278. Georgia New Hires, Part 1: Clack, Cameron, Atha

This summer, we are talking to some of the new Head Football Coach hires in the state of Georgia for 2025.  

This episode has interviews with:

• Adam Clack, new Head Coach at Parkview
• Jason Cameron, new Head Coach at Calvary Day
• Tommy Atha, new Head Coach at Cedartown

Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
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Speaker 3 (01:00):
Everyone welcome to the park Resources Podcast.

Speaker 4 (01:02):
As always, I'm Chris Parker and looks like I'm joined
by some guys that stood me up. So yeah, Michael
and Chad can't be here today, so we're recording the
intro solo.

Speaker 1 (01:13):
It's solo summer here. Got some Georgia new hires this summer.
Looking forward to talking to a lot of the new
head coaches and Georgia. Some of them are brand new
to being a head coach. Some are coming off a
really successful season somewhere else. Some of them may have
been head coaches before but had a time where they weren't.
Now they're back to being a head coach. But nevertheless,

(01:33):
you're going to hear from a lot of George's new
high school head football coaches this summer here on the
Park Resource podcast, so hope you're looking forward to that. Today,
we actually have three different coaches that we're going to
talk to.

Speaker 3 (01:49):
The first is Adam Klayt, who's the new coach at
Park View.

Speaker 1 (01:52):
Coach clak won a state championship at Milton, really got
Milton going and now taking over at part View, a
very tradition rich program.

Speaker 3 (02:00):
Trying to see what he can do there.

Speaker 1 (02:01):
Excited to see what he can do, Excited to talk
to him about that transition and how it's going. We'll
also talk to coach Jason Cameron, who's the new head
coach at Calvary Day.

Speaker 3 (02:11):
Coach Cameron's been a head coach for as well.

Speaker 1 (02:13):
He's coming to Calvary Day where he was the office
coordinator most recently got promoted a great program. Calvary Day
has been a state champion competing team last few years, so.

Speaker 3 (02:23):
Trying to get them over the hump and actually win
the state championship.

Speaker 1 (02:25):
So talked to coach and excited to see what he
has to say about his program at Calvary Day. And
finally today we're going to talk to coach Tommy Atha,
the head coach at Cedartown. Coach Atha also was a
head coach at Darlington for a long time, did a
great job there and had a couple of years where
he wasn't a head coach. Now back in the head

(02:46):
coach chair, but this time in the public school at Cedartown.

Speaker 3 (02:50):
Ced Town has had a great run the last few years.

Speaker 1 (02:52):
So we got three great programs, three established head coaches.
We talked to all three of them, and then every
Friday throughout the summer we'll have more of these interviews
for you.

Speaker 3 (03:03):
So I hope you enjoy it.

Speaker 1 (03:07):
All right, real please be joined this time by coach
Adam Klak, the new head coach. Part coach.

Speaker 2 (03:11):
Thanks for joining me.

Speaker 5 (03:12):
Absolutely appreciate you having me.

Speaker 1 (03:14):
Oh Man, good to see you back on the sideline
in Georgia. Man, a great job at Milton Weinsterside. You
had a long success there. What made Partview the place
to come back to?

Speaker 6 (03:28):
Oh that's that's a that's a really long answer. I'll
do my best summing up. But being a kid that
grew up in the nineties, I grew up in winder
winder Went, I went to Winderbear High School. I saw
Parkview kind of seemingly come out of nowhere and so
obviously admired it from there. Actually got knocked out of

(03:49):
a football game my senior year when Jeremy Myers was
the guy and he was guarding me. I was guarding him,
and uh came to end up being my buddy Justin
Gatzie go back and knocks me out of the football game.
So that was my first big memory there. Fast forward,
get into college and just end up meeting a bunch
of guys from Brookwood and Parkview and becoming really good

(04:11):
friends with him. And was actually standing on the field
in the two thousand and two state championship game with
Brookwood guys on my right and part You guys on
my left, and one thing I noticed and I felt
it just you know, tenfold since I've been here, there's
a unique pride about about this place. You know, I
remember being in high school, and I remember the people,

(04:32):
and I have you know, I look back on it.
But the school was just a school. Part View is
a special place to these guys, and you can fill
it in the walls and you can just feel it
when you talk to people.

Speaker 5 (04:43):
So that always stuck out to me. Fast forward even more, getting.

Speaker 6 (04:48):
A Western size, largely because of a relationship between wrestling
head coach wrestling head wrestling coaches. I was coaching wrestling
and at South for Scyth High School with Dennis Stromi
takes over as the AD or going to take over
as the AD at West Roscyth, and that relationship helped

(05:08):
me get, you know, the job at West Roscyth, and
I'm coaching for Dennis Stromi, who built the part View
wrestling dynasty, and he becomes essentially one of my mentors.
I learned more about coaching football and coaching in general.

Speaker 5 (05:20):
From that man than anyone.

Speaker 6 (05:22):
And then that relationship helped me get my first head
coaching interview at Parkview in twenty fourteen. Forced me to
sit down and put my thoughts together. I knew that
was a big job and I had no business even
getting the interview, so I wanted to do my absolute best,
and that work I put in there, even though I
came up a little short in the interview, helped prepare
me to then get the West Rosalie's head job, which

(05:44):
prepared me to get the Milton head job, which coming
full circle as I'm you know, on the sideline taking
a little sabbatical from the sideline building my own academy,
you know, doing stuff in the flag football space, doing
stuff in the consulting space, and behold, part view comes open,
and even though I wasn't looking to come back this year,

(06:04):
I figured got to check it out. And uh man,
I tell you that itch became a full sensation and
you know, within forty eight hours of sleeping.

Speaker 5 (06:14):
On it, it took the job.

Speaker 6 (06:15):
And forty eight hours later, I haven't left. I don't
feel like I've left the property.

Speaker 7 (06:20):
Yeah, that's what happens when you knew when any new job,
but especially something like that, coach, I love the answer
because people need to hear this kind of stuff, you know,
coaches listening to this nobody else, and they need to
hear that you applied at partview, you interviewed, you tried
your best.

Speaker 1 (06:36):
It didn't work, but you know, you learned a lot
helped for the next thing. They need to know that
sometimes a relationship that you made twenty years ago comes
back to be the thing that helped you now, you know,
or something like that. I mean, it's just such good
lessons that I know people know, but they need to
hear from the people.

Speaker 2 (06:52):
That they see as successful.

Speaker 1 (06:54):
You know, if you're not, if you not won the
state championship, if you've not been at Milton, if you've
not been at Partview, you may think that think those
things are easier that you guys just kind of things
just kind of worked out for you.

Speaker 2 (07:04):
It doesn't work like that.

Speaker 6 (07:05):
Man.

Speaker 1 (07:06):
Everybody's had to struggle to get So what do you
say to somebody that's hearing this and that it's not
going well for them, or they're not in the job
they want, they got passed over this year, what's some
good advice for.

Speaker 2 (07:18):
Well?

Speaker 6 (07:19):
Uh, you know, a bunch of cliches, but cliches for
a reason. And you know, one of the goats in
our profession, uh, you know, Coach Wooden, I think sums
it up the best. You know, success is not about
the wins and losses is not about the scoreboard. It's
about being able to go to bed at night knowing
you did your best, you gave your best UH, and
you can go to sleep at night knowing that you

(07:39):
know you're you're you're maximizing to what you know your
potential and and and where you are right now. And
sometimes that doesn't show up in an immediate win. But
if you play the infinite game and really believe in
the lessons that failure is just feedback, and you know
failure is not fatal, and you take those lessons and
you keep working forward, you truly can make the.

Speaker 5 (08:01):
Most out of every situe.

Speaker 6 (08:02):
I didn't get the part view job, but it motivated
me to get ready for the job that I was
actually best prepared for, which was to be promoted in
a staff at West for Scythe I was able to
be comfortable and have a lot of support and not
a lot you know and learn and have take those
lumps as my first couple of years as a head
coach and then being in that situation prepared me to

(08:26):
then take that leap of faith to go to to
go to Milton, and I saw an opportunity there and
felt that we had a vision for to turn that.

Speaker 5 (08:34):
Program around and then you just, you know, you just
never know.

Speaker 6 (08:39):
So to me, it's about you know, assessing situations, being
really good at identifying what you know, what are the
key objectives for success, asking yourself are you equipped to
do it?

Speaker 5 (08:51):
And are you willing to do it?

