
you're no longer juniors, you're seniors.
And you kind of try to see who's going to step up, look, who's going to be leaders
and who's going to lead this year's team?
What's this year's team going to look like and who's that going to be?
I mean, and I think everybody knows the quicker you find out who's going to
(32:42):
play where, the better you're going to be.
Sometimes that takes the whole summer. Sometimes it takes three or four games.
And we were plugging and playing all year this year. So you never know.
You know, you were talking, and as you were talking, because I asked you the
question how you got beat, you know, you got beat in the state championship.
You know, you're going to change this or that or whatever.
(33:03):
What's your what's your thinking going into twenty twenty four? I remember back.
I don't know. Probably was probably was twelve, thirteen years ago now, maybe ten.
I don't know. But Notre Dame had played Alabama in the national championship.
I think it was a national championship because I don't think they had a semifinal
thing back then. But so Notre Dame's playing Alabama and Notre Dame just got whipped.
(33:24):
Right. I mean, they got beat pretty good by Alabama. And I remember the defensive
coordinator came by recruiting at our school, and I was just asking him what
was their focus in the spring.
Same thing, always trying to ask questions to get better.
And basically, their whole spring had been or was going to be the adjustments
(33:47):
they need to make defensively to stop Alabama. Bama.
And then of course they never played again in the national championship,
but I just thought, you know what?
Sometimes a team is so good and it doesn't matter what you do.
You're not stopping them.
And you know, a lot of times we overthink it. It's like you said,
you can't overthink it. Don't change everything. It's not broke.
(34:11):
I think as coaches, we, we can, we have a tendency to do that.
Like just make sweeping changes when those are not necessary.
Coach, as we end, what are one or two things that you could tell a young coach
or any coach who's aspiring to be a head coach?
(34:33):
What are two things that you could give them that they need to focus on to be a winning coach?
I mean, I think, you know, first off, everybody's a position coach to start with, right?
So, man, everybody seems to have, you know, I'm an offensive guy or I'm a defensive guy.
(34:54):
Like, what I would say or suggest would be, you know, don't put yourself in a box.
You know, don't say, you know, I'm just a linebackers coach.
You know, because if you're aspiring to be a D.C., if you don't know how that
front end works and the back end work together, you're not going to be a really good coordinator.
So, you know, if you're a D-line coach for two or three years and you're really
(35:17):
good, I mean, when you're wanting to be that D.C.
And D.C. job and it doesn't come open, I mean, try to coach D.B.s.
Try to coach linebackers.
I mean, I think the more experienced you can be in multiple areas, the better you can be.
If you're a defensive guy, and I still do this, like, at clinics and stuff.
(35:37):
Like, I'm an offensive guy, so I'll kind of go to defensive meetings.
Just to see how a defense will – these defensive coaches are going to talk about
this is what you do to stop this, to just kind of see what's going on in their mind.
I think it's really good to be able to coach both sides of the ball.
(35:59):
You know, if you're a head coach, obviously you've got to be able to trust your
coordinators, but at the same time, it all runs through you.
Your name's on the line, you know, because at the end of the day, you're the head coach.
And, yeah, you've got to trust them, but they've got to, at the end of the day,
all be on the same page with you.
And I wouldn't say, you know, offensively, if I'm an offensive guy, that I'm only an eye guy.
(36:25):
You know, I think I learned that. I had to learn that.
So I think you have to be able to
adapt to your personnel now or you'll
have good years and bad years you know you you won't be able to sustain a winning
a winning culture if you have to always do the same thing if you're not able
(36:45):
to always get the same athletes so it's just hard to do i mean and i think the
second thing is you know surround people,
surround yourself with people that are better than you and and when i say that
i'm lucky enough to To have, you know, we have some older guys that,
you know, retired, live at the lake. And, you know, they coach a lot of ball.
(37:08):
And, you know, they come in and, you know, they're better than me in a lot of things.
And, you know, they're better than me in the way they live their life for Christ.
You know, and I learn from these guys every day.
You know, I want to surround myself with the best offensive mind a guy can find,
the best defensive mind a guy can find.
And I want to learn from those guys every day.
(37:30):
You know, I want to go to clinics and I want to learn and I want to,
you know, I want to listen to the coach guest podcasts, you know, and learn something.
So, I mean, I think the more you can learn, the better you can be.
Yeah, I appreciate that plug right there. I really only do the podcast so I
can learn, you know, just trying to figure out, you know, what's that one thing.
(37:54):
And this is one thing I always, you know, because I want a lot of Elka.
You want a lot of John Milledge. And what a lot of people always say is,
well, they cheat, they recruit or, you know, they just come up with all this bull crap.
So what I've learned is, is like everybody that wins, wins for a reason. Right.
There's something that they're doing that's different or special, and what is it?
(38:21):
And so, man, that's what I'm out to figure out is what is that?
