March 13, 2024 • 38 mins
In this inspiring episode of Demand Excellence, we welcome Coach Mike Chastain, the passing guru of 2024 now leading the squad at Jones County. An illustrious figure known for his tenure at Warner Robins, Coach Chastain delves into his exhilarating journey tracing back to his days as an offensive line player at West Georgia.
Reliving his initial coaching days at Byron Middle School, Coach Chastain expresses profound admiration for his mentor, Rance Valesky. He discusses his learnings from Coach Nix and Coach Ferrandez and dives deep into the science of the passing game and quarterback training. He places particular emphasis on the pivotal role of a skilled quarterback in the offense, revealing an astonishing memory when they executed 74 passes in a single match at Warner Robins.
Transitioning to game strategy, Coach Chastain breaks down the complexities of balance between offensive and defensive plays. He underscores the evolution of the game and the importance of defending the entire field, providing an encompassing perspective on football strategy and philosophy.
Circling back to his faith-based approach, Coach Chastain articulates his beliefs alongside game strategy, exploring the correlation of his faith to his successful career. He candidly shares his experiences of team management, fostering a strong rapport with the administration, fostering talent, and managing challenges and loss.
Delving into the unique tactics infused in Hebron Christian Academy's successful football program, Coach Chastain shares the trials and triumphs of the journey. He also throws light on the changing paradigms in offensive and defensive strategies, with a specific focus on the West Coast and Air Raid tactics.
With a fitting end, this episode presents a fervent prayer and a hopeful look into what lies ahead, leaving listeners inspired and motivated. This episode is a treat for both sports enthusiasts and anyone who appreciates a story of resilient faith and leadership.
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
(00:00):
All right, everybody, we are back for another episode of Demand Excellence.
And today I have Coach Mike Chastain on the podcast with me,
and he is currently the head coach at Jones County.
But we probably all remember him from Warner Robins. He had a successful,
really successful run there at Warner Robins.
Before that, he was the offensive coordinator at Houston County,
(00:22):
there with one of the most prolific offenses in the, gosh, probably Georgia
high school history ever with Jake Fromm and what you guys were able to do offensively there.
And so, Coach, as we get started, appreciate you being on the show.
Just kind of talk about your path a little bit. You know, you played offensive
line at West Georgia, and here you are, this passing guru.
(00:44):
You probably won't call yourself a guru, but this passing guru here in 2024.
So tell us a little bit about yourself, Coach.
Coach, first of all, I want to thank you for having me on and also thank you
for what you do and your stance and with your putting Christ first and the things
that you do, you can tell big time.
I don't know you well, but you can tell by listening to your podcast.
(01:06):
And I've listened to every one just about this year, and I've enjoyed the heck out of them.
And it's just, to me, it's great content to have out there for other guys that
have a faith and know that you can put Christ first in your program.
And I just, man, I'm thankful for guys like you that do that.
And I know you don't want to hear a lot of that probably, but I'm just telling
(01:27):
you, man, I'm thankful for people like you that are out there doing that.
So thank you again, and thank you for having me.
But my path is a unique path.
I played offensive line my whole career. I always thought I was a quarterback-type
guy, but I always ended up being offensive line.
So with that, I went to West Georgia and played four years up there and was
(01:49):
around a lot of really good coaches there. While I was there,
after I got done playing, I coached up there for one year as a student assistant.
And being there, I had Coach Fisher, who was a really, really good pass in mind,
and had a bunch of other good coaches.
Coach Drew Cronick was there one year I coached there. Muschamp was there one year I coached there.
(02:10):
And Glenn Spencer, who does a lot of things.
I can't remember exactly where
he's at right now, but he was at Oklahoma State and FAU and Charlotte.
He's been a lot of places. But Coach Ferrandez, who's the head coach at,
I believe, Greenville, North Carolina Greenville.
But there was a lot of really good football coaches at West Georgia while I was there.
(02:32):
And that's where I kind of fell in love with coaching football.
Coach Gary Ott was my offensive line coach.
And in a Division II program, you need all the help you can get.
So I was a student assistant that year, and he put me right to work.
He let me coach the centers and guards, and he focused on the tackles,
and he let me get after it pretty good. it but uh man i enjoyed the heck out
(02:52):
of fell in love with coaching at.
At West Georgia. Then I was, my first job, uh, rents, I mean,
uh, Alan Bronemaker gave me my first job at Byron middle school as a head football
coach at Byron middle school.
And, and he, he set it up where, where we wanted, he wanted to run the offense
the way the high school ran it.
And so I had to go up there and learn the offense then when he was his first year there.
(03:16):
And then my second year there, Rance Valesky got the job as the head football
coach and man, he's, His passing game is phenomenal, and how he teaches quarterbacks is phenomenal.
I learned a lot about the offseason training of the quarterbacks and stuff.
You put the quarterbacks through in the offseason and teach them the weaknesses
(03:37):
and strengths of different coverages and just teach them the whole offense.
He was a big West Coast guy, so I pretty much learned the whole modern passing
game from him and all the different West Coast playbooks he had throughout the
office that I would stay up there and kind of look at after practice. But tremendous.
I mean, just very thankful for being able to be around him.
(04:00):
When he got there, he put me with the offensive line during camp and in the summer.
And I asked him, I said, Coach, you want us to run the stuff the way you run
it up at the middle school?
I said, I feel good about coaching offensive line.
I said, you mind if I be with you? And sure enough, he put me with him.
And he had me watching quarterback's feet every day. and making sure they're
(04:22):
stepping on the midline and doing all the little things.
And so I was able to learn a lot of quarterback play and mechanics from him
and then went the north side with Coach Nix, who was probably one of my biggest
mentors in how we run a program.
But he also was very knowledgeable in quarterback play and probably didn't overcoach
(04:44):
things quite like Grant Scalespa did be able to let things go a little bit more
and wasn't just big in the details of letting the kids be an athlete.
And so I saw both sides of how you coach quarterbacks from two really,
really good quarterback coaches.
Of course, this is with Patrick Nix, who played quarterback at Auburn,
and now Suns played at Oregon. I'm going to be in the draft here soon.
(05:06):
But they know quarterback play really well and just two different ways of doing
it. So I was very, very blessed to be there. And then from –.
After Northside, I went back to Peach County, and I had stops at Bleckley too
there, but went back to Peach County.
When I went back to Peach County, Rance Gillespie left and went to Georgia Southern.
Chad Campbell got the job and hired me back at Peach County to coach quarterbacks.
(05:31):
When he did, he wanted it ran all just like the way Coach Gillespie did it.
I had to go down and spend a couple days with Rance Gillespie at Georgia Southern
when he was down there as offense coordinator. So I learned even more from him there.
And then we went to – after that, I went down and took the offensive coordinator
job with Coach Fabrizio.
Coach Fabrizio was a defensive coordinator at Peach with us.
(05:54):
And we went down there to Lee County. And he set me up with Kenny Edenfield.
And he said, hey, we want to run – we got in the Tony Franklin system.
And he said, we want to run things just the way they do it.
And Kenny Edenfield was a – I don't know if he was necessarily a Franklin guy,
but they were running – they were air raid.
And so I spent a day with Kenny Franklin
(06:14):
and we were I mean uh Kenny Edenfield and and was
very blessed to be able to learn a lot from him too as well
and how how to do things back then the Tony Franklin system was
huge wristbands he taught me at an early age he said don't don't use the wristbands
teach everybody concepts let them learn it and man and and that was of course
now everybody does it that way and and so we were ahead of the game there and
(06:36):
and I was lucky and fortunate enough to have a really good quarterback at Lee
County when we were there that we were able to throw the ball around.
And I was fortunate to be with a defensive head coach that said,
Coach, I don't care what you do, score points. I told him we couldn't run the ball really well.
We didn't have – the first year I was there, we were not really good up front.
And he said, we were playing a team at Westside, actually out of Macon,
(06:57):
and they were loaded at the time.
And I said, Coach, we ain't going to run the ball at all with these guys.
He said, I don't care if you throw it every down, just score points.