Speaker 6 (08:54):
And it's staying bear down on those things, and whether
that's a small thing with a positional change or you know,
coaching a new sport or teaching a new class, or
handling you know, parents and relationships, whatever it is. You know,
you've got to kind of be able to prioritize. You
got to be able to succinctly identify the problems and
and you know, create provide solutions. And a lot of

(09:16):
times those solutions don't don't come up positive, but you
learn from it and you you iterate, and you do
it again and again and again, and I think that's
you know, that's a good recipe to to longevity of success.

Speaker 2 (09:27):
Coach.

Speaker 1 (09:28):
People got a lot of recency biased around here, so
people may not realize it, but Milton was not always
the team it is right now. And you guys, really,
I mean they had have some pretty good teams where
you got there. You know, they had some good ones,
but you guys really took it to that that competing
for the state championship level pretty quickly, and and it's

(09:49):
sustained their sense, right, you got some of your guys
are still there.

Speaker 2 (09:52):
Right.

Speaker 1 (09:54):
What did you learn in that time there that you
didn't know when you got the Milton job, but you
obviously know now that's going to really help you in
this this third time you're taking over a new program.
What's something you know maybe you wish yourself would have
known the first two times, but you know now is
important to win in here.

Speaker 6 (10:13):
Well, Uh, I don't know if it's something that you learn,
but maybe it's something that you affirm.

Speaker 8 (10:19):
Uh.

Speaker 5 (10:20):
You know, there's there's a million things. It's like when you.

Speaker 6 (10:22):
Create core values, right, there's a million great options out there.
You've got to figure out, you know, what what fits
you and what works.

Speaker 5 (10:28):
Uh.

Speaker 6 (10:30):
The thing that I learned at Milton or that was
cemented is the power of alignment. And you know, you
can have a great plan, you you can have some
great answers, you can be the next Nick Saban individually,
but if you don't have alignment that starts at the
top with your principal ad to the head coach, and
they support you to get the right people in the

(10:53):
room with you. The number one asset of any head
coach is the assistant coaches to his left and to
his right. And when you have that, you got a shot.
And then and then you can truly build your plan.
And if you have a good if you have a
clear vision and a and a plan to get there
because you feel that support, uh, and then naturally that
support goes out into the community with your board and

(11:15):
your parents and all that. And when you put all
of those pieces together, naturally, I believe the locker room
will fall in line. And now you've got all four
pieces that you need, and you can maximize the talent
that you have. Uh, you know, breakthrough ceilings that that
that people didn't think you could break through, and then
sustain and keep it going.

Speaker 2 (11:34):
Yeah. I did. I enjoy following some of your stuff,
and we talked about that in a little bit.

Speaker 1 (11:39):
If anybody didn't know what I'm talking about, how they
can follow some of the things you do and with
your own academy and that one of the things I
saw you do recently was talking about winning the locker
room you know, like just taking care of the locker room.
And I thought it was so poignant to any new
head coach. And of course what I'm doing this whole
month is talking to new head coaches that are new

(12:00):
to their school. And I just thought it was said
so well. So anybody didn't see that can go back
and follow you can give them out, But tell me
why that stood out. I thought it was a great
answer that winning in that locker room, you know, taking
care of the kids in there, taking you know, you
got to build nice things.

Speaker 2 (12:16):
In the locker room.

Speaker 1 (12:17):
There was there was You said it way better than
I can say it, but there was a lot of
things that had to happen to win that locker room
when you're taking over a new role.

Speaker 2 (12:24):
So what talk to me about that?

Speaker 5 (12:27):
Well, I don't care what job you're taking over. I
believe this.

Speaker 6 (12:31):
I don't say many things, uh, you know, as as
a fact as I see it, but it is all
about winning that locker room everything.

Speaker 5 (12:38):
That we do.

Speaker 6 (12:40):
And again, the way I am approaching to win this
locker room at Partview is different than at Milton.

Speaker 9 (12:47):
Uh.

Speaker 6 (12:47):
The head coach has to be the first leader in
doing things that maybe you didn't always want to do.
I didn't want to be chief fundraiser. I didn't want
to be uh you know, camp camp director. I wanted
to coach my football team. I was a coordinator. Love
calling plays. If if I could draw it up in
a perfect world, I'm I'm head coaching coordinator and calling plays,

(13:08):
running offense all day long. But what this program needed
from from its head coach with somebody who's going in
to win that locker room A by getting the right
people around them. Like I said, you get the right
coaches who are who are about the same things, and
you you have a you have a great opportunity to
build excitement in your locker room. Build uh you know, chemistry,

(13:30):
build buy in, you know all those little things that
go into getting people to follow you. But here at Parkview,
what I knew is, well, yeah, we got to win
the locker room. But it but the two pieces outside
of it have to be repaired right now.

Speaker 5 (13:44):
And that's to.

Speaker 6 (13:45):
Support the locker room. That's building the relationships out in
the community. That's getting the parents to be balled in,
that's building a great board.

Speaker 10 (13:52):
Uh.

Speaker 6 (13:53):
And then you know, financially supporting the locker room A
and then b building the community support around it.

Speaker 5 (14:01):
That's mission critical.

Speaker 6 (14:02):
But then three uh and and equally important to all
these things is you got to replenish that locker room.

Speaker 5 (14:07):
And you replenish that locker room.

Speaker 6 (14:09):
By getting into especially in Winnett County here, getting into
your park system, getting into your middle school. Uh, making
sure that you're not just checking boxes that I'm doing
a youth camp and I'm showing up you know every
so often, but you're truly investing in those kids.

Speaker 5 (14:23):
Uh. Because we live in the transfer portal world.

Speaker 6 (14:26):
And the moment you you stop, the moment you you
rest on your laurels, especially with that group, especially in
a place like Whitennette County, Well, somebody else is coming
into your kitchen and they're cooking.

Speaker 5 (14:35):
They're cooking with your groceries.

Speaker 2 (14:37):
You got.

Speaker 6 (14:39):
Well, there's thirty two hundred, there's thirty two hundred kids
in this high school. There's twenty two hundred kids uh
at Trickle Middle School, which support If you don't think
I'm ten X in my time there, you know, I'd
be silly not to. I've been to Trickle Middle School
thirteen fourteen times in three months. You know that's more
than I went to Northwestern Middle School in five years.

(14:59):
But it's a different dynamic, it's a different landscape, and
this program needs different things. I came to Part You,
and I told players this all time. I came to
Part You not knowing a single player, not knowing a
single coach on staff.

Speaker 5 (15:11):
I came for the Paul.

Speaker 6 (15:13):
I came because I believe in what this brand stands
for and what this community is about.

Speaker 5 (15:18):
And while you know.

Speaker 6 (15:20):
We're not trying to be part view of two thousand
and two, there is a lot that we can pull
and we can lean into in the pride that still
surrounds this community. I came because I truly believe if
we do the three things that I just said, the
winning will take care of itself, and it'll take care
of itself faster than a lot of people think.

Speaker 2 (15:38):
Yeah. I think so too, Coach me.

Speaker 1 (15:40):
I mean, for what it's worth, I think it's a
great hire. I think you're gonna kill it. I know
you are. I love the idea. So I'm the assistant
pretendent for school district, and we try to make decisions based.

Speaker 2 (15:49):
On what's best for students. Right student success.

Speaker 1 (15:52):
You try to ask yourself, how does this center around students,
and I don't feel like in coaching we had that kind.

Speaker 2 (15:59):
Of mantra as much.

Speaker 1 (16:00):
So I loved that locker room piece because I thought
supporting the locker room funishing the locker room. I mean,
it's all saying the same stuff everybody says, but looking
at it from that lens of everything still centering around that,
you know, take me, got to win it first.

Speaker 2 (16:12):
That's a great way to look at things.

Speaker 6 (16:14):
It really is well, and I think the bigger piece
is that's not saying anything profound. Obviously, you've got to
win your locker room obviously, but it's going back to
one of the first things we talked about when I
went to Milton. The Booster Club was rocking and rolling
five hundred thousand dollars coming in. The feeder system in
Fulton County is so tightly aligned. I mean it literally
is under the umbrella of the football program. My job

(16:37):
there I went because of the talent I saw. It
was to get them playing football at a higher level
quickly so that they bought in and it was one
hundred percent almost about that and the other things were
taking care of itself.

Speaker 5 (16:49):
Well, here, we've got to do those other two.

Speaker 6 (16:53):
I mean, we can't neglect our players, but I can
hire coaches to help coach. It's the head coach job
to go out and make sure that the board is
operating correctly, and you're getting into the community and you're
reaching back out to old supporters, new supporters, alumni basis
to bring in that support. If you ain't gonna do it,
who is uh?