And so, that's why I'm just super impressed with what you've done there at John Milledge.
I watched it from afar, and I definitely think it's special.
Special man just winning 62 games in a row i
(38:43):
mean you could play 62 times against yourself and figure
out a way to beat yourself and you know so
i think that's amazing but coach i appreciate it
man if you don't mind i'd like to pray for you as we head out yes sir well we're
coming for you today just want to praise and thank you for loving us praise
and thank you for dying on the cross for our sins lord i just praise and thank
(39:03):
you for what jt wall's doing there at john millage it's just just cool to see
the people that you put in his life, like Christian men,
like Mark Rick, and he said, Tony Dungy.
And now he's talking about guys that are older than him on his staff that work
for him, that are leading him in Christ.
Lord, you are good and you are always good to us.
(39:26):
And I just pray that you continue to bless JT and his efforts there,
continue to bless that program as he does does strive to lead them for Christ.
So, Lord, we love you and we praise you in Jesus' name.
Amen. Amen. I appreciate it. It was great. Thanks, Coach. Appreciate all you do.
All right, everybody, I am back for another episode of the Demand Excellence Podcast.
And today I have coach JT Wall on the program.
He is the head coach of John Millage Academy, and he is the state's most successful coach.
And I don't know if the state, everybody in the state knows it.
(00:22):
He has won 62 games in a row. That streak came to an end this past season,
but he had the state's all-time winning streak at 62 games.
They won four consecutive titles between 2019 to 2022, and then between 2017,
2016, and now they've been in seven of the eight last state championships and won five of them.
(00:47):
So, Coach, tell us a little bit about yourself. I mean, Georgia fans are going
to know, hey, you play football at Georgia.
But give us a little bit of your background, man. You played high school at
John Milledge. You go to UGA or you went to a D2 school.
Go to UGA. Give us a history of yourself.
Yeah, thanks for having me on, Coach.
(01:10):
No, I'm just a Milledgeville dude, born and raised, actually living in the house
that I was born and raised in.
And that's the hardest, longest negotiations I ever had in my life was buying
that house from my mom and you know but you know grew up here and you know a
lot of our core values and stuff we do i mean we talk about later but kind of
(01:33):
comes from that upbringing,
kind of out in the country just having to work and you know went to went actually
went to wilkinson county high school i mean wilkinson county school from kindergarten
to eighth grade and then then transferred over here to john millage played here
for four years and then played at a division two school in Bolivar,
Missouri with Coach Dennis Rowland.
And, you know, I'd always dreamed of being a dog and dreamed of going to Georgia
(01:58):
and, you know, left that Division II scholarship and walked on to Georgia.
And, you know, back then, you know, if you transferred up, you had to, you know, lose a year.
But luckily, you know, I started and played every game as a freshman and sophomore at that D2 school.
So I had a, I still have my red shirt year. So, when I transferred in,
(02:19):
we just used that year as my redshirt year.
So, man, that was Coach Donnan. We didn't know it at the time,
but that was his last year.
And then, you know, then in comes Coach Rick. And I thought that,
you know, the world had ended. You know, they brought this guy in from Florida State.
And, you know, it ends up working out for me and benefiting me a lot better
because, I mean, he used a fullback, you know, a whole lot more than,
(02:39):
you know, Coach Donnan even did.
So, played two years with Coach Rick and, you know, made some lifelong friendships
down there in Athens and just some great guys and learned a lot of ball.
I was fortunate enough then to get drafted in the seventh round by Pittsburgh.
I was up there for two years on the practice squad and then signed with Indianapolis
(03:01):
and was up there for a while, not quite a year.
But while I was in Indianapolis, Pittsburgh wins the Super Bowl.
And then the very next year after I got let go by Indianapolis, they won the Super Bowl.
So I always thought I'd have a job. I always thought somebody in the NFL would
hire me, knowing they would definitely win the Super Bowl the next year after
they let me go. So, but, you know, crazy, you know, crazy how things work.
(03:24):
You know, that was, heck, man, that was three, four, probably like 2006,
2007, somewhere in there.
You know, my mom had been in education forever.
You know, my brother-in-law is Coach Alligood. He's been coaching forever.
And then, you know, even Coach Rick was telling me, you know,
when you get done playing, you need to get into coaching.
(03:45):
And to me, that was the furthest thing in the world from my mind,
was wanting to coach football, you know, was wanting to coach high school football.
You know, I didn't know what I wanted to do, but I knew I didn't want to get
into the whole rigmarole that I see a lot of guys getting in is the moving,
you know, and the jumping from job to job.
(04:06):
And, you know, I'm kind of a homebody, and that's probably why I've been here for 15, 16 years.
So I don't know. That was the one thing that kind of scared me away from it.
And then finally, back in 2009, you know, job comes open right here at John
Milledge and come in as an assistant for two years.
