Football Friday's In Georgia: Joey King's Return to High School Coaching In Carrolton

Caption

Football Fridays In Georgia hosts, Hannah Goodin and Jon Nelson, catch up with new Carrollton Head Football Coach Joey King via Zoom

Credit: GPB Sports

TRANSCRIPT:

Jon Nelson: Welcome to another round of the Football Fridays In Georgia podcast here at Georgia Public Broadcasting. Thanks for accessing us. However, you are doing so large device or small. It is Jon. It is Hannah. It is the cast of thousands. And it's the last monthly one that we're doing because... I'm waiting for you to finish the sentence, and you're sitting there staring at me like

Hannah Goodin: I'm just nodding and smiling at you,

Jon Nelson: nodding and smiling. OK, so why is this the last monthly one for 2021 Hannah?

Hannah Goodin: Because we are one month away from football season, Jon!

Jon Nelson: That's what July is for. July is for getting ready for football season. It's for 7-on-7 camps. The end of the month in and of itself is conditioning week to get everybody ready for as many as two games that'll lead you into your regular season. Two scrimmages that you can have. So this we're getting into the busy time.

Hannah Goodin: For me it's also dusting off some cobwebs. I've been in vacation mode, you know, visiting a little.

Jon Nelson: You're always in vacation mode.

Hannah Goodin: A little 30A. It's July, Fourth of July, Lake Time. So I'm also currently just knocking off cobwebs and getting ready for the season.

Jon Nelson: OK, so you said lake time. Do you go to the haunted lake as a part of your celebration?

Hannah Goodin: I have not. We went to Blue Ridge this time. Lake Blue Ridge.

Jon Nelson: OK.

Hannah Goodin: Shout out to Blue Ridge, Georgia,

Jon Nelson: As the kids go. Is it whoot, whoot? Is that what the kids do when you're shouting out?

Hannah Goodin: No, no. Fannin County High. 

Jon Nelson: The reason I said the haunted lake is because every time somebody goes to Lake Lanier, something happens.

Hannah Goodin:No, I haven't been there in a while. You scared me.

Jon Nelson: OK, good. OK, well, then you went to Blue Ridge and everything was fine. So, this is the last monthly that we get to hang out with you here and this one. Well, what we've wanted to do during the summer months, in the spring months is kind of catch everybody up with some of the new faces, returning faces, good storylines. And for this go round, we go to Carrollton and catch up with Joey King.

Hannah Goodin: Yes we do.

Jon Nelson: And Joey, for those that might not remember, if you're new to high school football here in the state of Georgia, won state championships in Cartersville with the Cartersville Hurricanes, then went to the college ranks for a couple of years, went to Coastal Carolina, went to South Florida. Now he's back in Carrollton. And Carrollton was where he was an assistant before he was the head coach back in Cartersville.

Hannah Goodin: Yeah. Before we get into his interview, he is heading to a 7-v-7. So what's going on with practice's John and 7-v-7 right now?

Jon Nelson: They exist.

Hannah Goodin: Give everybody an update on what's happening.

Jon Nelson: They're all over the place. And we get into the 7-v-7's and get to talk to Joey about what it's like this time of year where you can challenge yourself not, just not just going up against your own players and teammate versus teammate kind of things where you can challenge yourself against not just schools from the state of Georgia, but from the southeast. And I mean, 7-on-7's have turned into a huge deal.

Hannah Goodin: I mean, tournament style. Right?

Jon Nelson: And what this, what this gives you is an opportunity to sit there and see where you are offensively. I know that if you're a defensive coach, it probably drives you crazy because there's only seven of you out there instead of 11. And it's kind of a way to look at things with less guys. And I know the defensive coaches, you know, it's like we're out there with less guys. I mean, it's not, you know. Yeah. So, you know, when you have 7-v-7 tournaments, they've turned into a really big deal around the country.

Hannah Goodin: I never thought about that, but it was more for the offense, offensive side of the ball and kind of getting things smoothed out that way. Make sure your guys are gelling.

Jon Nelson: Yes, they are gellin like Magellan.

Hannah Goodin: So hot they're meltin'

Jon Nelson: (laughs) See this is what happens when you don't see people for a month. You get this kind of stuff here, this kind of quality podcasting and quality audio that comes across on all of your favorite devices. This way you get all the great jokes.

Hannah Goodin: I don't know if that is a great show.