Speaker 5 (17:12):
And then also.

Speaker 6 (17:13):
Understanding the dynamics of you know, the situation, the current
landscape you're in. I mean, the GFL was a big
red flag to me, to be honest with you, do
you want to go over and get into that mess?

Speaker 5 (17:25):
You know? Kids? Plan?

Speaker 6 (17:27):
I had to wrap my mind around it of you
know what, I can't change the GFL. What they do
in those three months in that league will be that league.

Speaker 5 (17:34):
Now.

Speaker 6 (17:34):
I can obviously influence as times goes, but I can't
do anything about it right now. But what I can
do for the nine months outside of that league is
pour into those kids as much as possible. And I
got a captive audience at Tricka Middle School, So I
feel like if we build those relationships there, build our
mentorship group, get our players working with those kids, get
our coaches working with those coaches and those kids.

Speaker 5 (17:54):
I don't care how nice your.

Speaker 6 (17:55):
Stadium or or your locker room looks, it ain't gonna
be better than a relationship that we can build in
that time. And those things, those things are hard to
fracture when you do.

Speaker 5 (18:03):
It the right way.

Speaker 2 (18:04):
Yeah, they really are.

Speaker 1 (18:05):
Coach very well said, let's talk about your team this year.
What do you like so far about them?

Speaker 5 (18:10):
Well, I tell you what I like the absolute most.

Speaker 6 (18:14):
And and when I came here, and maybe you know again,
different time I've had some success. There is there is
a bit of a there is at least a reputation.
You know, when I came to Milton, it was I
was still kind of a no one to a lot
of people. I had to earn every bit of credibility
and it took a while. When I got here, I

(18:35):
received a lot of benefit.

Speaker 5 (18:36):
Of the doubt.

Speaker 6 (18:38):
And you know, call it a honeymoon period, call whatever
you want. But the players, the parents, the community, they
have been arms wide open and fully, fully, fully engaged
in any of the changes, any of the things that
we're doing. And that that just that makes all the

(18:58):
difference in the world. And just your energy level and
you're excited me to come. And and you know, you've
got young men who are still young. We got a
very young team, you know, we we had had you know,
there's been things going on in the program, guys you know,
leaving whatever. But the guys who are here, they're they're
hungry to be coached, they're hungry to love playing ball again.

(19:18):
We're we're really really pouring into the energy that that
we're providing. Uh, you know, the word fun, it can
be soft. So I said, you know what, you know,
what's fun to me is urgency, intensity, and enthusiasm. When
we do those three things, we're gonna have a lot
of fun, you know. And so it really has. It's
been a joy. And it's been a joy to to
kind of show my coaches, who I hadn't coached with

(19:40):
a single person on the staff, and show the players.
You know, these are some things that I believe in,
some philosophies of how I go about Spring, how I
go about June, how I believe in the weight room.

Speaker 5 (19:50):
I'm not saying that.

Speaker 6 (19:51):
They're you know, they're the gospel, but there there there's
a blueprint that I believe in.

Speaker 5 (19:56):
You know, buy in with me.

Speaker 6 (19:58):
And and and they have and and we've we've made
it through the semester, and we've made it through spring,
and we're getting ready to get summer ramped up on
June and second and everybody's chomping at the bit, you know,
for the next bite of the pie. And and that
to me, man, that that that has really brought back
a new fire in me of you know, just saying, man,

(20:19):
we're really coaching and these kids, it's really kind of
back to the passion of why we do it, you know,
and we'll worry about the winds and losses when when
the winds and losses happen, But right now we're just
we're just worried about getting better each and every day
and really celebrating the fact that these players are showing
up with a smaller face, eager to be here and running,
you know, running through you know the proverbial wall. Uh

(20:43):
anytime we ask them to.

Speaker 2 (20:44):
That's awesome.

Speaker 1 (20:45):
Coach, What what do you think is maybe the biggest
thing that's got improved or the biggest barrier you got
to having the season you want to have in your one, Like,
what's really got to get better by November?

Speaker 2 (20:55):
You know, to really be where you want.

Speaker 6 (20:56):
To be Oh, it's you know, it's uh, it's.

Speaker 5 (21:01):
Hard to put it on one thing.

Speaker 6 (21:02):
Like I said, we've got a young team and so
the but the beauty of young of young kids is
they're growing and they're growing up, so the changes can
happen faster. Uh, We've got you know, we've got a
relatively small senior class.

Speaker 5 (21:16):
We've got an.

Speaker 6 (21:17):
Experience sophomore class who are going to be rising juniors.
So just to continue to develop them in the weight room,
to develop the Okay, we've made it through spring practicing.

Speaker 5 (21:30):
And going about it this way. Can we now sustain
that through summer?

Speaker 6 (21:33):
And then can we take that into the season and
start stacking day on day on day and the challenge
will be just like anytime.

Speaker 5 (21:42):
Well, we're not keeping school right now.

Speaker 6 (21:44):
Okay, odds are we're gonna we're gonna get knocked down,
you know, and we may get knocked down a couple
of times. Can me, the coaches, the players, the parents,
the community stay in this same kind of mindset that
we are right now of it's all about this process,
it's all about this kind of crop pop mentality. Is
it's not going to happen overnight, and who knows, you know,

(22:08):
we we we focus on that that stuff, and we
keep taking it one day at a time and we
let this thing come together. Who knows, who knows, We
may just be something. We may just be uh, you
know that that next guy on the schedule that nobody
wants to play. That's right, and and that's kind of
the goal right now. You know, let's just worry about us.
Let's keep getting better and you know, and.

Speaker 5 (22:28):
Let's look up.

Speaker 6 (22:29):
You know, at the end of the game, we'll see
the scoreboard, and at the end of the season, we'll
see the wins and losses.

Speaker 5 (22:32):
But we're going to keep building.

Speaker 2 (22:34):
This thing, you know, for what it's worth.

Speaker 1 (22:36):
My my opinion has been that the people who do
well in these when they take over a team, especially
if they want to take them from where they were
but they felt like they were struggling maybe to where
they want to be. It really is more about handling
the defeats, you know, or and even the minor defeat,
not just losing a game. But I mean, the crop
pop mentality is a good way to put it. Like,
it's really about how we handle the bumps along the

(22:57):
way and not let it derail you. That everything didn't
go wonderful because it's not going to you might as
well it's not.

Speaker 5 (23:05):
It's not going GIP.

Speaker 2 (23:06):
And the people who handle that are the ones that succeed.
It really is. It's easier said than done, but it
really is that simple.

Speaker 6 (23:13):
Well, and I think Chris and I know you're into
messaging the way I am, and words matter, and and
right now it's really easy to sit and think about
what I want to say to the team, and there's
no real adversity and getting them to buy into, you know,
our mantra brotherhood, effort and toughness and what all that
really means.

Speaker 1 (23:31):
You.

Speaker 6 (23:31):
You look real phony when when you when you the adult,
can't handle some adversity and now all of a sudden,
your entire.

Speaker 5 (23:39):
Attitude changes, your entire mood changes.

Speaker 6 (23:42):
You know, how are how are they then to trust
that message of hey, you know, didn't go the way
we wanted.

Speaker 5 (23:49):
Here are the things that we need to improve on.
Here are the things that we're doing well on.

Speaker 6 (23:52):
Here's what we're going to do this week, so to
get back after it next Friday. I really believe if
we can keep that mentality, keep that energy, uh, keep
the the positivity is maybe again, another one of those
loaded words. It ain't always got to be rainbows and lollipops.
But keep the the optimistic intentionality with what we do

(24:13):
and keep things in the proper perspective. Like you could
go three and seven. We went three and seven last
year and it wasn't a good three. We could go
three and seven this year and it be a completely
different three and seven. Not saying and that's what I'm
expecting us to.

Speaker 5 (24:25):
Do, but.

Speaker 2 (24:28):
Optimism.

Speaker 1 (24:29):
You know, the optimism doesn't mean you're positive in every moment.

Speaker 5 (24:33):
That's right, that's right.

Speaker 2 (24:34):
I optimism.

Speaker 6 (24:36):
I chose that word intentionally because you know, there is
times when things aren't good and it's okay to recognize it.
And I think there can be a such thing as
toxic positivity. You know, sometimes you got to call spate spade,
hey man, that ain't good.

Speaker 5 (24:48):
That sucks.

Speaker 6 (24:49):
However, what did we learn and what can we do?
This is how we can get better from it. That's
optimism to me. There's a solution and there's a plan
for us to improve.

Speaker 2 (24:59):
That's a good word. People.