And I knew the first day when I walked on the field in spring practice,
(04:27):
this is where I was supposed to be.
I mean, I was supposed to be coaching, you know, and Coach Rick was,
you know, great, you know, met with me, you know, when I was trying to decide
whether I was going to make the decision or not.
And, you know, we met for, you know, half a day up there in Athens going over
everything, every possibility, you know. And one of the things that kind of
stuck out in my mind was, he said, JT, people coach their whole lives to get back home.
(04:51):
And you've got an opportunity to start at home.
So I kind of took that opportunity and ran with it and feel like we've tried
to get better and try to get the program better and try to become a better coach every year.
Sometimes we feel like we don't, but that's just a constant battle that we deal
with. So I'm all in all, you know, happy, you know, and just love doing what I do every day.
(05:15):
So talk a little bit about playing for Coach Rick and what do you feel like
you learned from him or how he influenced you that impacts you today?
Looking back on my playing career, I was super fortunate in the fact that I
(05:38):
was able to play for just straight-up Christian dudes.
Bruce Lane was my high school coach, my sophomore to senior year,
and he kind of set that model for me. Coach Rick took it to another level.
And then even in Indianapolis with Tony Dungy. I mean, these guys were not scared,
you know, to hide behind their fate and not put it out there.
(06:00):
I mean, they put it out there, you know, right in front of you.
And that's something I battle with every day.
I mean, and I've got to get better at it, you know, because I know every day
I'm a sin. But, you know, we're trying to get better.
But he's, you know, Coach Rent, you know, you knew where he stood.
And really, really tough, you know, those first few years coming in there on us.
(06:24):
And, you know, he came in and first thing he did was, you know,
we had Matt Drills and that's like really when Matt Drills really took off across the nation.
You know, I know Florida State and a bunch of people had been doing them for
years, but he kind of came in and it kind of caught fire when he brought in
Coach Van Hallinger, who's another great Christian man.
And they kind of, you know, just set the forefront of this is how it's going to be.
(06:49):
And it really, you know, kind of kick-started, you know, Georgia,
I think where Georgia is today.
You know, Kirby just kind of took it and took it to a whole other level once he got there.
But, you know, I think Coach Rick has a lot of, you know, a lot that he needs
to take a lot of credit for turning that program around and where it is today.
(07:10):
You know, I'm thinking about you as you talk. You know, Bill Belichick's got a book out there.
It's The Education of a Coach, and it's basically how he evolved as a coach.
I mean, what's interesting about you, I mean, we started off saying,
hey, you just won 62 games in a row. That's a state record, four state championships in a row.
But as you're talking, I'm sitting there like he worked for Mark Rick.
I mean, he played for Mark Rick.
(07:31):
And then he goes to one of the best organizations in football,
which is the Pittsburgh Steelers, over time.
The ownership is great from the outside looking in from my perspective.
And then you play with the Indianapolis Colts with Tony Dungy.
So these are great programs, even though they won the Super Bowl after you left.
(07:52):
But obviously great organizations.
You know, what are those things that you learned that really stick out to you
that have molded you as a coach?
You know, I think a lot of it just has to go back to hard work.
And kind of the blue-collar hard work mentality that kind of Pittsburgh's built
(08:15):
on when you kind of look at, you know, the Pittsburgh Steelers and Pittsburgh,
Every organization is different. They weren't as ticky-tacky,
picky on as far as nutrition and all this. They probably are now.
But early on back then in 2000s, the early 2000s, they weren't.
And then you go to Indianapolis, and they were one of the first people kind
(08:38):
of on the cutting edge of kind of training the core, you know,
getting your core strength up. That's where a lot of that really started.
And they had you color-coded on, you know, what you could eat in the cafeteria
and this and that. And, like, they were to another level.
But it was crazy to see how both of those organizations were super successful
(08:58):
and have been over time doing it their way.
But you know you i
was also fortunate to be around great players
at those organizations you know jerome bettis
hines ward you know ben roethlisberger's first you know his rookie year was
when i was there just great dudes and then transfer to indianapolis and you
(09:23):
see peyton manning you know edgar and jane morgan harrison these guys dallas
clark and that's where you know One thing, and I still tell our kids today.
Even though a lot of times you forget that a lot of these guys may not even
know who Peyton Manning is anymore because we're getting so old.
But one of my first days there in the summer, I was going to be one of the first
(09:48):
ones there and just make sure.