Jon Nelson: We have we actually have a book up on the second floor of Georgia Public Broadcasting that has all of the jokes that we're allowed to use on the Football Friday's in Georgia podcast. And we trot them out each and every single time.

Hannah Goodin: I haven't seen this book.

Jon Nelson: Yeah, it's on your desk.

Hannah Goodin: It's not on my desk. Never seen this. But next podcast, we're going to get the book out, OK, if it exists and we're going to read some jokes.

Jon Nelson:Yeah, we're going to read jokes. And then it's a dollar in the cookie jar. Every single joke that we use that no one laughs.

Hannah Goodin: I think everybody is ready to hear Coach K.

Jon Nelson: I think so too. So, here's Joey King from Carrollton. We caught up with him from his temporary location on the Carrolton High School campus. And my first question was what? It's what's it like for you to be back?

Carrollton Coach Joey King: Oh, we're tickled to death to be back in Georgia. Georgia high school football is a special thing near and dear to my heart. But we're tickled to death to be back in the great state of Georgia, specifically here in Carrollton.

Hannah Goodin: So, you coached at Cartersville, you spent some time in the colleges. Now you're back. Give us some insight on what's it been like for you, making the rounds.

Carrollton Coach Joey King: Making the rounds is terrible. We've moved three times in three years. I don't recommend that for anybody. But I mean, Cartersville was special for us and to have an opportunity to go and coach under Jamey Chadwell, who was the national coach of the year this past year at Coastal Carolina. Being with Jeff Scott who learned under Dabo Sweeney, just the experience that I've gained over the past couple of years, it's definitely been valuable, something that I'll always cherish. But as far as making the rounds, you can have that I'm over moving.

Jon Nelson: I was going to ask, you mentioned going into the college ranks. What did you learn about yourself as a coach, leaving the high school ranks, going to college and now coming back? What did you learn about yourself?

Carrollton Coach Joey King: Oh, uh,  it was kind of refreshing to step out of that head coaching role for a little bit and to be an assistant again, especially to just have a position. So, I learned I learned a lot of valuable information when it comes to just the details of playing the game. Uh, as you’re head coach and you delegate all these things, you forget to go back to those details and those little bitty things positionally. That's what makes you good as a football team. So that I also learned that I like to be in charge. So, I like to be in that leadership role. I like to control the climate of a team that's something that I'm passionate about. So, I really, really miss that, which is one of the reasons that I'm back into it now.

Hannah Goodin: Yeah, I've asked this question to coaches before, and they always say the parents are the biggest difference to you. What's the biggest difference from coaching college in coaching high school?

Carrollton Coach Joey King: I think it's just the recruiting. X's and O's are X's and O's and ball is ball. There is a lot more parents that try to be involved at the high school level than collegiately. Collegiately it's, I mean, it's a grind it's more of a business. But also the thing about high school that I really love is being around the guys like I was around our guys from seven-thirty this morning to lunch. We fed them breakfast and lunch. There was nothing regulating my time with them in the summertime and college. You might get 30 minutes around them during the day, four hours a week, and that's it. If you want to do an occasional meal with them, you have to fill out a form and send it off. If I want to have these guys at my house and feed them pizza then I can do that any time. So those relationships that you had to work at it around the confines of the NCAA to make those relationships work. But high school is still it's wide open. There are no regulations. And I really enjoyed being around the guys I Coach.

Jon Nelson: So now that you're back in Carrollton and full disclosure, folks are just going to be listening to this conversation, but you're talking to us from your office and I'll go ahead and use air quotes for the spring and summer there, the press box at Grisham Stadium. How much has Carrollton changed since you were there last year?

Carrollton Coach Joey King: It's changed a good bit. I mean, that the town has, the town it's actually grown. The indoor facility is amazing. I mean, a full hundred-and-twenty-yard indoor facility, which is something that I coached collegiately and we didn't have that at either one of the colleges. There was plans for it. But that part is special just shows the commitment of the people here in the community to everything that they do. I mean, when you pull on campus and you guys have been here, you pull on campus and you see this place, you realize that there's a commitment not just to the athletes, but there's a commitment to every student this year. And that's evident from the time you stepped foot on campus. So that part is still been the same. But the indoor facility, the big weight room, the town has grown a little bit and some of the faces have gotten a little bit older, but it's still a lot of the same qualities that make Carrollton special. 