And I said, okay, and we threw it a bunch.
Two weeks later, we had the same scenario when we played Warner Robins.
And, again, they had some dudes over there.
And he said, again, I don't care if you throw it every down.
(07:17):
And we threw it 74 times in that game and set the state record in a single game for passing.
And so, again, you can't do that unless you're with someone that gives you the freedom to do that.
As a head coach, you can call whatever you want to call.
But if you're with another head coach that micromanages, then it ain't as good,
(07:38):
and Dean did not do that, and I'm thankful for being with Dean,
and I learned a ton from him.
Although he's a defensive guy, man, really learned how to simplify things and
don't put too much on these kids' plates, and, man, he really helped me a lot in how we do things.
And then, obviously, I went to, from there, I went to West Lawrence for a stint
(08:00):
for about a month, and I told Coach Nobles when he hired me that,
Hey, if a job came up in Warner Robins, I was going to take it.
But if not, I'd love to come there. So I was going to be the offense coordinator at West Lawrence.
I was there for a month, and a job came up in a veterans high school with Bruce and Coach David Bruce.
And so I took that job at veterans for two years and had a couple good quarterbacks there.
(08:23):
And then Vaughn got the job at Houston County, and that's when we went to Houston County.
And because of Jake Fromm, I was able to get a head coaching job.
You know what I mean? And obviously, good Lord's got a lot to do with everything and directs our paths.
But we're only as good as some of the players we coach.
And I really feel like he helped a lot of people get a lot of good jobs.
(08:45):
And from principals to coaches to anybody.
But, man, it was a blessing to coach him.
And then when I went over to Warner Robins, I was fortunate enough to have Jake's
little brother, Dylan, and Tyler.
They transferred over to Warner Robins. they had the means to pick up and move
and do that and so i was able to i've been able to coach some really good quarterbacks
(09:07):
and and you can't you can't be good in the passing game unless you have that
so it really can't be good in any offense unless you have a good quarterback so
that's kind of the path that i have and and man it i look back it is neat how
you go from offensive line to doing that stuff but again when i was offensive
lineman i always thought i could could be a quarterback.
So, well, knew the truth, but.
(09:29):
So, yeah, I mean, I think the big interesting question for me is just that really
it's kind of a transition in your mind,
but maybe you already were born that way thinking you were a quarterback and
you were just, you know, your coaches always put you on the offensive line, but, you know, because,
you know, offensive linemen have a certain mindset, right?
It's physical, it's nasty, it's, you know, all those things.
(09:52):
And then you were able to transition that into...
Man, I would be scared, to be honest with you.
I'm listening, and I just hired Bruce Miller to be our offensive coordinator,
and he's a passing guy, and I'm just going to let him do it.
But I would be scared to throw it 74 times.
(10:14):
So talk to me a little bit about the shift in your mind and your confidence
in the passing game and why it's something you're sold on.
Well, again, it's not quite that way anymore. more.
I don't think we can do that anymore. But I really believe back then,
defenses weren't as good at defending the pass.
I mean, everybody ran the ball. And when I first got to Lee County with Dean,
(10:37):
I mean, people just weren't as good at defending the ball.
Everybody wasn't doing 707 in the summers like they are now.
And it was just easier to be good in that part of the game with the background
that I had with all the good coaches that I was around.
I didn't learn any that on my own. I mean, I was around some really,
really good guys in the passing game, and being able to learn from those guys,
(11:00):
I felt like we just knew how to,
be better in that area than everybody else was at defending the passing game.
And then, nowadays, I don't think that's the case. I mean, we really,
really try to be 50-50 for the most part, man.
And we are when we have a line that can do it.
I just believe big time in defending, making the defense fenced up in the whole field.
(11:24):
I was taught that from Coach Fisher as soon as I really fell in love with the game.
I was kind of, even in high school, we had a quarterback one-year throw for
300 yards, and I just thought that was the craziest thing ever.
But when I got to college, Coach
Fisher really did a good job of being balanced and throwing the ball.
And again, it was a time when most people were heavily run.
(11:45):
And I saw at an early age that if you can be good in that area,
then you got an advantage. and I felt like the people that threw the ball well
usually did a better job at winning, you know.
So I guess that's the evolution of why I became that way.
Drew Kronick, every time I see him, being at Navy now and at Mercer and being
(12:08):
a wing tee guy, every time I see him, I just can't believe it.
I'm a receiver and we're running the wing tee and you play dang offensive line
and y'all throw the ball all over the place. I mean, it's just, I don't understand it.
But he's an awesome guy and a great mind as well.
I was watching, keeping in touch with the playoffs or whatever,
(12:28):
and I'm up here really close to Mill Creek.
Mill Creek's actually three miles from Heber Christian Academy.
So I went over there. Obviously, I'm a big Jeff Herron fan.
As an early coach, he was the man and kind of paid attention to him and just
kind of watched his career.
But I thought it was interesting. In 7A football, pretty much everybody's just spread and throw it.
(12:50):
Right now and then he's able to take the wing t
and it was i went over there and watched him
verse mill creek i mean it was wing t is all it
was and it was overload running power
and buck sweep and trap down your face
and mill creek could not
stop it and i think
(13:13):
i mean i'm just getting your answer like i think maybe
those offenses there's not many of them
but man if they if people do it
well i think because everybody is doing
seven on seven everybody is trying to stop the pass those offenses are going
to be very hard to stop in the future there's no doubt i don't want to play
(13:35):
anybody run wing t i don't want to play anybody runs option right now i mean
and and here's the deal the young defensive coordinators are out there they
don't know how to stop that stuff.
I mean, it's really tough. Unless they've been around some people that were
good at doing that stuff, they don't know how to stop it. So you're right. My thinking is flipped.
And the problem is it's not sexy enough for kids to want to do some of that
(14:00):
stuff, and you've got to be great at selling that.
So I still think what we do is good.
But I do believe it's very, very hard to defend. And there's no doubt in my
mind that they did a great job. I love Josh.
I love Lady Def. He played with me at West Georgia. He was a lot older than me, but a great guy.
And I know he's got really good players up there in Mill Creek, really good players.
(14:22):
And I know that a couple guys at Camden, and I know they don't have quite the
players that they do at Mill Creek, and they were able to go up there and take
care of business, run an offense that people aren't used to.
And when you don't see that stuff very often, it's really, really hard to stop.
So I agree 100%. I think if you could be good at either one of those deals,
(14:42):
option or wing tee, man, you got an advantage.
Man, it was poetic that night. You know, their offensive line they had there
at Camden County, I think they all were about 5'7", 300.
And, you know, nobody's going to recruit them. They're just high school football
boys. They were loving it.
And, man, it was just fun to watch. I mean, they got after them.
(15:05):
You know, Coach, so this podcast is for coaches, and coaches are always thinking
about the next thing or should I stay, should I go.
You had a really good run at Warner Robins. You kind of flipped a program,
turned it around. You built it into a winner. You guys went to the state championship.
I can't remember if you went once or twice with you as the head coach,
(15:27):
but then, boom, it was kind of shocking that, okay, he's going to Jones County.
And then and then westbrook he
was at warner robbins and he goes to peach county so as
a coach what's the advantage you know
for you as a coach and for your family to go from a warner robbins to jones
county well you know we did we played for two there and westbrook came in with
(15:50):
me he was my defense coordinator my first year as a head coach for him and paul
carroll actually co-coordinated And what a great man. I love Westbrook to death.
But when leaving Warner Robins to come up here, Justin Rogers called me.
Me and him were kind of friends a little bit. We taught a bunch of offensive ball.
And he called me up and he told me, Mike, man, because he came and visited with
(16:14):
me at Warner Robins. And he said, Mike, man, let's pull this job.
I'm taking a cockpit job. I said, you need to think about coming and taking
this job. And he said, and I was not looking at all for anything.
I loved it at Warner Robins when I was there.
And he said, but I'm telling you, this job is a really good job.
Me and my wife came up and interviewed, came up and met the principal and the
(16:36):
superintendent and athletic director.