I always felt like I had something to prove. you
know as being a walk-on at georgia you always felt
like you had you know had to prove something or prove your worth is
why you were there so you know indianapolis we get
there get there early you know work out hard and you know and peyton
asked some guys you know hey y'all want to stay after
and throw i mean if peyton manning asks you if you
(10:10):
want to stay after throw you're flipping idiot if you say no you
know so yeah we said heck yeah it was you know stay after
and you know two to three hours later we're going what in the
heck are we doing i mean this guy is a maniac he was
was the first person in the building and he was the last person to leave every
day you know he's he was probably the hardest worker i had been around as far
as a player when you take it from the field to the film room he was just on
(10:35):
another level which is crazy because like when i finally first got into high
school coaching i said man this is easy you know this is going to be a breeze.
We took a lot of the stuff that we ran in indianapolis and i was you know you
put it on on the board and you can't stop it.
You know, you can't do it. You can't do it. You know, and I come in as an assistant,
(10:55):
oh, nine, and we go, oh, and 10.
So, uh, then I'm sitting here going, man, I don't know if this coaching thing's for me or not. So.
You know, and then you fast forward to what we've been able to do lately.
I mean, it's just being able to, like you said, with Coach Belichick,
you know, the evolution of a coach, you know, how you're able to change every
year and kind of learn from your mistakes,
(11:16):
and not so much dumb it down, but kind of slow that, you know,
because there's a reason those guys are in the NFL and that's what they do for a living.
They don't have to go sit in a math class all day long and, you know,
worry about, you know, their dates to the prom.
You know, it's just, it was crazy. Just small stuff like that,
just seeing those guys work and just understanding the benefit of leadership
(11:37):
and just some small things that you think are small that the attention to detail
that still you can see today.
Yeah. You know, I was somewhere this weekend and, you know, we were just talking
about building a program and, you know, everybody talks about work.
You got to work. You got to work. You got to work. And then somebody's like, well, everybody works.
But my thing was, is not everybody works the same.
(12:00):
Like not everybody works like Peyton Manning
you know so now you're
0 and 10 your first year as an assistant okay so
you know for the listener all right they just won
62 games in a row okay you're only
44 I know you said you're getting old but I'm 44 too
so we're not we're in between and um and so
(12:23):
you get there you're 0 and 10 and
then you become the head coach you've got to turn this
program around you have won 62 games in
a row but like what was it like you go 0
and 10 what was the culture like what did you have to change what
did you have to do just go through that well
I mean we went we went 0 and 10 at first year you know in the
(12:45):
second year was my second year as an assistant we went
four five and one you know and coach Don Marksman
he he was a coach forever and he he was my high school coach as a freshman you
know he was he came in and you know during this two-year stint he was gonna
be the head coach for two years and then i was gonna kind of take over and and
all this and it just i had a lot to learn as far as being a head coach you know.
(13:09):
And he kind of came in and and allowed me to learn really that first year and
just kind of stood back and and i kind of was looking and i said man we we got
to reevaluate everything we're doing and how we're doing it because we were like,
and that's kind of to the core of me is being, being that walk on growing up
(13:30):
in the, in the country, having horses and cows and having to haul hay and,
you know, build fences and all that stuff.
And, you know, my dad was a state trooper and just believed in working,
working, working, you know, he,
he believed if, you know, if you were inside during the day,
you were lazy or sorry, you know, because, you know, grown men,
ain't supposed to do that. Boys ain't supposed to do that.
(13:51):
You're supposed to work, you know, and I grew up with that.
So I would you know, I'd be in the bed on Saturday mornings just hoping he had
to work, you know, hoping he had to, you know, be at the state patrol that day, you know, and.
But that's where all that came from. It's just work, work, work.
And I've got a few guys on my staff now that played for me in 09.
(14:13):
And we look at it, and that year, we ran more that year.
We did more conditioning that year. We hit more that year. We were overboard.
And you look at it, and I think we were kind of trying to do too much too fast.
(14:33):
And so we kind of simplified it and took a few steps back.
And instead of trying to have, you know, 15 run plays in a game,
you know, we said, you know, this second year, this third year,
we're going to go in with four good ones.
And we'll eventually get to where we'll have 10, 12 formations we can run those
(14:55):
four or five plays out of, you know.
And, you know, for a high school kid, that's a lot easier than having to learn new schemes.
That was some things I had to learn, just managing time, you know,
whereas now we won't have a practice longer than an hour and 45 minutes.
Back then, you know, we would practice forever.
And we were having four days back when you used to have camp.
(15:18):
And it was just horror stories, just thinking like, because the harder you work
doesn't always result in a win, you know, and you got to do it the right way.
And that's what ultimately you
know i kind of figured out and and
you got to have you know buy-in and it takes it
(15:39):
takes a while to get your program to where you want it you know as far as it
takes a while to get that that strength and conditioning program rolling it's
not going to happen in one year those guys got to get bigger faster and stronger
every year and that's kind of what we were dealing with trying to change the
culture and that's that's kind of where we're at now.
So as you begin that journey, so you go to your first state championship game.
(16:07):
Talk about what you became from an offensive standpoint.
So by this point, you pretty much had your offensive mindset,
what you want, your defensive mindset, what you want.