Speaker 1 (25:00):
Anybody didn't really understand that needs to rewind and listen again.

Speaker 2 (25:04):
That was really good.

Speaker 1 (25:05):
I mean the last five minutes of that, because I'm
telling you that is where that's where people separate. Everybody
gets the job excited to win. Everybody's planning to win.
Everybody's kids want to see the new coach succeed. But
it's how they handle those other things, staying positive when
it's not positive, you know, staying optimistic. Great man, So

(25:26):
let me get you out on here, because I talked
to you forever. Tell me what you can tell me
anyway about your assistant coaches people. You got locked in
brag on these guys a little bit.

Speaker 5 (25:36):
Well, I said you what I start with bragging?

Speaker 6 (25:38):
You know, Coach Servant did a heck of a job
of really surrounding this program with with strong character men
who are invested in this program. And uh again, not
knowing anyone coming in and understanding too that had very
limited teaching spots. I knew that, you know, it was
either gonna be a bunch of community hires are or
was going to put my arms around the guys here.

(25:59):
And man, I tell you that, there wasn't one person
that I met and I was like, man, this guy
ain't gonna work, you know. And and again I think
that's been huge because there was a lot of even
when things aren't good, there's still a lot of positive
relationships going on between players and coaches.

Speaker 5 (26:14):
So I think that has been big.

Speaker 6 (26:17):
Tim Goodwill was a linebackers coach on staff, had been
a really really seasoned assistant coach, and I think waiting
on that opportunity to get the to get the defensive
coordinating job. And uh, real fired up about Tim and
all the other guys.

Speaker 5 (26:35):
That that was, you know, able to keep on board.

Speaker 6 (26:39):
I was able to hire Sean White recently as as
an O line coach.

Speaker 10 (26:42):
Uh.

Speaker 6 (26:42):
He had been at Flowery Branch and been around well
known in the offensive coaching world, which you know, that's
a tight circle. Uh, and that's you know, one of
the most important hires you can make. So real real
fired up about that. And again really yeah, not a
lot of splashy things going on, but I don't think
it has to be, you know, And so a lot
of guys who are excited to work with, you know,

(27:06):
when I asked them, Hey, we're going to the middle school.

Speaker 5 (27:08):
Hey we're gonna we're gonna host.

Speaker 6 (27:09):
Friday night lights for any middle school almost come. There's
not a lot of okay here, we go it's heck yeah,
coach love it, love it, love it.

Speaker 5 (27:17):
So everybody's been fired.

Speaker 6 (27:19):
Had been been dialed in, and and I don't think
that's just a honeymoon phase. I think it's guys who
are really really excited about just coaching young men, so
you know, when we're gonna attack this thing together. And
like I said, I've got a lot of other things
outside of coaching on the grass to do.

Speaker 5 (27:35):
So I got to entrust these guys.

Speaker 6 (27:37):
To to go out and do and and also having
grace with them, you know. I remember it was like
the first day, we're doing a walk through and somebody apologized.
I said, guys, you know we've been coaching together all
of thirty minutes. It's okay, we're we'll figure these things
out too. So you know, so, uh, there's.

Speaker 5 (27:53):
Been a lot of fun. Man.

Speaker 6 (27:54):
It really has been kind of a fresh new start
for me in a way of as much.

Speaker 5 (27:59):
As you want to bring some of the guys that
you know, know your.

Speaker 6 (28:01):
Stuff and you coach a long time, and sure knows
that there were plenty of that that I reached out to.
You know, I was telling my wife, this is this
and it is kind of cool, though like, there's not
that and I know you know this. When you take over,
there typically are three staffs. There's the holdovers, the guys
that you brought, and then the guys that you hire.
And that's a really really tricky dynamic to sort. I

(28:26):
don't really have that here. It was basically me coming
in and you know, everybody in it together, and it's
basically basically me learning them, you know, and then learning me.

Speaker 1 (28:33):
So that's a good way to keep optimism you're keeping off.

Speaker 5 (28:37):
Yeah you got Hey, man.

Speaker 1 (28:40):
Hey, listen, I appreciate you taking some time to talk
to me.

Speaker 2 (28:44):
I know you're busy. Hey, And any anybody that.

Speaker 1 (28:46):
Heard me earlier talking about following you and they don't
know what I'm talking about, tell them how they can
follow what you're doing outside a part you even.

Speaker 5 (28:54):
Yeah.

Speaker 6 (28:54):
So I was in the middle of building two different businesses.
One was Flag Factory, which for flag the flag football space,
uh and kind of getting into that. And you can
follow us at the Flag Factory us dot com if
you you know.

Speaker 5 (29:09):
Especially.

Speaker 6 (29:10):
One thing I'm taking I'm bringing here is anytime we're
doing a youth camp, girls are invited, you take the
pads off and we're training the same skills, there's no
different in softball and baseball, learn how to fill ground ball.
But the other thing was the Adam Klak Football Academy,
and that started more as a training uh kind of
getting into the personal training stuff, but it really more
more into two program building, leadership development, culture stuff, which

(29:33):
I really feel like I am most passionate about.

Speaker 9 (29:36):
Uh.

Speaker 6 (29:36):
And you can go to Adam clakfootball dot com to
see our stuff. We've we've got some podcasts going, We've
got free content out there. Uh, and you know, I'm
filming stuff as we go, kind of documenting this journey.
As we were just kind of rolling out this whole
A to Z program. You win the interview to pass
into Torch, I said, well, I guess we're gonna get

(29:58):
to live it out.

Speaker 5 (29:58):
So we're going to docum and following.

Speaker 6 (30:01):
Along, and we're on all the Instagram and and and Twitter.
But you can, you know the easiest things just to
go to the website and and you'll you'll see all
of our handles there.

Speaker 2 (30:10):
Yeah, follow coach.

Speaker 1 (30:11):
If you're not following them Adam Klack Football Academy, you
google it if you can't remember all that.

Speaker 5 (30:17):
Adam football dot Com.

Speaker 2 (30:20):
Yeah, but it's great. It's a good follow coach, it
really is, and I appreciate you.

Speaker 5 (30:25):
I appreciate it.

Speaker 6 (30:26):
Well, you know, I follow a lot of your stuff,
so I was kind of kind of researching some of
the things. And the success that you've had in the again,
the value that you've you've provided for coaches is truly immense,
and I appreciate that, and the coaching community appreciates that.
So you know that what inspired me to kind of
get into that space.

Speaker 2 (30:45):
And I'll tell you what.

Speaker 5 (30:47):
I'll collaborate sometimes.

Speaker 1 (30:48):
Yeah, absolutely, I tell you what. You probably learned the
same as me. I kind of suck at golf and
I'm not really I don't like to fish all that much,
so I didn't have anything. When you're not coaching, you've
got a lot of time on your hands.

Speaker 6 (31:01):
It's dangerous, my man. The last eighteen months was tough.
I didn't know what to do with myself. I just
started two businesses and didn't even know where they were going.

Speaker 1 (31:10):
Hey, I can ever help you out, man, let me
know I'm pulling for you. I think you guys gonna
do some great things. I'm excited to follow you guys
this year.

Speaker 5 (31:16):
Man, really I appreciate it. I appreciate it.

Speaker 6 (31:18):
Man. Well, I appreciate you guys, and thanks for having
me on. And uh yeah, got good luck out there
to all the coaches this summer. I know it was
getting getting cranked up. Keep the boys safe, work them hard,
but have some fun along with it.

Speaker 1 (31:30):
Yet, sir, I gots it. The Parker Resource Podcast is
brought to you by Coastal Sports Turf. Coastal Sports Turf
mission is to provide beautiful, healthy and safe natural turf
grass playing surfaces for athletes and coaches in Georgia. Many
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(31:50):
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them on Twitter at CST three zero four three night.

(32:35):
I'm great pleased to be joined at this time by
coach Jason Cameron, the new head coach at Calvary Day.

Speaker 2 (32:40):
Coach, thanks for joining.

Speaker 8 (32:41):
Me, Coach, I appreciate you having me.

Speaker 2 (32:43):
Thank you man. What a great opportunity this is Calvary Day.
I know you want you want a staff.

Speaker 11 (32:48):
The last couple of years, I think, but what a
great opportunity.

Speaker 1 (32:51):
Talk to me about how this came about and what
makes it such a special job opportunity for you.

Speaker 10 (32:56):
That's a great opportunity.