And we felt like that's where God was leading us. And to me,
the big difference is when you're in a one-horse town, you've got the whole town support.
Everybody's coming out to watch you. I can pick up the phone and call the superintendent
as soon as we get off this podcast, and he's going to answer it.
Whereas in Warner Robins, there's a chain of command. You've got to go through
(16:58):
four or five people before you talk to the superintendent that makes a decision on anything.
And I just think it's easier to run a real football program.
You can't argue with the success that Warner-Romans had, and they're doing good.
The principal there loves football, and he supports it in every way that you
possibly can in a big system like a Houston County education system.
(17:23):
But I think it's just easier to run a program in a one-horse town.
Yeah. You speak of that. I'm reading a book right now.
You can see it. They won't be able to see it on the podcast,
but it's called The Culture Code and it's written by Daniel Coyle.
What it's about is just that you get more productivity from your employees in
(17:48):
an environment where they feel safe and secure.
And what you just mentioned there is when your layers to get to the superintendent
who ultimately is in charge and you don't feel connected with him,
you don't really feel safe.
(18:08):
And, you know, like and I think for coaches out there, I think that's critical piece.
Like, man, do I feel safe with the the people in charge around me?
You know, I left Elka because the administration changed.
I didn't feel safe. I didn't feel I didn't feel connected to anybody anymore.
(18:30):
And I think that's a big thing. Like when people are thinking about taking jobs,
man, like it's not just a job. I mean, it is a job, but like,
can you be successful there?
And through all that, I think the feeling that you got at Jones County is you
felt safe and secure and connected. You can talk more about that.
Well, I think it's all part of kind of God's plan.
(18:51):
I think that was the way to sell it to me is, hey, I felt more connected there,
you know, but, you know, but I really feel like God had a plan with us coming here.
And, and man, really, I put Christ first in this program. And,
man, I really feel like we've made a big impact for Christ in this community since we've been here.
(19:12):
And, man, I'm super, super excited about that and just hopefully one day see
a lot of fruits from that.
But, you know, feeling safe, I think the over-spiritual answer would be,
man, I think we've got to trust in God first, right?
I think there's no doubt he puts things in our path like, man,
(19:37):
that has to be a better program because you can get things done there.
You know what I mean? Maybe that was the reason why we came here.
But I agree 100 percent. When you feel safe that you can call a superintendent
up and get things done. I think that's I think that's big. I really do.
Well, you know, speaking of the Christian aspect of things, you know,
which is another reason why, you know, like this part I started this podcast
(20:00):
is that we can we can blend faith into it.
Our hope and trust and faith in Jesus Christ, like he is our confidence.
But at the end of the day, like as a head football coach, this isolated spot,
spot because at the end of the day, we have to win. We can't fabricate our numbers.
You can say, hey, I had the best offense in the country, but if you went four
(20:22):
and six, you could get fired.
You can feel isolated. You can feel hopeless. You can feel all alone.
Really, that relationship with Christ and understanding, hey,
He's sovereign and And he's in control of all things. For me, it gives me confidence.
(20:43):
Now I can go out and work hard. I can trust in the Lord. I can have faith.
Now I am going to try to surround myself with people I can trust and people I feel safe around.
And when I say safe, it just means family, right?
But talk a little bit about that, because I remember, not to bring this up,
I remember my worst losses like yesterday.
(21:06):
They're always in my head. And I remember your state championship loss.
You lost, you should have won, but you lost right there at the end.
You know, and I always look at that like, I mean, I look at you like,
well, you really kind of won, you know, but, you know, as a coach,
like that sucks. I felt bad for you. Didn't even know you.
But I mean, your faith has to play a huge role in moments like that.
Talk about that a little bit.
(21:27):
No doubt. And I think some people would argue with me on this,
but I thank God keeps me just level enough that where I don't beat my chest and think it's me.
You know, it keeps us where we're not overly dominant. And we got everything
we need in this program here at Jones. I mean, we have support.
(21:47):
We got our kids in classes that we need. All this great stuff we have in our program.
If we just were phenomenal, gifted athletes, we would dominate.
But I think God really kind of keeps me at bay by not letting us be dominant with athletes.
So I'll keep relying on him because if everything's going smooth,
I'm doing it all myself, you know, instead of relying on him on a daily basis.
(22:11):
And I think that and again, me and Chad talk about this all the time, my athletic director.
And we talk about how there's Christians at other places, too.
But for me, I think that's how it works for me.
I think he keeps being just successful enough so I can keep my job and keep
moving on and to keep being a vessel for him. But I tell you.
(22:37):
I don't know if I answered your question, but that's that's kind of how I think about those things.
Yeah. No, I've been waiting to tell this story because so I was reading through 1 Samuel in the Bible.
And so there's Saul in 1 Samuel. So he's the first king of Israel.
He was hand selected by God.
And then but we see it. We see there where he had a time where he honored and served God.
(23:01):
And then there was a there was a period or there was a moment where it just
switched. And he rebelled against God and God rejected him.
And that's when God anointed David and David was going to be king.
But David was an idiot too, right? And so, you know, David sinned.
We read about his Bible. So I'm sitting there reading it and I'm like, you know what?
David was a man after God's own heart, but Saul was selected by God.
(23:25):
And I look at him, I'm like, man, am I Saul or am I David?
Because they both committed the same sins. But here's one thing I read that
really stuck out to me about Saul.
When Saul had a victory, he made a monument to himself.
Every time David had a victory, he glorified God and pointed to God.
(23:49):
And I think that's what you're talking about. And it's just a reminder for me,
man, no matter what in life, whether I'm having success or failure,
You're like, I've got to keep my eyes on Christ. It's never about me.
Right. And so David kept his eyes on Christ.
Saul kept his eyes on himself.
(24:10):
And, you know, it's like what you're talking about there.
I mean, God, you never know what God's doing. He could just be building this
great foundation of Christ before he lets you win a championship at Jones County.
And, yeah, that'll preach right there now. That's good stuff.
That's really, really good stuff.
(24:30):
I think what's crazy is we're all at different places in our walk.
You know what I mean? When I talk about all the Christian coaches out there,
we're all at different places, and we all struggle with different things.
And, man, God's given me,
I feel like, the gift of grace, And I'm okay with seeing how one coach who I
(24:54):
think probably a Christian guy that handles his program and does things.
And it's not the way I would do it, but I still believe that God's using that person or whatever.
And so, man, I don't know. I think that is a great story between Saul and David.
I mean, how people do things differently, but both are solid in their faith.
(25:16):
And after God's own heart, you know, so, yeah.
Well, you know, Saul was rejected. What I have to remind myself is,
and we're all sinners and we all screw up.
I don't care how strong you are in your faith or how much you know or don't
know, like David failed, but Saul rejected the Lord.
So coach, there at Jones County, you get the job. Obviously you follow,
(25:40):
some people go into jobs and the program's broke.
And some some people go into jobs and
the program is solid like you know i interviewed the coach from coffee county
he he didn't go into a job that was broke that was a great job he enters into
a job and there's a solid foundation already there and he just builds upon that
(26:00):
you know you come in after a really successful coach in justin rogers.
I think it's easier. I came into a program here at Hebron Christian Academy,
and I really kind of chose that on purpose because I think that's easier than
following somebody that is successful.
So talk about the challenges there and what you did to lay your foundation,
(26:22):
but also build upon what was already there.
I did. I came into a program that things were really good. Justin,
I believe Justin got this football program in Jones County going and did a great job.
And they were the way he set his program up was kind of similar to how we did
things at Warner Robins and some other places that I've been.
(26:43):
And so it was easy to come in and do that. The hard thing is they had a lot
of success and he got a lot of energy and enthusiasm going with the crowd and
the fan base and the community.
And but but did things completely different than how we would do things. things.
And so changing that, I think was tough, you know, because, you know,
(27:06):
how they went, we did it this way.
Why are we changing that? You know, because we've done this way and we've had
success too, so we can do that.
But you're right. It was a successful program and very excited to come in and
be able to put our mark on things.