Walk through that a little bit about who you were when you first started winning
championships from an my offense and defensive mindset.
(16:28):
Yeah, I mean, like this whole thing, like the run and all this,
like we were probably back in 2012 is when a lot of things started changing defensively for us.
I mean, I'm an offensive guy, but I'll be the first one to tell you,
you know, our success over the last, you know, 10, 12 years,
whatever it is, is basically, you know, offense gets the credit,
(16:51):
but we hang our hat on our defense.
And we had an old retired guy, Stan Shepard, came in and kind of helped us out.
And, you know, he's always helped us and been a DC for us for a year or two
during a coaching change.
And, you know, we've been blessed with great coaches. And basically,
you know, we've been a 4-4, cover three team since then, which,
(17:15):
you know, it'll morph to a 4-2-5 depending on our personnel.
We'll mix and match some coverages, some stuff like that. But the whole onus
of the whole thing is when we turn the film on, there better be 11 hats flying
to the football every play.
And if we get out-efforted, then that's on us.
And that normally does not happen because we stress it so much in practice, so much in games.
(17:41):
You know, these coaches are grading film every day. They're giving you a loaf.
And, you know, the first thing I did when I got here in 2009 was we put in a,
you know, 55-yard sandpit. and we still wear that sucker out to this day.
But, I mean, it's all about effort. It's all about effort.
And because we're having to train guys to play both ways, you know,
(18:01):
due to number size, and we've had some years where we've had 60 guys on the
team, but, you know, usually we're around that high 30s, mid 40s.
But, you know, most of these guys are playing both ways. You try not to play as many as you can, but –,
You know, we just, that's kind of where defensively we've tried to fly around,
(18:23):
force turnovers, but it's all about effort. It's all about flying to the football.
And everybody we play knows that.
So, obviously, you know, we'll give a big play on the screen or on some different
things like that just because of everybody knows they can take advantage of us.
And we've had people lately take advantage of our D-line technique,
(18:44):
you know, Because we feel like our guys have them coached up so well,
they'll give them false reads.
And sure enough, they're playing their read, and they're running that ball right behind us.
And they don't even have to block us. But I told our coaches,
I feel like that's just a compliment to the job they're doing.
And offensively for us, I've always been an eye guy, a pro style.
(19:05):
We're going to line up. We're going to run power. We're going to run iso.
And we'll play action pass.
And then we'll get in the gun. We were going to mix and match and do a little
bit of everything. But we were pro style.
And that's who we were, and that's who I was always going to be.
And, you know, we were in the middle of this 62-game run.
(19:25):
We were two years into it. You know, we had won it in 19 and 20 and just graduated
the biggest senior class we had back in 2020.
And I just had to have a, you know, a long, hard look at myself and what we had coming back.
And we had always had big linemen, you know, that we could lean on you with.
Big fullbacks we'd kick you with we could iso you with
(19:48):
and just looking at what we had coming back we didn't have
it we had a lot of athletic dudes that could
run so you know we we were fortunate enough to to hire jim avra you know it's
this offensive mind mind to do from south georgia and we transitioned into like
the gun wing and people that knew me you know swore up and down i'd never never be in the wing,
(20:12):
but I do a lot of things to win a football game.
And, you know, I've learned a lot of football the last three years,
you know, doing what we do.
But, you know, we're running Buck Sweet, we're running, you know,
Power Reed, we're running a bunch of bash concepts.
But at the end of the day, when you look at it, we're still going back to we're
running Power, running ISO, we're running TOS. You know, we're still kind of
(20:36):
doing a lot of the same stuff we've always done.
We're just getting to it a different way because we had to.
Like, there's no way we were going to have the success the last three years
we had doing what we had always done. Now, we were going to win some games and make some runs.
I just knew we couldn't win a state championship doing what we had always done.
(20:56):
So, just tried to make a shot in the dark, and, you know, we did,
and we hit a home run with it.
And, you know, our kids are loving it. You know, it's a really fun offense.
It's kind of, you know, a pattern for our personnel, and depending on who that personnel is.
I mean, like two years ago, not this year, but last year, our quarterback ran
(21:19):
for 1,500 through 1,500, you know.
And this year, you know, that quarterback graduated.
So this year we had a quarterback that set every passing record we've had at
the school, you know, for a single season. So, I mean, and we still had a 2,000-yard back.
So it was really, really multiple in a lot of things we do, and it's really fun.
But out of those two facets, I mean, I think a lot of people,
(21:43):
you know, when it comes down to it, if you want to win a ball game damn,
and you want to win a championship.