Speaker 8 (32:57):
You know, when I was leaving Videlia had a few opportunities.
But you know, Coach Stroud and I have been tight
for years, and you know I kind of knew that
that he was kind of on his way out, kind
of decided when it was time for him to go.
We weren't sure, and it kind of kept it open.
Thended and I said, listen, I'm here as long as
you're here. Probably about midway through the season this year,

(33:18):
he kind of sat me down as listen as time,
and we announced it right before the playoffs because we
had a bye week, and you know we did. We
just did a brief announcement and it was business as usual.
I went back to being the OC, he went being
the head coach, and you know we were trying to
win to stay championship.

Speaker 1 (33:32):
Yeah coach, and yeah, man, you guys were fantastic the
last few years at Calvary Day. What makes that a
really good play? Now you've been there as assistant, Now
you get to be the head coach. You have more
insight than some of the other people I'm talking to. Right,
You have some insight because you've been a head coach
twice before, but you have some insight because you know
this program. Think about this and I'll ask my question.

(33:54):
You have a rare opportunity that very few people get.
So most people I talked to in this series either
got voted to the job, just like you, but they
don't have any head experience, you know what I mean.
Like they built their resume, worked their butts off, and
they got promoted. Other people come into a new place,
they don't know the place, but they know how to
be a head coach, right will you know the place

(34:17):
and you know how to be a head coach? I mean,
great hire. I mean I say that publicly, great high
What have you learned though through that process? What have
you learned about Calvary Day that's gonna take with you
and what have you learned from it being a head
coach that you're gonna bring with you.

Speaker 8 (34:32):
I think you know, every place is different, and I definitely,
you know, that's definitely what I learned. You know, Jenkins
was was different than Vodellia. Vodellia was different than than
it is different than Calvary, So it was you know,
having those experiences, I feel like prepared me for Calvary
because you know, the Jenkins job is a very different
job than the Videlia job.

Speaker 10 (34:49):
It was.

Speaker 8 (34:49):
It was totally two different extremes. So you know, usually
learn through mistake, you learn through you know, some successes.
But you know, those two experiences definitely prepared me for this.
And then being able to be on staff for the
last two years and and learning from one of the
best that's ever stepped foot on the sideline, Mark Stroud
has been you know, kind of seamless in a sense.
So I'm trying to just kind of kind of take

(35:12):
you know what, the foundation is already laid and I'm
just trying to build, you know, build upon that and
try to make it as big as it possibly can be.
And you know what drew me to Calvary the most
was sitting with our headmaster. And it wasn't just about me.
He wants my wife is a teacher at Calvary, my
son attends Calvary. He wanted our entire family and he
made that clear. So that was you know, we sat,

(35:33):
we left that meeting and we're like, you know, is
where God's calling us? Is where we need to be.

Speaker 1 (35:37):
Yeah, Coach Strout had been there since two thousand and eight.
That's a long time in the current climate. Coach definitely,
so a ton of respect for him and and what
all he's able to accomplish. So what But with all
that said, of course, I don't mean to respectively. What's
got to be different? Like, because I think you do
have to make it about you. You got to carry
on the things he did well, right, but it's got

(35:58):
to now it's gotta be your program. So what's something
that you think we're really focusing on now that Camera's
in charge.

Speaker 8 (36:06):
Biggest thing is dipping into the youth programs. You know,
being right down the road to Jenkins, I was always
so envious that that Calvary on that campus had you know,
we have babies through twelfth grade. So we are really
really diving into our youth sports. We start sports at
at Calvary at fifth grade, but we've started a ten
you team called the Crusaders that we're just trying to

(36:27):
you know, keep these Cavalry kids together, continue to build
this program and see kind of what we're all about.
My goal at the end of this is that you know,
every single football player at Calvary, if you're an outsider
looking in, you know exactly what we stand for. And
I think that starts with the youth programs. My entire
staff is diving really, really into the youth and you
know what, we're doing spring football for the first time,

(36:48):
our games tomorrow against Burke County, which we're super excited about.
Just little kind of things that I think that like
I said, the foundation set and just little tweaks that
we could you know, hopefully take this thing even to
a higher level than it was before.

Speaker 1 (36:59):
Yeah, answer coach, And that is I mean, regardless of
what type of school you're at, so significant to get
down the middle grades and if you go even lower
than that. I mean, I just I always knew that
was important, but I feel like every year I learned
a little more about that being more important, especially in
building those programs. So what so, you guys had a

(37:20):
great season last year, and I've always been impressed with
what you do on offense. So what's something that's uh,
what's something you're working on offensively or what's something that
you're thinking, Okay, we need to study this in the
off season. We ended last season, uh, scheme wise, where
we're gonna study this coming season.

Speaker 2 (37:36):
You know, I'm telling me what you learned, I don't know.
You don't want to tell me that.

Speaker 8 (37:38):
Oh yeah, no, it's it's funny, you know. My first yeah, well,
you know, my first year I walk in and to
be honest with you, it was a gold mine athlete,
you know, from a sense offensively, you know Jake Mrklingers
the quarterback, he's at Tennessee. Mike Smith is at South Carolina,
he's the tight end. You know, two junior receivers at
the time Dupal Coleman that app State and Thomas black
Year that went to Georgia. So it's like most of

(37:59):
the time, I just want stay out.

Speaker 2 (38:00):
Of the way. Yeah that's good sometimes yeah, so to.

Speaker 8 (38:03):
Say out of the way, let them do their thing.
But you know, then you look at last year and
we graduate a lot in our our sophomore quarterback, who
I'm telling you this is right now. If he's six
foot tall's got offers across the country.

Speaker 5 (38:13):
But he's not.

Speaker 8 (38:14):
But he you know, we thought that you may have
to scale back some and and and you know, like
I say, dummy it down, but maybe not make it
as intricate, especially in the past game and the RPO stuff,
but he kind.

Speaker 5 (38:24):
Of just ran with it.

Speaker 8 (38:25):
Right now, we're missing maybe a big time down the
field threats, so we're doing a lot more, you know,
true RPO stuff. We got some really good running backs,
so we're looking at some two back stuff and just
kind of really establishing that run game more than when
we've done the previous two years. We slung it around
the last few years pretty well, so we definitely have
been really really focusing on fine tuning our running game.

Speaker 1 (38:46):
Have you changed your style with the formations any in
regards to like, I see more and more people that
used to not using me tight ends or eh or whatever,
trying to find a way to incorporate more but still
run some of the same concepts to do without, Like.

Speaker 2 (39:00):
Have you found yourself being more like that? Or what?

Speaker 5 (39:04):
What?

Speaker 2 (39:04):
What has that evolved? This is the last time I
probably watched you got.

Speaker 8 (39:08):
So I feel that I've always been a huge formation guy.

Speaker 2 (39:11):
I feel like the more we could put out.

Speaker 8 (39:12):
We have our main kind of run buckets, our main
throw buckets, and we you know, we just try to
you know, dress it all up we can, you know, formationally.
But you know, we've used a lot more tight ends
this year than we have you know, double tight as
a heck of a set to to defend with all those.

Speaker 10 (39:27):
Gaps, yep.

Speaker 8 (39:27):
And it still allows us to do you know, what
we like to do on the perimeter too, So you know,
we're we're definitely you know, brainstorming with some new sets.
Like I said, even get under center a little bit.
And I think the biggest change is possibly slowing down
some I've been a case, you know, as many plays
as we can in the least amount of times, but
you know, I think with with what we're doing on offense,
what we're doing on defense, a little bit more guys

(39:49):
playing both ways, you might see us play a little
slower than we have in the past.

Speaker 1 (39:53):
I think, you know, the key is always just be different, right,
So like twenty years ago, we want to throw throw
the all more or doing some no huddle stuff, and
it was cute, obviously, but it was mostly about it
being different, you know. And I think now what I
noticed is whether it's formations or a tempo, it's important
to be multiple.

Speaker 2 (40:13):
It's going to be different.

Speaker 1 (40:14):
But I mean, it's nice to be you need to
be able to play fast, but you don't have to
play fast every play, and and but you need to
you know, you need to be able to play two
tight ends, but you want to play two.

Speaker 2 (40:24):
Tight ends every year. So definitely, definitely.

Speaker 1 (40:26):
So often people get lulled into ruts per se. And
in my my day, the rut was all the old
school stuff and then fancy people were throwing it and
playing fast. So I wanted to do that. But now
I see it kind of a little bit of the opposite.

Speaker 11 (40:41):
You know.

Speaker 1 (40:41):
It's almost the thing you see people getting in a
rut in is the ten personnel or in the they
want to play fast, but they don't really have you know,
they don't mix the tempo up. And now the defensive
coaches tell me the hardest people to play against are
the ones that mix it up.