Hannah Goodin: What's your schedule like now, what do you guys do? I mean, we're halfway through July. I can't believe it. What are you guys up to on the field?

Carrollton Coach Joey King: So, we're just working. So, we get here in the morning, we feed them breakfast, and then we we lift and run, do a little conditioning and then go through the day. We did a little bit of special things. They had a couple of offensive defensive standpoints and did a little bit of 7-on-7. We're throwing in a 7-on-7 tomorrow, which is why we have to record this. And then the end of the week we're going to the little Hoover, I say the little, the big 7-on-7 that they do at Hoover. So, kind of closing out that getting a little bit closer to a real football.

Jon Nelson: I know that your expectations for your programs are always high. When you go to these 7-on-7's and you get to test yourself against, and this is something that's changed in the last decade, decade and a half, where you challenge yourself now regionally, if not nationally, in things like these 7-on-7's it gives you a bit of an early gauge. But how much of a gauge is it against Georgia competition, knowing that you're going up against teams that are outside the state? I mean, how how different is it when you can gauge where you are in something like this?

Carrollton Coach Joey King: So, tomorrow will be against a lot of teams from Georgia. And in the big one is I mean, you got like Evangel Christian from Louisiana and some of the places all over Georgia that have big time quarterbacks with going against like a Frederick Douglass in Kentucky. I mean, some some big schools. They've won a lot more bowl games than I ever I ever or will ever think of, really. It's just an opportunity to go out and compete with some of the best of the best in the southeast. But 7-on-7, a lot of people have their different philosophies about it. And I could go on a tangent here, but I think it's an opportunity for your guys to go out there and to compete. I don't care if they're playing checkers or dodgeball or whatever. Any time you've got an opportunity to compete, you you've got to put your best foot forward. And then the second thing is it puts your defense in unrealistic situations. Their backs against the wall. There's no pass rush and those  quarterbacks are standing back there for forever to make these throws. So, it puts them on an opportunity that's going to help us, especially as the playoffs get here, some of these quarterbacks and as these guys are able to throw the ball. So, I think they're good from a competition and a defensive standpoint. The rest of it I really could care less about. You get hit, you get into a lot of stuff. It's not football, but we'll get to find out about ourselves a little bit this week.

Hannah Goodin: Well, introduce your team, tell us about some of your big playmakers, and then I know we want to ask you about a big playmaker in particular that you've coached in the past. So, tell us tell us about your big players.

Carrollton Coach Joey King: Yeah. So, we've got a lot of guys that are going to be their first time playing under Friday Night Lights. They graduated in your class this year. Chaz Chambliss, a bunch of big-time guys. I think there were 30 something seniors. So, we're looking at replacing about, about 18, 17 or 18 of the starters will be brand new. So, we've got some guys back. They've had experience in the past. Keyshawn Ridley's, our running back. He was our lead rusher last year. He'll be back to Terrell Carmichael, who I actually offered Terrell a scholarship when I was coaching at Coastal Carolina after his sophomore season. I've always been a fan of him and the way he plays. He's going to be a big senior leader for us. Of course, Amare' Hall, had an outstanding track season and we're looking for that confidence to carry over on into football season. Ace Williamson is a receiver that we've got coming back, who had a killer baseball season. We're looking for that confidence to translate onto the football field as well. So, those are some of the guys that will be leading us this fall.

Jon Nelson: When you, when you get into a challenge like this and you've done this in your other stops where you've lost seniors and you've had to regroup and you've had to kind of rebuild, I know that this is a special kind of assignment for you. When you took it and you knew what you were getting into, I mean, how have things progressed since you first signed your name back on the dotted line to come home?

Carrollton Coach Joey King: Yeah, that's, that's the part that I really enjoy. And I mentioned, after controlling the climate, get the guys to buy in and believe in your core values and just creating that unity among these guys. That that's the part that I love, that I take a lot more pride in that than drawing up some fancy football. You know, so the guys that they bought in, they fought hard, they've worked hard in the weight room, they're killing themselves this summer, all the running and all the stuff that we're doing. And we started, we do a leadership course with our guys. So, we pick our core leaders and we take them through a study that starts in the summer. And we'll go through this, through this, through the school year, excuse me, and we'll teach them what it means to be a leader. And then we let those guys have some ownership and some of the decisions that we make in the team. And the more buy in and belief that you can get, the more those guys are willing to fight, fight for each other on a Friday night.