Against like-minded teams you know you
got to win in that special teams category man i
feel like that's something we stress a lot is the
special teams is trying to be opportunistic in
special teams you know trying to steal a an
(22:03):
onside kick trying to steal a possession you know
we we pop up kick all the time and you
know fans you know forever they get they get all mad because yeah
i mean everybody would love to have the kicker they can kick it out the back of the end zone right
but early on like in 09 and 11 and
10 like man every game it seemed like
we'd have somebody run one back and it just that would just be
(22:25):
so demoralizing to have somebody run a kickoff back so
more and more we got to looking at this and we've been doing it
for a long time is you know you still got to have a good kicker to do it is
we try to pop that thing as high as we can pop it to the 30 right on the bottom
of the numbers because at worst you know you would would think if you get the
fair catch all you're giving up is one first down and you're going to get the
(22:47):
ball on the 30 they're going to get it now they're going to drop that ball some,
and a lot of times it doesn't really matter it takes a lot of guts for a guy
a coach to put his best guy on the 30 on the bottom of the numbers because we
can kick away from him too but,
still if you got it high enough and your guys are covering fast enough and they
(23:08):
have effort which is always back to effort, they're going to get down there
in time where he doesn't have a chance to return it. So that element of the game is over.
So that's the part that we feel like we stress special teams like crazy.
We do punt team every day.
And I know everybody does all that same stuff. But we just feel like special
teams has got to be special.
(23:29):
And I think that's a part that sometimes gets kind of overlooked when people talk football.
Absolutely. Coach, as you go through your 62-game win streak,
at what point did it start stressing you out? Yeah.
You know, we never said it did, but it was. I mean, it was stressful.
(23:51):
It started weighing on me pretty bad this year.
I mean, because, you know, winning a ball game is tough, you know,
and a lot of people, you know, kind of compare it to rich folks' problems.
You know, I mean, it's still problems.
And you start every little injury, every little this, this, every little,
(24:13):
that mounts up to, man, this could be the one.
And, you know, I, you know, it was really tough.
It was really stressful, but I felt like we did a really good job of,
you know, we come up with a saying every year and sometimes say and stick,
you know, your mantras, sometimes they stick and we'll keep them forever.
(24:37):
Sometimes they're not real good and they don't, you know, they kind of go away,
but we had went on a run back in. And I think it was 12, 13, 14, and 15.
And I think all those years, except maybe one, we had made the semifinals and had lost.
Made the semifinals and lost. Made the semifinals and lost. So going into 16,
(24:58):
which was the first year we won the state championship, that year,
our motto or our mantra that year was one more week, right? All we wanted was one more week.
That was our goal, was to play one more week. And it kind of got us to where
we focused on one more week.
And I know it's a lot of coach speak when people say, man, we're just focused
(25:23):
on the next game, focused on the next opponent.
And when you kind of look at that 62 game deal, it really kind of mounted up
into a two or three year span before you'd ever really kind of step back and
said, Lord, you know, we haven't lost one yet.
Because our guys were so used to, our coaches were so used to,
(25:44):
we were so used to, we won that one, we're walking off the field,
we're getting ready for the next one.
Like, and, you know, you know, you've been there.
Like, you win that state championship, you're walking off the field.
And you're not really having time to enjoy it because you're thinking about
how can I get back, you know? And then that's stressful.
(26:05):
So it's just, you know, and this year I'll probably, you know, enjoyed it the most.
And this was, I mean, it was a fun group. Every year is different.
Every group's different.
But it's been stressful, to say the least, for sure.
Yeah. No, I mean, people don't really understand that is, you know,
(26:26):
in a win streak, the stress just builds and builds and builds.
I love, I learned so much from De La Salle, right, Bob Laudisore, if I said it right.
But when the game stands tall, I think it was over 140 or maybe 150-game win streak.
But in the process, he had a heart attack, you know.
(26:47):
You know, so just the pressure and the stress to win.
What I find interesting is the struggle to win a championship.
So talk about this a little bit.
You know, you go to the semifinals, you said, you know, 12, 13,
14, 15, you're getting close, but you're not getting there, you know,
which can also drive a man to despair. fair.
(27:10):
Just talk about just what you learned in that process, how you became a,
how that adversity made you a better coach, which really led you to where,
you know, you got to where you want.
So, so you go four years, not making the championship, and then you went four
years winning the championship.
Talk about what you learned during that process.
(27:30):
Um, you know, you learn, you know, So, you know, you do have to stress the little things.
You know, I think a lot of people talk about the little things,
you know, you know, don't don't stress the little things, you know,
but I think when you're looking at the game of football,
especially in high school, you have to stress the little things because they
(27:51):
they will fester throughout the year and grow to be big things.
As far as, you know, substitution penalties, you know, this penalty or that penalty.
Like, I think, you know, if you let something go early on in the year,
it continued to grow or to continue to build.
Whereas if you just attack it early on in the year, you'll be better off for it.
(28:14):
We kind of went back and looked and, you know, how did we lose that one?
