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Starting strong: Four new coaches produce wins in opening week
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Our friends at the GHSF Daily did the leg work on this one.
With more than 400 schools in the GHSA, traditionally, there’s turnover in the neighborhood of 15-20 percent from year-to-year. Of the coaches that took over a school for the 2024 season, 29 schools had coaches get wins in their first games for their new schools. So, we caught up with four of them to see what happened...
Coach One: Andy Scott, Woodland, Cartersville
The Wildcats have been around since 1998 and they’ve only been to the playoffs once in school history -- the same number of .500-plus seasons as well. Coach Scott arrives from a tenure at Lafayette and they beat the other Woodland (Stockbridge), 38-35, in a monsoon last week.
“To be honest, we struggled,” Scott tells me. “We scored in a lot of unconventional ways. We had a blocked punt for a score. We had an interception return for a touchdown and we took the ball away from a running back in the pouring rain. We were very fortunate, and we had the wind and rain at our back in the fourth quarter. We kicked a field goal to win it.
“I told our Offensive Coordinator in the fourth quarter to just run the ball. We had the wind and rain in our face in the third and we had all the advantage in the fourth.”
Coach Scott is also quick to point out, as they get ready for their home game against Woodstock, the support of the administration on campus has been key early on. Coach Scott has been fortunate to get every student-athlete into a weight class to get ready for this season as they continue to grow the program.
Coach Two: Jeff Littleton, Tift County
Coach Littleton moves over from Bainbridge and the Blue Devils got a road shutout win in Griffin, 43-0 on Friday night. With reclassification, Tift is in Region 1-6A alongside Lowndes, Valdosta, Colquitt, Camden, and Richmond Hill.
“We began here in March,” Littleton reminds me. “And, while at times it doesn’t seem like it, we’ve been here six months. With the win we got last week, it meant a lot. The team played really hard and played until the end of the game. Against Griffin, we brought a lot of energy and we gained confidence as a team.”
Coach admits the spring and summer were long with all the changes going on. But he also tells me that the whole time, it’s been awesome to see how the community, the kids, and the school have all responded.
“I told the kids to enjoy the win,” he adds. “Enjoy it for the weekend. Just know that we’re back at it on Sunday and Monday and you have to forget about the win by then.
“I feel like we’re going in the right direction. The kids are working hard and doing all the right things.”
Next up for Tift is a home game against Gadsden County (Fla.). Coach Littleton hadn’t seen a whole lot of tape when we caught up, but he tells me they have good athletes and he’ll need his team to play another full four quarters- trying to find any advantage where they can- as they chase 2-0.
Coach Three: Kurt Williams, Macon County
I admit that I caught up with Kurt as he was, literally, getting in his truck to go home after practice. They had a little different environment than the others -- playing in the Bibb County Classic at Fort Valley State against Southwest Macon -- and winning 26-19.
“It was a different game environment for us up there,” Williams says. “They were very athletic and very explosive. Playing up there at 5 in the afternoon on turf was a challenge for us since we play on grass her at home. It was 92-93 degrees and we were, mainly, in the sun until the end of the game when the sun set below the press box.
“It was a struggle in a back-and-forth game. They had a lead and we came back in the fourth quarter to take it back. Then, we had to hold them off on two drives for the win. We found a way to persevere for the win.”
For those of you who remember, this isn’t Coach Williams’ first time in Montezuma. He was an assistant there early in his career, so he knows the landscape. He admits it’s great and challenging at the same time now as the head coach. There are a lot of familiar faces but they’re in different places in administration than they were before.
“You try and establish your culture and add to a place that has won games throughout its past,” he says. “The kids are getting better every week. There are memories for me and my family. It’s where I started my career and there is a bit of nostalgia coming back here. But, it’s with a new generation of Bulldogs.”
Kurt also tells me that his non-region schedule is on purpose so you’re playing your best football in November. He gets No. 1-ranked Bowdon -- a very angry Bowdon after their one-point loss to Fellowship at the buzzer last week -- coming to town this week.
“I’m looking forward to seeing where we are. We’ll see how it goes.”
And, for the record, those two regions meet in the first round of the playoffs...
Coach Four: Stephen Holmes, Pike County
Holmes returns to an area that has family as he comes to Zebulon from Manchester- the team he took to a title game appearance last year. The Pirates are in Region 2-AA in 2024 and beat Crawford County 34-20 last week in Roberta.
And he was already in midseason voice (or lack thereof) when I caught up with him after practice...
“I’m so happy for the kids,” he tells me. “We’ve all made a big commitment and I’m so happy and grateful for their effort. The biggest thing we’ve tried to teach them going into this season is that the game is played in space now. That’s where we’ve spent a lot of our time. We get to spend an hour in the weight room with them every day now. We didn’t work in pads this summer and we worked with a lot of perimeter teaching and pass rush lessons.
“I’ll say this about where we are after all this work. We’re faster than we were and we’re stronger than we were going in with the summer program we installed.”
Coach Holmes has also installed a program that believes in giving back to the community- mainly through their connection with a teacher whose daughter is battling heart issues. There’s a Heart Walk planned next month as a part of the philanthropy, and they have raised money to give back as well.
Next up for the Pirates is the home opener against Haralson County and their first-year head coach Randy Crutchfield. Holmes tells me their defense is tough, hard-nosed, and physical.
“It’ll be a good, hard-fought football game.”
And we’ll all be watching as these (and all the other first-year head coaches) take it to Game Two in 2024...
Play it safe, everyone... I’ll see you soon!
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