But he did a phenomenal job. He can't I can't say enough about what they did
(27:27):
here because I really think he got the excitement going in football.
To me, this place was a baseball town forever, and he really got football going.
I think there were some other coaches, Dwight Jones, who was here before him,
who laid a foundation of getting these kids to work hard towards football.
And then he came in and really took it to another level.
(27:49):
And we've been able to, I feel like, been able to keep it going.
And so, you know, and we do do things a little bit different than Justin did things.
He was a guy that practices really long hours.
And I believe in getting off the field pretty quick. We're going to be out there
for less than two hours most days.
So it was different. And to me, the biggest challenge, though,
(28:12):
is getting the people that have seen it done a successful way understand that,
hey, it can be done differently and still have success.
Right. Right. So, Coach, you talk about it a little bit. You touched on it a little bit.
You threw the ball 74 times in one game a bunch of years ago,
and now you're more balanced, 50-50, because you think you have to be.
(28:34):
Talk about the evolution of that, what you are. What are you right now at Jones
County from an offensive mindset?
I would like to say we're probably a blend of West Coast and Air Raid.
I would say that for the most part of my career, I was Air Raid.
Then we went to, well, excuse me, the first part, went back to Peach County, we were West Coast.
(28:59):
Then with that, mostly Air Raid most of my career.
Then here this past year, we started doing a lot of the choice game,
that Tennessee and made famous a couple years ago, and obviously Baylor before them.
Him and and i think the guy
you had on your show probably does it the best to stay with jeremy
edwards um what they do at house and county i'm out they they put it on us in
(29:20):
the playoffs a few years when he was at warner robbins after after i went there
you're talking about humbling is is giving somebody props that that came in
after you where i thought we did everything great at warner robbins and they
came in i thought they they took it to another level obviously they won One is after we left there.
But anyways, so I fell in love with the choice game for the past two years.
(29:42):
And this year, we're going back to doing some more of the air raid stuff just
because we don't have as good an offensive line as we've had in the past.
And so I feel like we may have to throw it a little bit more this next year
instead of being as balanced as we were the past couple of years.
And so with that choice game, I feel like you've got to really be good around
(30:04):
the football to keep the box the way you want it to get the one-on-one matchups
that you have in the choice routes.
And so that's kind of where we're at right now. I hope that answers what you was asking.
Yeah. So when you talk about choice, you know, the choice game,
you know, it's kind of like you're compartmentalizing.
I'm learning passing game from you as we speak. So you got the West Coast.
(30:27):
You got the Air Raid. And then you got a choice game. And I know the difference
in all of them, but maybe not the nuances like you.
So when you talk choice, like what are you talking about? What's your run game
look like? What's your pass game look like?
All right, so it's just like most of the modern offense you see right now.
Last year, we were going to major in zone and split zone and some type of gap scheme.
(30:50):
We don't try to have too many concepts.
And then choice was the majority of what we did in the passing game.
The choice game is vertical routes.
We're trying to find ways to get one-on-one matchups on a vertical choice game.
And the choice route was go, inside go, or come back. And so it was basically most of what you did.
(31:11):
But I feel like in order to be good there, you have to make people honor the run.
And you have to have a good run game to go along with it. And so I think it's
a passing game that's not expensive on a quarterback.
And last year we were playing two quarterbacks at the beginning of the year.
And we felt like that was the best way to go.
(31:31):
And so we simplified some things and made it easy on those guys.
And those guys had the arm strength to get the ball to where they needed to
be in some of the choice routes with the wide splits.
We felt like it was good, and it was good to us. And we're going to continue
to carry some of those components of the choice game and how we do our passing game going forward.
(31:53):
So, Coach, as an offensive guy, what defense – and usually it's probably that
you're going to say the defense with the best players – but what defense causes you the most problems?
And then as a head coach, I mean, you might let a defense coordinator do whatever
he wants, but what would you prefer to run defensively?
I really don't. I want to hire the best defensive guy I can hire.
(32:17):
And I really think it could be a 4-2 guy. It could be a 3-4 guy. It could be a 3-3 guy.
Right now we got Will Connor, who's our defense coordinator.
He bases everything out of the stack.
And I think he does a phenomenal job and he really does a great job getting
kids to play hard and play with energy and you can tell that with how he coaches
(32:38):
on the field and in the weight room and gets after it.
So, I just think you got to be passionate about what you believe and whoever,
whatever defense we're running, if that guy's passionate about what he's doing
and feels strongly about what he's doing and I don't micromanage and let him
do what he wants to do over there, I think you'll have more success doing that.
(32:59):
So, Coach, as you head into the summer, getting ready for 2024,
what are the next four months look like for you?
You know, it's March, April, May, June, July. You know, it's coming fast.
What's your progression here leading up to August of 2024 when football season starts?
Well, like I said, I think we're blessed here at Jones County.
We got everything we need to be successful.
(33:21):
And so with that, we have our kids in two classes. We have them in a weight
class, and our varsity kids are in seventh-period football class.
Our ninth graders are in that seventh-period football class,
but we have weights class with the ninth graders in first period and weights
with the varsity sixth period.
So our kids go to two classes down here at the field house.
(33:43):
In one class, we lift weights, and one class, we do football.
And I don't let the class go over into the seventh period with the varsity guys.
Guys, I want our weights to be done in one period.
And so we do football every day of the year in that seventh period class.
And obviously during the football
season, that's watching film and doing walkthroughs and teaching skiing.
(34:08):
And then in the offseason, we do culture stuff. We install offense and defense
and even work special teams during that seventh period class.
And I think that's the I think that is the key to how we how we do things that
helps us run our program, lets us be able to practice really short and be efficient
with all the things that we do.
(34:29):
And so in January and February, we're we're we're installing just in the classroom
and doing some walk through type stuff on the field.
And then in March, we start going out and and doing some player led drills,
kind of like the college model.
Technically we could be out there with them and doing stuff but
I like to let them create leadership and and
and lead drills on their own during that time and and so
(34:52):
we're out there with them but they're running the show and and
I think that is to me is is one of the best things
that we do and so they go out you know this time
of year they go out they'll do 707 and they'll they'll do
it with there's even some guys that which I think
helps makes it even more legal is is there's
guys in the class that's not not football players and
(35:12):
most of the time it's guys that played football at one point have quit
or whatever but but but we
go out and we do pretty much football stuff and our kids lead
that practice and it's it's it's a good
deal obviously i can't call it practice but but it's it's it's a good setup
i think it's no doubt the reason why we we've had success over the past few
(35:33):
years so coach time's almost up i always like to ask this question what are
are like two things that define your coaching philosophy?
I mean, it's simple, like mine is like demand excellence.
I like to say win the day, you know, of course, we have 5000 things that we
could talk about. Well, what's two things that you really kind of define you.
(35:56):
Philosophically as a coach? All right. One is giving God your best.
And I've kind of picked that up.
I listened to a podcast with a coach at Gainesville, Niblet, chasing best.
And man, my wife, about 10 years ago, she's a self-contained teacher.
And she does, she had Remember the, not Remember Titans, but Facing the Giants.
(36:19):
And she did a big teacher deal with that part of the movie where they're doing the crawl.
And giving God your best during that time and not worried about anything else.
And that's always stuck with me.
And we're always talking about just, man, just doing the best you can with whatever you got.
And so we preach giving God your best a bunch here. And then the other thing is passion.
(36:43):
And, man, we feel like that you could be, if you have passion about stuff, man, you could be good.
And no matter what it is you're doing, if you don't have any passion towards
it, you're not going to be very good. So it's just like we talked about with
the defense coordinator.
I want a guy that's passionate about what he believes in. And if we got that,
I feel like the guy can be good.
(37:04):
So to me, passion and giving God your best is the – if I had to pick two or
three things or two things that we hang our hats on, that would be it.
Well, Coach, that's awesome. Try to keep it down to 40 minutes, and we're out of time.
But, man, definitely love talking with you. and man, definitely appreciate your
stance and your faith for Jesus Christ.
(37:25):
I know it's huge in that community.