Why did we lose that one? You know, I mean, you kind of stress and kind of do that stuff.
But, you know, it does make it sweeter when you get there, you know,
going through all the trials and tribulations.
Of it, but it just makes you hungry, you know, and you, and you try to find
(28:36):
different ways and different ways to get there.
And we would, we would change things in the weight room.
We would change different ways that we do stuff, but you kind of got to step back too.
And, and not forget, you know, we can't blow the whole thing up.
You know, we, we went 12 and one, you know, we went 12 and one made the semis,
you know, we're not going to blow this whole thing up.
(28:57):
So we're going to make small adjustments. We're going to make small tweaks.
Whereas during the run you know
the 62 game run you know we
had to be real cautious not to get stale you know
just because something had worked the year before doesn't mean it would work
the next year and then you get so you know i don't call it superstitious i call
(29:20):
it routine oriented you know we do you always got to do this on this friday
bam bam you know and if one thing's not not right, then we're going to lose the ballgame.
We all know that's not true, but it kind of makes you feel that way.
So you have to change up some things, but at the same time, you've got to keep a lot of things the same.
(29:41):
I know that doesn't make a lot of sense, but just to kind of get what you want
to get, I don't think you blow up the whole house.
No, absolutely. So, Coach, talk about, I mean, 62-game win streak. All right.
It came to an end this year. Last game.
How did I mean? So so you get your team and like everybody, I don't care whether
(30:07):
you won that game or lost that game.
You're instantly thinking about, all right, we got, you know,
it's twenty twenty four.
How is your team responding to that, and what are you guys doing?
What's your philosophy in the offseason, kind of like right now,
to get yourself ready for 2024?
You know, it's staying in the weight room. I mean, I think everybody's the same.
(30:29):
You know, you try to stay in the weight room. You try to change some small things,
some tweaks, work on some smaller things, And we're looking at,
you know, offensively, what can we add schematically to change up?
You know, where in this last game were we deficient on some things that we could have gotten better at?
(30:51):
Can we change our practice schedule? You know, can we do some things different
to try to get to these guys?
Because that's the thing, too. Like, at the bottom of my practice sheet every
day, it's always got, you know, it's got to be fun.
You know because at the end of the day if it's not fun for these
guys they're not going to keep doing it so we've
(31:12):
got to make it fun and we're always trying to live with creative things to do
i mean i know i hear a lot of these guys doing the competition
tuesdays and different things like that i
mean we've done some things before to where you have them broken up into
groups and off season and they come in it's a point-based system but
at the same time you know the small
school like us you know we're encouraging all these
(31:33):
kids to play multiple sports so it's hard
you know we have our football guys in
the last period of the day you know year round but at
the same time if they're playing basketball and baseball you know they're leaving
early for away games and this and that so there's a lot of time we don't get
them so those guys will come in at you know 6 15 6 30 in the morning get their
(31:55):
stuff done you know chad freeman our strength conditioning guy does a great job of kind of,
pretty much juggling these guys when we get them in. And, you know,
that's what I would say, like, we did early on, and I know a lot of people do.
But if you don't have your guys all together in one class, you got to try to
get them there for sure because it makes a world of difference having those guys all together.
(32:19):
And then, you know, as soon as that horn blows, it moves on.
You know, everybody gives the same speech. You know, now juniors,
you're no longer juniors, you're seniors.
And you kind of try to see who's going to step up, look, who's going to be leaders
and who's going to lead this year's team?
What's this year's team going to look like and who's that going to be?
I mean, and I think everybody knows the quicker you find out who's going to
(32:42):
play where, the better you're going to be.
Sometimes that takes the whole summer. Sometimes it takes three or four games.
And we were plugging and playing all year this year. So you never know.
You know, you were talking, and as you were talking, because I asked you the
question how you got beat, you know, you got beat in the state championship.
You know, you're going to change this or that or whatever.
(33:03):
What's your what's your thinking going into twenty twenty four? I remember back.
I don't know. Probably was probably was twelve, thirteen years ago now, maybe ten.
I don't know. But Notre Dame had played Alabama in the national championship.
I think it was a national championship because I don't think they had a semifinal
thing back then. But so Notre Dame's playing Alabama and Notre Dame just got whipped.
(33:24):
Right. I mean, they got beat pretty good by Alabama. And I remember the defensive
coordinator came by recruiting at our school, and I was just asking him what
was their focus in the spring.
Same thing, always trying to ask questions to get better.
And basically, their whole spring had been or was going to be the adjustments
(33:47):
they need to make defensively to stop Alabama. Bama.
And then of course they never played again in the national championship,
but I just thought, you know what?
Sometimes a team is so good and it doesn't matter what you do.
You're not stopping them.
And you know, a lot of times we overthink it. It's like you said,
you can't overthink it. Don't change everything. It's not broke.