Speaker 2 (40:56):
You know.

Speaker 8 (40:57):
I think so you know, you stay on one tempo,
they probably stay and something that they're comfortable with, something
that they they rep often something you know that the
defense you know, and defense coordinator feels comfortable calling against,
you know, the sets that you run. We all prepare
against each other, and no one's rewriting the wheel.

Speaker 2 (41:11):
But I agree.

Speaker 8 (41:12):
I think you know, tempos the word we always use it,
and it's always considered playing fast. My goal this year
is to use that you said, use different tempos you know, yeah,
real real slow kind of some sort of you know,
check with me, and then we put a front of
the gas and try to play as fast as we can.

Speaker 1 (41:23):
Yeah, that really is the move. It's just easier said
than done, but that really is on tempo. Yeah, coach,
and I was supposed to be ask you about do
higher stuff not offense. I enjoyed talking about that too.
The talk to me about this coming year. Okay, what
you guys, you know, you obviously had a great year.

Speaker 2 (41:43):
Let's have Avenue bh in and playoffs.

Speaker 1 (41:44):
And they're the team that goes state championship game. So
you know what that looks like. I mean, you know,
you know you can be that team. What has to
happen from now till December first or November fifteenth, or
whenever it'll be what has to get better, what has
to happen where you feel like, okay, now, where we
need to be to finish this playoff runt.

Speaker 8 (42:06):
I think that you know, we've been a good football
team for a long time. Our main focus this offseason
has been all on team building, culture building, and we're
really focusing on the you know, it really doesn't matter
who does it as long as it gets done.

Speaker 10 (42:20):
Mentality.

Speaker 8 (42:21):
It's hard sometimes when you know coaching all those great players,
you know, it's it's you know, they tend to they
want the ball, they want to be the guy on
the big stage. And I love that we're trying to
do more of is a team that loves one another
and will not let the person next to them down.
In my opinion, regardless of what the talent level looks like,
is really really hard to be so we're focusing on

(42:43):
stuff like that. We're taking a huge player and coaches
retreat this summer to just get away for two days.
And I told our coaches very minimal football. It's about
you know, you can't break it down on family if
you don't truly know each other. So that's really really
kind of what we're focusing on this offseason.

Speaker 1 (42:56):
That's a great answer, coach, and I do believe when
you get to the coaches have used some of those
cliche things for years, but when you get to the
the real close, gay, you know you're with a team
that is very talented just like you are, or comparable town,
that is what's gonna.

Speaker 2 (43:10):
Make the difference. Now, Oh, definitely play the Atlanta Falcons.
We're probably gonna lose, and it's not gonna part.

Speaker 1 (43:16):
We got right, We're playing the team like us. That's
really good a matter, you know, and it just is.

Speaker 2 (43:23):
And the other thing you see over and over again, coach,
tell me about your coaching staff.

Speaker 8 (43:27):
Great staff, really really good staff. We returned a lot,
you know, retained a ton of guys that some guys
kind of move on to guys kind of just step
away and take administrative roles. New defensive coordinator Stephen Moros
has taking over. He's he's kind of under the Donald
Chumley type of tree, and Donald Chumley's on staff as
well as kind of a you know, co coordinator mentor.
It's a great situation for coach myros As being a

(43:49):
younger coach of having Coach Chumbley there to kind of be,
you know, to mentor him something. He's just been a
I've enjoyed working with him more than maybe anybody I've
ever worked with, just in the sense of his knowledge,
the way he dissects film and I pick his brain
every single day. Coach John were really really good running
back coach. That's gonna transition to be our special teams coordinator.

(44:10):
Coach Monacy, He's done a great job. He's a future
head coach. And some community coaches that we've got on
staff that are just you know, pillars of the Savannah
community that love kids and pouring the kids. So our
staff is shaping up really, really well. And I think
the thing that I love about them is that they
love kids. And if you love kids, you can be
on my staff.

Speaker 1 (44:28):
That's a good coach. That's a great answer. I'm looking
forward to following. You guys, you know you know you gotta.
I am a little mad at you and you don't
even know it, because you guys stole my basketball coach,
Man Bob Martin. But great Man Bob is a good coach.
He did a great job for us. He gon do
a great job for you, sir. Take care of Bob

(44:48):
for me.

Speaker 2 (44:50):
But I do.

Speaker 1 (44:51):
I'm excited to see what you guys can do. I'm
excited for you to get this opportunity.

Speaker 2 (44:55):
I do think it's a great hire.

Speaker 1 (44:56):
I think you combine the previous experience the head coach
with understanding that place, and I think so very so
very often, if you think about that, how often does
that happen? Like so many times you plead to get jobs
and they have to learn the place and they know
head coaching, or they have to learn head coaching, but
they know the place. Very rarely do you know both.
And I think it's a great opportunity for you. I'm

(45:19):
really excited to see what you can do. And I'm
here man if I can help you. I don't know
what I can do, but I'm here.

Speaker 2 (45:24):
Thank you, listen.

Speaker 8 (45:25):
I appreciate I always look at your posts on Twitter
and try to steal any of those things that you
can post. You're probably one of most organized people I've
ever met my entire life.

Speaker 1 (45:31):
I appreciate it. I appreciate you gotta be. If you're
not good looking and you don't even know that much
about football, you got at least be organized.

Speaker 5 (45:37):
So I.

Speaker 2 (45:40):
Appreciate you. Coach a minute, man, Good luck to you
this year.

Speaker 8 (45:43):
Yes, sir, thank you so much.

Speaker 2 (45:44):
Take care.

Speaker 5 (45:46):
Wow, I please to join this.

Speaker 1 (45:52):
Time by coach Tommy Athan, the new head coach cedar
Town coach.

Speaker 2 (45:55):
Thanks for joining me.

Speaker 10 (45:56):
Yeah, absolutely appreciate you having me on.

Speaker 11 (45:58):
Coach one years at Darlington. That's a long time in
the current climate. Twenty one years, man, and then go
be an assistant and get a state championship. Now you're
back at it. What makes this such a great opportunity.

Speaker 10 (46:15):
Well, you know, I'll be honest with you.

Speaker 9 (46:18):
You know, Cedartown is one of those jobs you know,
of course, you know, such a tradition rich program, always
has been. You know, that's not that's not a recent occurrence,
you know. I mean Cedartown has just been traditionally a
great football program, great football community. You know, I grew
up competing against Cedartown, and certainly all the years I

(46:40):
was at Darlington, Cedartown was was really good and continue
to be so recent years. So you know, when the
opportunity came along, you know, you know, I you know,
really just thought at the point I was at there
were very there are very few opportunities that I would
be interested in pursuing as a head football coach again,
but Cedartown was early one of those.

Speaker 10 (47:00):
And you know, the.

Speaker 9 (47:01):
Opportunity came and a lot of people applied for it,
and I was fortunate enough to get selected. So here
I am fired up to be a bulldog.

Speaker 2 (47:09):
Yeah coach, Like I said, great job. They've been good.

Speaker 1 (47:12):
You know a lot of the a lot of people
I talked to, I talked to pay twenty or so
new coaches through this time of year doing this, and
the vast majority of them are taking over places that,
even if they're good programs, they've struggled in recent years
and that's why they got a new coach. And you know,
they've got this this playbook. You're going to kind of
hear a lot of the similar things of what they

(47:33):
think is important or what they're gonna do. I'm really
curious for your answer, because it is different. Right you're
taking over the team. They're in pretty good. So what
do you what do you feel like is really important
right now to get in the program growing when you're
coming in and they've been really good.

Speaker 10 (47:52):
You know, I think consistency is extremely important. You know.

Speaker 9 (47:57):
One of the first things I said, you know, when
I interviewed with him administration. Then I said this to
the coaching staff when I met with them, and I
said to the team the first time I talked to.

Speaker 10 (48:05):
Them is this.

Speaker 9 (48:06):
Look, you know, if it's not broke, don't fix it.
And so, you know, there are certain things that obviously
are going to be different. You know, we'll be a
little bit different from a scheme standpoint on both sides
of the ball. You know, there's some things we'll do
practice wise that are going to be different. But you know,
I mean from a culture standpoint, I mean, you know, shoot,

(48:26):
they you know, it's it's a great culture. It's in
a good place. You know, the kids are bought in
to be in Cedartown Bulldogs. They're tough kids, they play
extremely hard, they love football, and so you know, I'm
just excited to have the opportunity to come in and
hopefully maintain that and you know, continue to uh, you know,

(48:49):
help Cedar Town achieve success and and keep striving even
to get better.