You know, you're shining as a light for Jesus Christ in the community and the
Lord will prevail through that. And man, it's just awesome.
So if you don't mind, I'd like to pray for you as we head out. Please do.
Lord, we're coming for you today. I just want to praise and thank you for loving us, Lord.
We praise and thank you for dying on the cross for our sins.
(37:46):
Lord, I praise and thank you for Coach Chastain and what you've done in his
life, Lord, just how you're using him to impact the players at Jones County,
but so much bigger than that, Lord, your impact in the community through Coach Chastain.
And so, Lord, I just pray that you would continue to lead him and guide him,
instruct him in the way that he should go with your eye upon him.
(38:08):
Lord, I pray for his success and that, man, And Lord, that success would not
just be in the lives of the players, but Lord, we're football coaches. We want to win.
So I pray for that success as well. Lord, we love you and we praise you in Jesus' name. Amen.
All right, everybody, we are back for another episode of Demand Excellence.
And today I have Coach Mike Chastain on the podcast with me,
and he is currently the head coach at Jones County.
But we probably all remember him from Warner Robins. He had a successful,
really successful run there at Warner Robins.
Before that, he was the offensive coordinator at Houston County,
(00:22):
there with one of the most prolific offenses in the, gosh, probably Georgia
high school history ever with Jake Fromm and what you guys were able to do offensively there.
And so, Coach, as we get started, appreciate you being on the show.
Just kind of talk about your path a little bit. You know, you played offensive
line at West Georgia, and here you are, this passing guru.
(00:44):
You probably won't call yourself a guru, but this passing guru here in 2024.
So tell us a little bit about yourself, Coach.
Coach, first of all, I want to thank you for having me on and also thank you
for what you do and your stance and with your putting Christ first and the things
that you do, you can tell big time.
I don't know you well, but you can tell by listening to your podcast.
(01:06):
And I've listened to every one just about this year, and I've enjoyed the heck out of them.
And it's just, to me, it's great content to have out there for other guys that
have a faith and know that you can put Christ first in your program.
And I just, man, I'm thankful for guys like you that do that.
And I know you don't want to hear a lot of that probably, but I'm just telling
(01:27):
you, man, I'm thankful for people like you that are out there doing that.
So thank you again, and thank you for having me.
But my path is a unique path.
I played offensive line my whole career. I always thought I was a quarterback-type
guy, but I always ended up being offensive line.
So with that, I went to West Georgia and played four years up there and was
(01:49):
around a lot of really good coaches there. While I was there,
after I got done playing, I coached up there for one year as a student assistant.
And being there, I had Coach Fisher, who was a really, really good pass in mind,
and had a bunch of other good coaches.
Coach Drew Cronick was there one year I coached there. Muschamp was there one year I coached there.
(02:10):
And Glenn Spencer, who does a lot of things.
I can't remember exactly where
he's at right now, but he was at Oklahoma State and FAU and Charlotte.
He's been a lot of places. But Coach Ferrandez, who's the head coach at,
I believe, Greenville, North Carolina Greenville.
But there was a lot of really good football coaches at West Georgia while I was there.
(02:32):
And that's where I kind of fell in love with coaching football.
Coach Gary Ott was my offensive line coach.
And in a Division II program, you need all the help you can get.
So I was a student assistant that year, and he put me right to work.
He let me coach the centers and guards, and he focused on the tackles,
and he let me get after it pretty good. it but uh man i enjoyed the heck out
(02:52):
of fell in love with coaching at.
At West Georgia. Then I was, my first job, uh, rents, I mean,
uh, Alan Bronemaker gave me my first job at Byron middle school as a head football
coach at Byron middle school.
And, and he, he set it up where, where we wanted, he wanted to run the offense
the way the high school ran it.
And so I had to go up there and learn the offense then when he was his first year there.
(03:16):
And then my second year there, Rance Valesky got the job as the head football
coach and man, he's, His passing game is phenomenal, and how he teaches quarterbacks is phenomenal.
I learned a lot about the offseason training of the quarterbacks and stuff.
You put the quarterbacks through in the offseason and teach them the weaknesses
(03:37):
and strengths of different coverages and just teach them the whole offense.
He was a big West Coast guy, so I pretty much learned the whole modern passing
game from him and all the different West Coast playbooks he had throughout the
office that I would stay up there and kind of look at after practice. But tremendous.
I mean, just very thankful for being able to be around him.
(04:00):
When he got there, he put me with the offensive line during camp and in the summer.
And I asked him, I said, Coach, you want us to run the stuff the way you run
it up at the middle school?
I said, I feel good about coaching offensive line.
I said, you mind if I be with you? And sure enough, he put me with him.
And he had me watching quarterback's feet every day. and making sure they're
(04:22):
stepping on the midline and doing all the little things.
And so I was able to learn a lot of quarterback play and mechanics from him
and then went the north side with Coach Nix, who was probably one of my biggest
mentors in how we run a program.
But he also was very knowledgeable in quarterback play and probably didn't overcoach
(04:44):
things quite like Grant Scalespa did be able to let things go a little bit more
and wasn't just big in the details of letting the kids be an athlete.
And so I saw both sides of how you coach quarterbacks from two really,
really good quarterback coaches.
Of course, this is with Patrick Nix, who played quarterback at Auburn,
and now Suns played at Oregon. I'm going to be in the draft here soon.
(05:06):
But they know quarterback play really well and just two different ways of doing
it. So I was very, very blessed to be there. And then from –.
After Northside, I went back to Peach County, and I had stops at Bleckley too
there, but went back to Peach County.
When I went back to Peach County, Rance Gillespie left and went to Georgia Southern.
Chad Campbell got the job and hired me back at Peach County to coach quarterbacks.
(05:31):
When he did, he wanted it ran all just like the way Coach Gillespie did it.
I had to go down and spend a couple days with Rance Gillespie at Georgia Southern
when he was down there as offense coordinator. So I learned even more from him there.
And then we went to – after that, I went down and took the offensive coordinator
job with Coach Fabrizio.
Coach Fabrizio was a defensive coordinator at Peach with us.
(05:54):
And we went down there to Lee County. And he set me up with Kenny Edenfield.
And he said, hey, we want to run – we got in the Tony Franklin system.
And he said, we want to run things just the way they do it.
And Kenny Edenfield was a – I don't know if he was necessarily a Franklin guy,
but they were running – they were air raid.
And so I spent a day with Kenny Franklin
(06:14):
and we were I mean uh Kenny Edenfield and and was
very blessed to be able to learn a lot from him too as well
and how how to do things back then the Tony Franklin system was
huge wristbands he taught me at an early age he said don't don't use the wristbands
teach everybody concepts let them learn it and man and and that was of course
now everybody does it that way and and so we were ahead of the game there and
(06:36):
and I was lucky and fortunate enough to have a really good quarterback at Lee
County when we were there that we were able to throw the ball around.
And I was fortunate to be with a defensive head coach that said,
Coach, I don't care what you do, score points. I told him we couldn't run the ball really well.
We didn't have – the first year I was there, we were not really good up front.
And he said, we were playing a team at Westside, actually out of Macon,
(06:57):
and they were loaded at the time.
And I said, Coach, we ain't going to run the ball at all with these guys.
He said, I don't care if you throw it every down, just score points.
And I said, okay, and we threw it a bunch.
Two weeks later, we had the same scenario when we played Warner Robins.
And, again, they had some dudes over there.
And he said, again, I don't care if you throw it every down.
(07:17):
And we threw it 74 times in that game and set the state record in a single game for passing.
And so, again, you can't do that unless you're with someone that gives you the freedom to do that.
As a head coach, you can call whatever you want to call.
But if you're with another head coach that micromanages, then it ain't as good,
(07:38):
and Dean did not do that, and I'm thankful for being with Dean,
and I learned a ton from him.
Although he's a defensive guy, man, really learned how to simplify things and
don't put too much on these kids' plates, and, man, he really helped me a lot in how we do things.
And then, obviously, I went to, from there, I went to West Lawrence for a stint
(08:00):
for about a month, and I told Coach Nobles when he hired me that,
Hey, if a job came up in Warner Robins, I was going to take it.