(34:11):
I think as coaches, we, we can, we have a tendency to do that.
Like just make sweeping changes when those are not necessary.
Coach, as we end, what are one or two things that you could tell a young coach
or any coach who's aspiring to be a head coach?
(34:33):
What are two things that you could give them that they need to focus on to be a winning coach?
I mean, I think, you know, first off, everybody's a position coach to start with, right?
So, man, everybody seems to have, you know, I'm an offensive guy or I'm a defensive guy.
(34:54):
Like, what I would say or suggest would be, you know, don't put yourself in a box.
You know, don't say, you know, I'm just a linebackers coach.
You know, because if you're aspiring to be a D.C., if you don't know how that
front end works and the back end work together, you're not going to be a really good coordinator.
So, you know, if you're a D-line coach for two or three years and you're really
(35:17):
good, I mean, when you're wanting to be that D.C.
And D.C. job and it doesn't come open, I mean, try to coach D.B.s.
Try to coach linebackers.
I mean, I think the more experienced you can be in multiple areas, the better you can be.
If you're a defensive guy, and I still do this, like, at clinics and stuff.
(35:37):
Like, I'm an offensive guy, so I'll kind of go to defensive meetings.
Just to see how a defense will – these defensive coaches are going to talk about
this is what you do to stop this, to just kind of see what's going on in their mind.
I think it's really good to be able to coach both sides of the ball.
(35:59):
You know, if you're a head coach, obviously you've got to be able to trust your
coordinators, but at the same time, it all runs through you.
Your name's on the line, you know, because at the end of the day, you're the head coach.
And, yeah, you've got to trust them, but they've got to, at the end of the day,
all be on the same page with you.
And I wouldn't say, you know, offensively, if I'm an offensive guy, that I'm only an eye guy.
(36:25):
You know, I think I learned that. I had to learn that.
So I think you have to be able to
adapt to your personnel now or you'll
have good years and bad years you know you you won't be able to sustain a winning
a winning culture if you have to always do the same thing if you're not able
(36:45):
to always get the same athletes so it's just hard to do i mean and i think the
second thing is you know surround people,
surround yourself with people that are better than you and and when i say that
i'm lucky enough to To have, you know, we have some older guys that,
you know, retired, live at the lake. And, you know, they coach a lot of ball.
(37:08):
And, you know, they come in and, you know, they're better than me in a lot of things.
And, you know, they're better than me in the way they live their life for Christ.
You know, and I learn from these guys every day.
You know, I want to surround myself with the best offensive mind a guy can find,
the best defensive mind a guy can find.
And I want to learn from those guys every day.
(37:30):
You know, I want to go to clinics and I want to learn and I want to,
you know, I want to listen to the coach guest podcasts, you know, and learn something.
So, I mean, I think the more you can learn, the better you can be.
Yeah, I appreciate that plug right there. I really only do the podcast so I
can learn, you know, just trying to figure out, you know, what's that one thing.
(37:54):
And this is one thing I always, you know, because I want a lot of Elka.
You want a lot of John Milledge. And what a lot of people always say is,
well, they cheat, they recruit or, you know, they just come up with all this bull crap.
So what I've learned is, is like everybody that wins, wins for a reason. Right.
There's something that they're doing that's different or special, and what is it?
(38:21):
And so, man, that's what I'm out to figure out is what is that?
And so, that's why I'm just super impressed with what you've done there at John Milledge.
I watched it from afar, and I definitely think it's special.
Special man just winning 62 games in a row i
(38:43):
mean you could play 62 times against yourself and figure
out a way to beat yourself and you know so
i think that's amazing but coach i appreciate it
man if you don't mind i'd like to pray for you as we head out yes sir well we're
coming for you today just want to praise and thank you for loving us praise
and thank you for dying on the cross for our sins lord i just praise and thank
(39:03):
you for what jt wall's doing there at john millage it's just just cool to see
the people that you put in his life, like Christian men,
like Mark Rick, and he said, Tony Dungy.
And now he's talking about guys that are older than him on his staff that work
for him, that are leading him in Christ.
Lord, you are good and you are always good to us.
(39:26):
And I just pray that you continue to bless JT and his efforts there,
continue to bless that program as he does does strive to lead them for Christ.
So, Lord, we love you and we praise you in Jesus' name.
Amen. Amen. I appreciate it. It was great. Thanks, Coach. Appreciate all you do.
Popular Podcasts
24/7 News: The Latest
The latest news in 4 minutes updated every hour, every day.
Therapy Gecko
An unlicensed lizard psychologist travels the universe talking to strangers about absolutely nothing. TO CALL THE GECKO: follow me on https://www.twitch.tv/lyleforever to get a notification for when I am taking calls. I am usually live Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays but lately a lot of other times too. I am a gecko.
The Joe Rogan Experience
The official podcast of comedian Joe Rogan.