Speaker 1 (48:54):
Yeah, And I mean I think that's a great attitude,
by the way, because every place is different and you're
gonna have to make your imprint on the place.

Speaker 2 (49:00):
I mean, nobody could ever say you wouldn't.

Speaker 1 (49:01):
But there does have to also be common sense has
to prevail and if some things are working, you know,
you have heard we've all heard stories of people changing
some things, maybe unnecessarily, you know, at the wrong times.
I mean, just you know, there's got to be a
marriage of their playing in your plan.

Speaker 2 (49:17):
And I think it's.

Speaker 1 (49:17):
Actually always true, but there's probably more true in this situation,
like you're inherited now. So coach, what do you You
had a couple of years assistant coach, long time as
a head coach. So what did you learn as an
assistant coach that you can carry now with you that
you maybe didn't know last time you took over?

Speaker 9 (49:35):
Right, Well, you know, last time I took over, I
was well at thirty two, thirty three years old, So
at that time I didn't realize what I you know,
how much I really didn't though. You know, when you're
a young coach, especially when you're a young coach aspired
to be a head coach, you got all the answers,
you know, And I remember, you know, I had the
great honor to work for a guy named Jay Sharp

(49:59):
for nine years before I became the head football coach
and going to and you know, I was his offensive
coordinator and he used to tell me, you know, son,
you don't realize what a great job you have because
the job you have is you know, it's fun for
you right now, and there's a lot of things that
you don't have to do and one day, you know,
I mean I always felt like I would step into issues,

(50:19):
but you know, I but I you know, I think
having done it for twenty one years, you know we
were constantly seeking best practices.

Speaker 10 (50:28):
You don't ever stop doing that as a coach.

Speaker 9 (50:30):
I don't care if you're the head coach or an
assistant coach, or or you've been in place for one
year or twenty one years. You're you know, you better
constantly be seeking better ways to do things. But at
the same time, you know, when you've been in one
place for twenty one years, you get accustomed to doing
certain things the.

Speaker 10 (50:48):
Same way again and again.

Speaker 9 (50:49):
So I think, you know, for me, having the opportunity
to go work at a couple of other places and
work with a couple of other coaches is just kind
of you know, hey, here's some different different ways to
do things.

Speaker 10 (51:02):
Here's some you know.

Speaker 9 (51:03):
I you know, I'll take things that that we did.
You know, I helped that fall at Model and and
enjoyed that, and then going over and work for coach
Stevenson at Calhoun. You know, I mean, I learned a
lot of things in the past two years in addition
to some of the things that I feel like I
did know. So hopefully I'll be able to take some

(51:24):
of those things and enhance some of the things that
I did.

Speaker 10 (51:27):
Know, and hopefully be a better football coach as a
result of it.

Speaker 1 (51:31):
You gain a little different perspective when you're not the
last decision maker, you know, And so at least for
a couple of years, you didn't have to be the
last decision maker, And I think that can be powerful,
you know, when you get that jobs again to make
those decisions.

Speaker 2 (51:44):
But I will tell you this for what it's worth.

Speaker 1 (51:47):
I thought I saw you guys play at calhouna on
TV early in the year, and I saw you play
in person in the state championship game, and I thought
that the team I saw earlier in the year did
not look like state championship team. Although I love coach Stevenson,
I think y'all did it a great job. But the
progress made was so significant that I'd be remiss if

(52:08):
I didn't ask the question, even though we're talking about
Cedar Town.

Speaker 2 (52:11):
What did you think was so.

Speaker 1 (52:13):
Special or different from that middle point in the season
to where you hit the run and you win a
state champion.

Speaker 2 (52:19):
Everybody wants to get there in high school.

Speaker 1 (52:21):
It just don't happen as often as it does in
college of the NFL, where people get hot at the
right time, But you guys did. So what was special
about that or was something you noticed made that team different?

Speaker 9 (52:32):
Well, you know, we were an inexperienced football team. I mean,
you know, we were splitting time at quarterback and the
guy that ended up, you know, being the best offense
player or state championship game was you know, he was
more recently as a middle school quarterback than he was
as a varsity quarterback. And so, you know what we
felt like we could do with him or should be doing.

(52:54):
And then you know, inexperienced on the offensive line. You know,
I was blessed to be the office line coach. And
I'll be honest with we were not very good early
in the year, and uh, it's hard to move football
when you're not very good upfront. And but those kids
bought in and kept working and kept working, and we
made some adjustments up front, and we're a much different

(53:14):
football team.

Speaker 10 (53:15):
And you know, the same thing defensively.

Speaker 9 (53:17):
You know, we had some holes in the secondary and
some guys ended up stepping up and we adjusted some
things there and and uh, you know, we were really
hard to.

Speaker 10 (53:26):
Move football against once we got into the postseason.

Speaker 9 (53:28):
So you know, I just think it was really about
some kids gaining experience and jelly and and uh, you know,
we we were able to stay competitive. You know, it
was a brutal non region schedule, right, Uh, you know,
we were able to get into region play and get
things rolling and developed confidence and you know, by the
time we got the playoffs, we were, like you said,

(53:49):
a much different football team.

Speaker 2 (53:51):
Yeah. I was really I was in pressed office.

Speaker 1 (53:53):
I Mean, the quarterback's a great player, no doubt, but
I was in pressed office line.

Speaker 2 (53:56):
I was pressed with the defense.

Speaker 1 (53:57):
I was just impressed with the effort and maybe just
the you know, the alignment and assignment stuff was seemed
much clearer to me.

Speaker 2 (54:04):
Uh, it just was.

Speaker 1 (54:05):
And you guys, look grab I mean that game in
State champions Games was just a great performance. So and
sometimes that happens, right, Sometimes you get better and you know,
but how often do you see, especially from two thousand
and two you start being the head coach to today.
I make this argument so you can either you can
either disagree or agree with me that it's harder than

(54:28):
it's ever been to keep the kids attention when they're
not winning. So like in two thousand and two, you
might could have taught them because I was around in
two thousand and two coach, and you can say, hey, yeah,
we're one and four, but we played a tough schedule.
We're gonna be all right, going to run the rest
of them, And I feel like the kids believe that.
And now I think that's why I seemed more impressive

(54:49):
to me. You got to play a tough schedule, you
ran up on some tough teams, and in your effort
kept getting better. The execution kept getting better. And I
don't see that as often. Am I seeing that wrong?
Or do you see that as well?

Speaker 10 (55:02):
Well?

Speaker 9 (55:03):
You know, I think each team is different, and I
think each group of kids that comes through, and I
you know, you know, is it harder to keep kids up?
Is it harder to keep kids believing that you're going
to be successful when you when you stumble, you know,
several times out of the blocks? Maybe so, you know,
but you know, I just think that's the big challenge

(55:27):
as a football coach is to get kids to buy
into what you're doing and believe because you know, you
know as well as I do. You know, there's you
You've seen it time and again. And don't get me wrong,
we were really talented football team at Calhoun this past year.
But but we beat some really talented teams too. But
you know, you when you get a bunch of kids

(55:48):
that really believe in each other and and trust their coaches,
that's a big word, trust that you're doing the right
things and we're going to get there, you know, then
then you know you have the opportunity for something like
last year to happen. Now, if you can't ever get
those kids to trust that what you're doing, you know,
is in their best interest, and and that that what

(56:10):
you're doing is gonna work, and you know, keep fighting
the good fight.

Speaker 10 (56:14):
Good times are ahead, you know, and you'll see some positives.
You know. If they don't start seeing that, well, you know,
then you do.

Speaker 1 (56:23):
The coach is so important on that is I guess
what I'm saying that the coach is so important the
whole coaching staff.

Speaker 2 (56:29):
It's so important on keeping.

Speaker 1 (56:31):
Those kids motivated to execute better even when they're not
seeing that immediate success. Right, So just ansol, I'm just
always impressed when I see that, is what I'm saying.
I think it's it's not as inherent as it used to.

Speaker 2 (56:43):
Be or just naturally happening.

Speaker 1 (56:45):
Coach, let's talk about Cedartown though, I know you at
Cedartown now, talk about the what what's got to really
improve from where you see you are right now to
what you want to do in the fall. You know,
you guys want to have the season that they've been
having and go further. What do you notice so far
things we got to work on?

Speaker 9 (57:03):
Well, you know, again we we we don't have a
whole lot.

Speaker 10 (57:05):
Of experience on either side of the football.