But if not, I'd love to come there. So I was going to be the offense coordinator at West Lawrence.
I was there for a month, and a job came up in a veterans high school with Bruce and Coach David Bruce.
And so I took that job at veterans for two years and had a couple good quarterbacks there.
(08:23):
And then Vaughn got the job at Houston County, and that's when we went to Houston County.
And because of Jake Fromm, I was able to get a head coaching job.
You know what I mean? And obviously, good Lord's got a lot to do with everything and directs our paths.
But we're only as good as some of the players we coach.
And I really feel like he helped a lot of people get a lot of good jobs.
(08:45):
And from principals to coaches to anybody.
But, man, it was a blessing to coach him.
And then when I went over to Warner Robins, I was fortunate enough to have Jake's
little brother, Dylan, and Tyler.
They transferred over to Warner Robins. they had the means to pick up and move
and do that and so i was able to i've been able to coach some really good quarterbacks
(09:07):
and and you can't you can't be good in the passing game unless you have that
so it really can't be good in any offense unless you have a good quarterback so
that's kind of the path that i have and and man it i look back it is neat how
you go from offensive line to doing that stuff but again when i was offensive
lineman i always thought i could could be a quarterback.
So, well, knew the truth, but.
(09:29):
So, yeah, I mean, I think the big interesting question for me is just that really
it's kind of a transition in your mind,
but maybe you already were born that way thinking you were a quarterback and
you were just, you know, your coaches always put you on the offensive line, but, you know, because,
you know, offensive linemen have a certain mindset, right?
It's physical, it's nasty, it's, you know, all those things.
(09:52):
And then you were able to transition that into...
Man, I would be scared, to be honest with you.
I'm listening, and I just hired Bruce Miller to be our offensive coordinator,
and he's a passing guy, and I'm just going to let him do it.
But I would be scared to throw it 74 times.
(10:14):
So talk to me a little bit about the shift in your mind and your confidence
in the passing game and why it's something you're sold on.
Well, again, it's not quite that way anymore. more.
I don't think we can do that anymore. But I really believe back then,
defenses weren't as good at defending the pass.
I mean, everybody ran the ball. And when I first got to Lee County with Dean,
(10:37):
I mean, people just weren't as good at defending the ball.
Everybody wasn't doing 707 in the summers like they are now.
And it was just easier to be good in that part of the game with the background
that I had with all the good coaches that I was around.
I didn't learn any that on my own. I mean, I was around some really,
really good guys in the passing game, and being able to learn from those guys,
(11:00):
I felt like we just knew how to,
be better in that area than everybody else was at defending the passing game.
And then, nowadays, I don't think that's the case. I mean, we really,
really try to be 50-50 for the most part, man.
And we are when we have a line that can do it.
I just believe big time in defending, making the defense fenced up in the whole field.
(11:24):
I was taught that from Coach Fisher as soon as I really fell in love with the game.
I was kind of, even in high school, we had a quarterback one-year throw for
300 yards, and I just thought that was the craziest thing ever.
But when I got to college, Coach
Fisher really did a good job of being balanced and throwing the ball.
And again, it was a time when most people were heavily run.
(11:45):
And I saw at an early age that if you can be good in that area,
then you got an advantage. and I felt like the people that threw the ball well
usually did a better job at winning, you know.
So I guess that's the evolution of why I became that way.
Drew Kronick, every time I see him, being at Navy now and at Mercer and being
(12:08):
a wing tee guy, every time I see him, I just can't believe it.
I'm a receiver and we're running the wing tee and you play dang offensive line
and y'all throw the ball all over the place. I mean, it's just, I don't understand it.
But he's an awesome guy and a great mind as well.
I was watching, keeping in touch with the playoffs or whatever,
(12:28):
and I'm up here really close to Mill Creek.
Mill Creek's actually three miles from Heber Christian Academy.
So I went over there. Obviously, I'm a big Jeff Herron fan.
As an early coach, he was the man and kind of paid attention to him and just
kind of watched his career.
But I thought it was interesting. In 7A football, pretty much everybody's just spread and throw it.
(12:50):
Right now and then he's able to take the wing t
and it was i went over there and watched him
verse mill creek i mean it was wing t is all it
was and it was overload running power
and buck sweep and trap down your face
and mill creek could not
stop it and i think
(13:13):
i mean i'm just getting your answer like i think maybe
those offenses there's not many of them
but man if they if people do it
well i think because everybody is doing
seven on seven everybody is trying to stop the pass those offenses are going
to be very hard to stop in the future there's no doubt i don't want to play
(13:35):
anybody run wing t i don't want to play anybody runs option right now i mean
and and here's the deal the young defensive coordinators are out there they
don't know how to stop that stuff.
I mean, it's really tough. Unless they've been around some people that were
good at doing that stuff, they don't know how to stop it. So you're right. My thinking is flipped.
And the problem is it's not sexy enough for kids to want to do some of that
(14:00):
stuff, and you've got to be great at selling that.
So I still think what we do is good.
But I do believe it's very, very hard to defend. And there's no doubt in my
mind that they did a great job. I love Josh.
I love Lady Def. He played with me at West Georgia. He was a lot older than me, but a great guy.
And I know he's got really good players up there in Mill Creek, really good players.
(14:22):
And I know that a couple guys at Camden, and I know they don't have quite the
players that they do at Mill Creek, and they were able to go up there and take
care of business, run an offense that people aren't used to.
And when you don't see that stuff very often, it's really, really hard to stop.
So I agree 100%. I think if you could be good at either one of those deals,
(14:42):
option or wing tee, man, you got an advantage.
Man, it was poetic that night. You know, their offensive line they had there
at Camden County, I think they all were about 5'7", 300.
And, you know, nobody's going to recruit them. They're just high school football
boys. They were loving it.
And, man, it was just fun to watch. I mean, they got after them.
(15:05):
You know, Coach, so this podcast is for coaches, and coaches are always thinking
about the next thing or should I stay, should I go.
You had a really good run at Warner Robins. You kind of flipped a program,
turned it around. You built it into a winner. You guys went to the state championship.
I can't remember if you went once or twice with you as the head coach,
(15:27):
but then, boom, it was kind of shocking that, okay, he's going to Jones County.
And then and then westbrook he
was at warner robbins and he goes to peach county so as
a coach what's the advantage you know
for you as a coach and for your family to go from a warner robbins to jones
county well you know we did we played for two there and westbrook came in with
(15:50):
me he was my defense coordinator my first year as a head coach for him and paul
carroll actually co-coordinated And what a great man. I love Westbrook to death.
But when leaving Warner Robins to come up here, Justin Rogers called me.
Me and him were kind of friends a little bit. We taught a bunch of offensive ball.
And he called me up and he told me, Mike, man, because he came and visited with
(16:14):
me at Warner Robins. And he said, Mike, man, let's pull this job.
I'm taking a cockpit job. I said, you need to think about coming and taking
this job. And he said, and I was not looking at all for anything.
I loved it at Warner Robins when I was there.
And he said, but I'm telling you, this job is a really good job.
Me and my wife came up and interviewed, came up and met the principal and the
(16:36):
superintendent and athletic director.
And we felt like that's where God was leading us. And to me,
the big difference is when you're in a one-horse town, you've got the whole town support.
Everybody's coming out to watch you. I can pick up the phone and call the superintendent
as soon as we get off this podcast, and he's going to answer it.
Whereas in Warner Robins, there's a chain of command. You've got to go through
(16:58):
four or five people before you talk to the superintendent that makes a decision on anything.
And I just think it's easier to run a real football program.
You can't argue with the success that Warner-Romans had, and they're doing good.
The principal there loves football, and he supports it in every way that you
possibly can in a big system like a Houston County education system.
(17:23):
But I think it's just easier to run a program in a one-horse town.
Yeah. You speak of that. I'm reading a book right now.
You can see it. They won't be able to see it on the podcast,
but it's called The Culture Code and it's written by Daniel Coyle.