Speaker 9 (57:07):
You know, Exeartown graduated a really, really, really talented group
of seniors this past year and several high profile guys.
And so, you know, the biggest thing we've got to
do is is just what we were just talking about,
which is we've got to play as a unit.

Speaker 10 (57:24):
You know, we've got to execute as a unit. Now,
don't get me wrong, We've got some good football players,
but but.

Speaker 9 (57:31):
You know, we we are going to have to be
a football team that that plays extremely hard. We're gonna
have to be a football team that is extremely detail oriented.
We're gonna have to be a football team that executes
at a high level because at the level we're playing
and then the region we're in, you know, we're not
going to go out there and just win on athleticism alone.

Speaker 10 (57:54):
Uh you know, I mean, that's you're just setting yourself
up for failure.

Speaker 9 (57:59):
But the flip side is we really feel like, if
you know, with the kids we have and the players
that we have, that if we will go out there
and execute and and play Cedar Town football, which is
very physical, a physical brand of football, you know that
that absolutely can't change.

Speaker 10 (58:16):
You know. I mean, if you ask anybody, you know,
I talked to you.

Speaker 9 (58:19):
Know when I was, you know, looking at uh, interviewing
for the job, you know, and I was very open
and honest with coach Stevenson Clint I are really good friends,
and talking about it, and he said, well, you know,
I'll tell you this. Years we played them, one thing
you could definitely count on is you're gonna get your
head knocked off and and uh.

Speaker 10 (58:36):
And that still has to be the case.

Speaker 9 (58:37):
You know, We've got to be an extremely physical football
team offensively and defensively, and again, like I said, execute
at a high level.

Speaker 2 (58:46):
Yeah, I can.

Speaker 1 (58:47):
I can second that coach who played Cedar Town several
times and some of.

Speaker 2 (58:50):
The better games I remember coaching him.

Speaker 1 (58:52):
We're against one, some lost some, but they've always had
some physical guys, always got after it, always will.

Speaker 2 (58:58):
Coach really impressed with.

Speaker 1 (58:59):
The kids of there. You guys do have a tough region.
That was my next question to you. So I think
there's four or five really good teams in that region,
you know, And so what what what what stands out
as something you see as you watch film on the region.
I mean, I'm glat you about any body in particular,
but just as a whole, What's what's gonna take to

(59:20):
win in this region.

Speaker 9 (59:22):
Well, you know, I mean there's there's, like you said,
a number of teams that are extremely athletic. There's a
number of teams that are gonna have more experience than
we have coming back.

Speaker 10 (59:34):
You know, So you know, what what is it going
to take.

Speaker 9 (59:37):
Well, you know, it's going to take complete buy in
by our guys, which I feel like we're getting.

Speaker 10 (59:41):
We had a really good spring.

Speaker 9 (59:42):
I feel like, you know, it's gonna take continued growth
in the weight room. We you know that that's one
area where you know, we we uh, you know, I
feel like in a lot of respects, we're we're ahead
of the curve. I feel like our our weight room
uh process and and what has been done and continues
to be done there is outstanding. And I'm certainly excited

(01:00:05):
about that. But you know, I think, like I said,
we've got to be very methodical. You know, We've got
to We can't beat ourselves, you know, And that's that's
that's something that is going to be extremely important, you know.
I mean, and that goes back to like we talked
about eleven guys playing as a unit. You know, how

(01:00:25):
are you methodical on offense? Well, everybody understands their assignment.
Everybody does it as hard as they can and and
then you try to do it and elimin eight mist
as many mental mistakes as possible, and you do the
same thing on the other side. You know, you got
to have eleven guys rally into the football. You got
to have guys playing great technique, and uh, you know,
you got to keep from beating yourself and giving up

(01:00:48):
explosive plays to very athletic teams.

Speaker 1 (01:00:51):
Yeah, and that's what you're going to see is a
significant like misalignments on defense, stuff like that are going
to be more costly the deeper the region is right.

Speaker 2 (01:00:59):
So speaking of that, I might ask about your coaching staff.

Speaker 1 (01:01:02):
So tell me who we're gonna blame if they miss
align on defense. Who know, tell me about the coach staff. Guys,
Guys maybe you kept on head onto or new guys
you got, or anybody you can tell me about.

Speaker 10 (01:01:13):
Yeah, sure, I mean, I'll tell you about every one
of them. Absolutely. You know, like I said, I was
talking about the weight room.

Speaker 9 (01:01:18):
And you know, one of one of the things that
I'm I'm extremely excited about and was able to hang
on to Mike Worthington. Uh, you know, he's my assistant
head coach. He was the assistant head coach, you know,
I mean, you know, he what what what he does,
and of course I have the opportunity to be in
there too. Is you know, it's next level I think
from from a strength and conditioning standpoint. But he's also

(01:01:41):
my defensive line coach and and was this past year
as well, and so you know, very fortunate to have
him in place, and and another coach on the other side, well,
on the same side of the ball Joby Burns was
a secondary guy last year. I've you know, he's going
to take on a role as a linebackers coach for
US this year, which coach Burns has coached in.

Speaker 10 (01:02:02):
Alabama for a long time.

Speaker 9 (01:02:04):
He's a he's got a wealth of experience and has
been a head football coach and been It's a really
good program.

Speaker 10 (01:02:09):
So certainly blessed to keep him around as well.

Speaker 9 (01:02:15):
On the offensive side of the ball, guys coming back,
my offensive coordinator was at Cedartown this past year. He's
a he's a I think he's a great football mind,
extremely hard worker. Guy named Jay Ware. Jay's actually CUSA
grad and and uh local, but has been gone coached
over in Alabama. Most recently before coming back to Cedartown,

(01:02:36):
he was over at North o'kony, So you know, obviously
extremely good football right there.

Speaker 2 (01:02:40):
And uh uh.

Speaker 9 (01:02:42):
Matt Days another guy that was there last year that
uh uh we were able to keep.

Speaker 10 (01:02:47):
And uh, he'll he will be.

Speaker 9 (01:02:48):
Coaching what we call our box players, which are our
tight ends and sniffer backs, h bax, whatever you want
to call those guys. And then you know, Zach Valentine
will be my receivers coach. You know, Zach coached at
Pepperrell uh for for several years, has been at Cedar
Town for the last several years, and really high on him.

(01:03:08):
And he'll be coordinating the special teams for us as well.

Speaker 2 (01:03:12):
Uh.

Speaker 9 (01:03:12):
And then was able to hire three three new guys.
I hired the defensive coordinator. UH, I hired Jeremy Green,
And you know, Jeremy's a guy you know cut his
teeth as an assistant well actually played and as assistant
under Tommy Welch. So you know that's a that's a
great coaching pedigree in that in that line. And uh

(01:03:32):
coached with Jim Kramer, was his offensive coordinator when Jim
was at Snorville and Jeremy was offensive.

Speaker 10 (01:03:39):
Excuse me, he was the head coach.

Speaker 9 (01:03:40):
At Armarchi for several years, so really really excited to
have him on the offensive side of the ball to
new guys.

Speaker 10 (01:03:47):
I've hired Dustin Powell.

Speaker 9 (01:03:49):
To be my offensive line coach, and you know, Dustin
was at Rome for a period of time, most recently
his offensive line coach at Youatooga last year. And then
a younger guy, Hunter Brock, will be in the secondary
force as well, coach at the corners and uh he's
a he played at so Norville most recently has been

(01:04:11):
coaching at North Paulding this past year. But excited to
get him on staff as well. So, you know, kind
of a mix of guys that have been there and
bringing in some new guys as well.

Speaker 10 (01:04:20):
So I'm excited about good.

Speaker 1 (01:04:22):
You know, he's talking about blending that new and old,
you know, and I think you're doing that there. And
for what it's worth, I have heard nothing but great
things about your strength conditioning coach.

Speaker 2 (01:04:31):
Yeah, yeah, I mean I think that was awesome. I'm
glad he was able to hang on.

Speaker 5 (01:04:35):
Coach.

Speaker 2 (01:04:36):
I appreciate you taking the time to talk to me.
I really do means a lot. I know you're busy.

Speaker 10 (01:04:40):
Well, I appreciate the opportunity and I'll be honest.

Speaker 9 (01:04:43):
We love, loved any time we can get out there
and talk about Cedartown football. Certainly excited to do it
and appreciate the opportunity to be on here tonight.

Speaker 1 (01:04:53):
Take care of coach.

Speaker 2 (01:04:53):
Good to talk to you. I can never help you.

Speaker 10 (01:04:55):
Let me know thanks a lot.

Speaker 2 (01:04:56):
This see here