What it's about is just that you get more productivity from your employees in
(17:48):
an environment where they feel safe and secure.
And what you just mentioned there is when your layers to get to the superintendent
who ultimately is in charge and you don't feel connected with him,
you don't really feel safe.
(18:08):
And, you know, like and I think for coaches out there, I think that's critical piece.
Like, man, do I feel safe with the the people in charge around me?
You know, I left Elka because the administration changed.
I didn't feel safe. I didn't feel I didn't feel connected to anybody anymore.
(18:30):
And I think that's a big thing. Like when people are thinking about taking jobs,
man, like it's not just a job. I mean, it is a job, but like,
can you be successful there?
And through all that, I think the feeling that you got at Jones County is you
felt safe and secure and connected. You can talk more about that.
Well, I think it's all part of kind of God's plan.
(18:51):
I think that was the way to sell it to me is, hey, I felt more connected there,
you know, but, you know, but I really feel like God had a plan with us coming here.
And, and man, really, I put Christ first in this program. And,
man, I really feel like we've made a big impact for Christ in this community since we've been here.
(19:12):
And, man, I'm super, super excited about that and just hopefully one day see
a lot of fruits from that.
But, you know, feeling safe, I think the over-spiritual answer would be,
man, I think we've got to trust in God first, right?
I think there's no doubt he puts things in our path like, man,
(19:37):
that has to be a better program because you can get things done there.
You know what I mean? Maybe that was the reason why we came here.
But I agree 100 percent. When you feel safe that you can call a superintendent
up and get things done. I think that's I think that's big. I really do.
Well, you know, speaking of the Christian aspect of things, you know,
which is another reason why, you know, like this part I started this podcast
(20:00):
is that we can we can blend faith into it.
Our hope and trust and faith in Jesus Christ, like he is our confidence.
But at the end of the day, like as a head football coach, this isolated spot,
spot because at the end of the day, we have to win. We can't fabricate our numbers.
You can say, hey, I had the best offense in the country, but if you went four
(20:22):
and six, you could get fired.
You can feel isolated. You can feel hopeless. You can feel all alone.
Really, that relationship with Christ and understanding, hey,
He's sovereign and And he's in control of all things. For me, it gives me confidence.
(20:43):
Now I can go out and work hard. I can trust in the Lord. I can have faith.
Now I am going to try to surround myself with people I can trust and people I feel safe around.
And when I say safe, it just means family, right?
But talk a little bit about that, because I remember, not to bring this up,
I remember my worst losses like yesterday.
(21:06):
They're always in my head. And I remember your state championship loss.
You lost, you should have won, but you lost right there at the end.
You know, and I always look at that like, I mean, I look at you like,
well, you really kind of won, you know, but, you know, as a coach,
like that sucks. I felt bad for you. Didn't even know you.
But I mean, your faith has to play a huge role in moments like that.
Talk about that a little bit.
(21:27):
No doubt. And I think some people would argue with me on this,
but I thank God keeps me just level enough that where I don't beat my chest and think it's me.
You know, it keeps us where we're not overly dominant. And we got everything
we need in this program here at Jones. I mean, we have support.
(21:47):
We got our kids in classes that we need. All this great stuff we have in our program.
If we just were phenomenal, gifted athletes, we would dominate.
But I think God really kind of keeps me at bay by not letting us be dominant with athletes.
So I'll keep relying on him because if everything's going smooth,
I'm doing it all myself, you know, instead of relying on him on a daily basis.
(22:11):
And I think that and again, me and Chad talk about this all the time, my athletic director.
And we talk about how there's Christians at other places, too.
But for me, I think that's how it works for me.
I think he keeps being just successful enough so I can keep my job and keep
moving on and to keep being a vessel for him. But I tell you.
(22:37):
I don't know if I answered your question, but that's that's kind of how I think about those things.
Yeah. No, I've been waiting to tell this story because so I was reading through 1 Samuel in the Bible.
And so there's Saul in 1 Samuel. So he's the first king of Israel.
He was hand selected by God.
And then but we see it. We see there where he had a time where he honored and served God.
(23:01):
And then there was a there was a period or there was a moment where it just
switched. And he rebelled against God and God rejected him.
And that's when God anointed David and David was going to be king.
But David was an idiot too, right? And so, you know, David sinned.
We read about his Bible. So I'm sitting there reading it and I'm like, you know what?
David was a man after God's own heart, but Saul was selected by God.
(23:25):
And I look at him, I'm like, man, am I Saul or am I David?
Because they both committed the same sins. But here's one thing I read that
really stuck out to me about Saul.
When Saul had a victory, he made a monument to himself.
Every time David had a victory, he glorified God and pointed to God.
(23:49):
And I think that's what you're talking about. And it's just a reminder for me,
man, no matter what in life, whether I'm having success or failure,
You're like, I've got to keep my eyes on Christ. It's never about me.
Right. And so David kept his eyes on Christ.
Saul kept his eyes on himself.
(24:10):
And, you know, it's like what you're talking about there.
I mean, God, you never know what God's doing. He could just be building this
great foundation of Christ before he lets you win a championship at Jones County.
And, yeah, that'll preach right there now. That's good stuff.
That's really, really good stuff.
(24:30):
I think what's crazy is we're all at different places in our walk.
You know what I mean? When I talk about all the Christian coaches out there,
we're all at different places, and we all struggle with different things.
And, man, God's given me,
I feel like, the gift of grace, And I'm okay with seeing how one coach who I
(24:54):
think probably a Christian guy that handles his program and does things.
And it's not the way I would do it, but I still believe that God's using that person or whatever.
And so, man, I don't know. I think that is a great story between Saul and David.
I mean, how people do things differently, but both are solid in their faith.
(25:16):
And after God's own heart, you know, so, yeah.
Well, you know, Saul was rejected. What I have to remind myself is,
and we're all sinners and we all screw up.
I don't care how strong you are in your faith or how much you know or don't
know, like David failed, but Saul rejected the Lord.
So coach, there at Jones County, you get the job. Obviously you follow,
(25:40):
some people go into jobs and the program's broke.
And some some people go into jobs and
the program is solid like you know i interviewed the coach from coffee county
he he didn't go into a job that was broke that was a great job he enters into
a job and there's a solid foundation already there and he just builds upon that
(26:00):
you know you come in after a really successful coach in justin rogers.
I think it's easier. I came into a program here at Hebron Christian Academy,
and I really kind of chose that on purpose because I think that's easier than
following somebody that is successful.
So talk about the challenges there and what you did to lay your foundation,
(26:22):
but also build upon what was already there.
I did. I came into a program that things were really good. Justin,
I believe Justin got this football program in Jones County going and did a great job.
And they were the way he set his program up was kind of similar to how we did
things at Warner Robins and some other places that I've been.
(26:43):
And so it was easy to come in and do that. The hard thing is they had a lot
of success and he got a lot of energy and enthusiasm going with the crowd and
the fan base and the community.
And but but did things completely different than how we would do things. things.
And so changing that, I think was tough, you know, because, you know,
(27:06):
how they went, we did it this way.
Why are we changing that? You know, because we've done this way and we've had
success too, so we can do that.
But you're right. It was a successful program and very excited to come in and
be able to put our mark on things.
But he did a phenomenal job. He can't I can't say enough about what they did
(27:27):
here because I really think he got the excitement going in football.
To me, this place was a baseball town forever, and he really got football going.
I think there were some other coaches, Dwight Jones, who was here before him,
who laid a foundation of getting these kids to work hard towards football.
And then he came in and really took it to another level.
(27:49):
And we've been able to, I feel like, been able to keep it going.
And so, you know, and we do do things a little bit different than Justin did things.
He was a guy that practices really long hours.
And I believe in getting off the field pretty quick. We're going to be out there
for less than two hours most days.
So it was different. And to me, the biggest challenge, though,
(28:12):
is getting the people that have seen it done a successful way understand that,
hey, it can be done differently and still have success.
Right. Right. So, Coach, you talk about it a little bit. You touched on it a little bit.
You threw the ball 74 times in one game a bunch of years ago,
and now you're more balanced, 50-50, because you think you have to be.
(28:34):
Talk about the evolution of that, what you are. What are you right now at Jones
County from an offensive mindset?
I would like to say we're probably a blend of West Coast and Air Raid.
I would say that for the most part of my career, I was Air Raid.
Then we went to, well, excuse me, the first part, went back to Peach County, we were West Coast.
(28:59):
Then with that, mostly Air Raid most of my career.
Then here this past year, we started doing a lot of the choice game,
that Tennessee and made famous a couple years ago, and obviously Baylor before them.
Him and and i think the guy
you had on your show probably does it the best to stay with jeremy
edwards um what they do at house and county i'm out they they put it on us in
(29:20):
the playoffs a few years when he was at warner robbins after after i went there
you're talking about humbling is is giving somebody props that that came in
after you where i thought we did everything great at warner robbins and they
came in i thought they they took it to another level obviously they won One is after we left there.
But anyways, so I fell in love with the choice game for the past two years.
(29:42):
And this year, we're going back to doing some more of the air raid stuff just
because we don't have as good an offensive line as we've had in the past.
And so I feel like we may have to throw it a little bit more this next year
instead of being as balanced as we were the past couple of years.
And so with that choice game, I feel like you've got to really be good around
(30:04):
the football to keep the box the way you want it to get the one-on-one matchups
that you have in the choice routes.
And so that's kind of where we're at right now. I hope that answers what you was asking.
Yeah. So when you talk about choice, you know, the choice game,
you know, it's kind of like you're compartmentalizing.
I'm learning passing game from you as we speak. So you got the West Coast.
(30:27):
You got the Air Raid. And then you got a choice game. And I know the difference
in all of them, but maybe not the nuances like you.
So when you talk choice, like what are you talking about? What's your run game
look like? What's your pass game look like?
All right, so it's just like most of the modern offense you see right now.
Last year, we were going to major in zone and split zone and some type of gap scheme.
(30:50):
We don't try to have too many concepts.
And then choice was the majority of what we did in the passing game.
The choice game is vertical routes.
We're trying to find ways to get one-on-one matchups on a vertical choice game.
And the choice route was go, inside go, or come back. And so it was basically most of what you did.
(31:11):
But I feel like in order to be good there, you have to make people honor the run.
And you have to have a good run game to go along with it. And so I think it's
a passing game that's not expensive on a quarterback.
And last year we were playing two quarterbacks at the beginning of the year.
And we felt like that was the best way to go.
(31:31):
And so we simplified some things and made it easy on those guys.
And those guys had the arm strength to get the ball to where they needed to
be in some of the choice routes with the wide splits.
We felt like it was good, and it was good to us. And we're going to continue
to carry some of those components of the choice game and how we do our passing game going forward.
(31:53):
So, Coach, as an offensive guy, what defense – and usually it's probably that
you're going to say the defense with the best players – but what defense causes you the most problems?
And then as a head coach, I mean, you might let a defense coordinator do whatever
he wants, but what would you prefer to run defensively?
I really don't. I want to hire the best defensive guy I can hire.
(32:17):
And I really think it could be a 4-2 guy. It could be a 3-4 guy. It could be a 3-3 guy.
Right now we got Will Connor, who's our defense coordinator.
He bases everything out of the stack.
And I think he does a phenomenal job and he really does a great job getting
kids to play hard and play with energy and you can tell that with how he coaches
(32:38):
on the field and in the weight room and gets after it.
So, I just think you got to be passionate about what you believe and whoever,
whatever defense we're running, if that guy's passionate about what he's doing
and feels strongly about what he's doing and I don't micromanage and let him
do what he wants to do over there, I think you'll have more success doing that.
(32:59):
So, Coach, as you head into the summer, getting ready for 2024,
what are the next four months look like for you?
You know, it's March, April, May, June, July. You know, it's coming fast.
What's your progression here leading up to August of 2024 when football season starts?
Well, like I said, I think we're blessed here at Jones County.
We got everything we need to be successful.
(33:21):
And so with that, we have our kids in two classes. We have them in a weight
class, and our varsity kids are in seventh-period football class.
Our ninth graders are in that seventh-period football class,
but we have weights class with the ninth graders in first period and weights
with the varsity sixth period.
So our kids go to two classes down here at the field house.
(33:43):
In one class, we lift weights, and one class, we do football.
And I don't let the class go over into the seventh period with the varsity guys.
Guys, I want our weights to be done in one period.
And so we do football every day of the year in that seventh period class.
And obviously during the football
season, that's watching film and doing walkthroughs and teaching skiing.
(34:08):
And then in the offseason, we do culture stuff. We install offense and defense
and even work special teams during that seventh period class.
And I think that's the I think that is the key to how we how we do things that
helps us run our program, lets us be able to practice really short and be efficient
with all the things that we do.
(34:29):
And so in January and February, we're we're we're installing just in the classroom
and doing some walk through type stuff on the field.
And then in March, we start going out and and doing some player led drills,
kind of like the college model.
Technically we could be out there with them and doing stuff but
I like to let them create leadership and and
and lead drills on their own during that time and and so
(34:52):
we're out there with them but they're running the show and and
I think that is to me is is one of the best things
that we do and so they go out you know this time
of year they go out they'll do 707 and they'll they'll do
it with there's even some guys that which I think
helps makes it even more legal is is there's
guys in the class that's not not football players and
(35:12):
most of the time it's guys that played football at one point have quit
or whatever but but but we
go out and we do pretty much football stuff and our kids lead
that practice and it's it's it's a good
deal obviously i can't call it practice but but it's it's it's a good setup
i think it's no doubt the reason why we we've had success over the past few
(35:33):
years so coach time's almost up i always like to ask this question what are
are like two things that define your coaching philosophy?
I mean, it's simple, like mine is like demand excellence.
I like to say win the day, you know, of course, we have 5000 things that we
could talk about. Well, what's two things that you really kind of define you.
(35:56):
Philosophically as a coach? All right. One is giving God your best.
And I've kind of picked that up.
I listened to a podcast with a coach at Gainesville, Niblet, chasing best.
And man, my wife, about 10 years ago, she's a self-contained teacher.
And she does, she had Remember the, not Remember Titans, but Facing the Giants.
(36:19):
And she did a big teacher deal with that part of the movie where they're doing the crawl.
And giving God your best during that time and not worried about anything else.
And that's always stuck with me.
And we're always talking about just, man, just doing the best you can with whatever you got.
And so we preach giving God your best a bunch here. And then the other thing is passion.
(36:43):
And, man, we feel like that you could be, if you have passion about stuff, man, you could be good.
And no matter what it is you're doing, if you don't have any passion towards
it, you're not going to be very good. So it's just like we talked about with
the defense coordinator.
I want a guy that's passionate about what he believes in. And if we got that,
I feel like the guy can be good.
(37:04):
So to me, passion and giving God your best is the – if I had to pick two or
three things or two things that we hang our hats on, that would be it.
Well, Coach, that's awesome. Try to keep it down to 40 minutes, and we're out of time.
But, man, definitely love talking with you. and man, definitely appreciate your
stance and your faith for Jesus Christ.
(37:25):
I know it's huge in that community.
You know, you're shining as a light for Jesus Christ in the community and the
Lord will prevail through that. And man, it's just awesome.
So if you don't mind, I'd like to pray for you as we head out. Please do.
Lord, we're coming for you today. I just want to praise and thank you for loving us, Lord.
We praise and thank you for dying on the cross for our sins.
(37:46):
Lord, I praise and thank you for Coach Chastain and what you've done in his
life, Lord, just how you're using him to impact the players at Jones County,
but so much bigger than that, Lord, your impact in the community through Coach Chastain.
And so, Lord, I just pray that you would continue to lead him and guide him,
instruct him in the way that he should go with your eye upon him.
(38:08):
Lord, I pray for his success and that, man, And Lord, that success would not
just be in the lives of the players, but Lord, we're football coaches. We want to win.
So I pray for that success as well. Lord, we love you and we praise you in Jesus' name. Amen.
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