Hannah Goodin: I'm going to circle back to my question and ask you about the playmaker that you coached at Cartersville.

Jon Nelson: We've heard about this kid.

Hannah Goodin:  Trevor Lawrence. I'm not sure if anyone has heard of him or not. I want to bring it to present, though. What do you remember about coaching him? And were there lessons learned that you that you teach your quarterbacks today and just tell us the experience, that experience to us?

Carrollton Coach Joey King: Like he was a great example, you know, to be the top recruit coming out of high school, to be the number one pick in the NFL draft. He came to work every day and busted his tail every day. So, these kids, some of these kids nowadays, if they've arrived early or they're at this level, that it's just kind of about getting through it. Just get you to Friday night or just give me the saturday's in college. That was never the case with him. So he was an example to his team of, ‘look, I've got this this label of how many stars or whatever, but I'm going to come to work every single day and I'm going to outwork you every single day that I'm here.’ So just that mentality that he brought each and every day, the humble demeanor that he did it with. I mean super humble. I can't imagine being 18 years old and having the attention that he had and acting the way that he acted. Low key, even keeled as he was, he never really lets it get to him. That's probably the most impressive thing about him. Then, as far as being a coach goes, I mean, he made you a better coach. You had to bring your A game every single day and you had to remember what you told him, because if you told him one thing one week and in four weeks down the road, you told him something different, he was going to call you on it. Cause you remember four weeks ago we said this. Very cerebral player and made everybody around him better.

Jon Nelson: So are you getting free tickets to Jacksonville on home sundays? How does this work now?

Carrollton Coach Joey King: Who knows? I'll be working on Sundays, so I'll be watching him on TV. Same thing that I did when he was at Clemson. I did have the honor to be with him on draft night. That was a pretty good deal to be a part of that. Also got to go, I was at his wedding a couple of weeks prior to the draft to be to be a part of those, those special moments in his life really meant a lot to me. But he's doing great. They just got in a house down there in Jacksonville and he's getting adjusted to the NFL.

Jon Nelson: When it comes to your region this year, I mean, it's pretty stacked and pretty stout when you look at the other teams there in your region, what do you see?

Carrollton Coach Joey King: There's a lot of talent in this region. You got Rome. They were young last year. They're going to be, I mean Rome is a powerhouse. Coach Reid is going to have those guys ready to play. They've had some battles with Carrolton in the past. So, we're looking forward to those matchups in the future. South Paulding I thought had a big squad last year, a great squad. Dalton has traditionally been in and out of the mix. So, we expect a lot out of them. East Paulding has got some good players. So, we've got our work cut out for us in the region, especially. We're probably one of the one of the youngest teams coming back in the region with what we graduated last year. But our guys are hungry. They're ready to fight and we're going to put our best foot forward.

Hannah Goodin: Region play included. What are your thoughts on your schedule overall?

Carrollton Coach Joey King: You know, I think I think it's good. I'm just excited that the stands are going to be opened up again. Grisham Stadium's going to be packed. I'm fired up about that, you know, we scrimmage Rockmart. That'll be a good test early with what they do offensively. And then we play New Manchester right down the road from us, you know, a big battle against Newnan. They've got a lot coming back. So, we've got, we've got our work cut out. We better hurry up and get ready for those guys, because I got a lot coming back uh that community is kind of united after the tornado that hit and just the momentum that they have going forward. So, we have to bring our A game to that game. Coach Walker will have those guys ready to play. Then we play Jonesborough as a non-region game and they're super talented. They've got some big-time prospects on that team, too so we'll have to get ready for that. But our goal, realistically, people think, it's coach talk and some of it might be. But what we did at Cartersville and what our goal is here is to go one-and-oh each week. You know, if we focused on winning that game, that game is all that matters that we week. And then we'll turn around and try to do it again the next week. And it worked out pretty well for us there, I hope, with this year too.

Jon Nelson: One final question for me, and Hannah might have one to wrap up on her, you mentioned last year, and I asked you a little earlier about what you learned from yourself from the college game coming back here to high school. What did you learn about yourself and being a father and a family man and a coach in the last 16 months, that you can apply going forward to where you are back to being with Carrollton?

Carrollton Coach Joey King:  I think that's one of the, as one of the reasons that I'm back in Carrollton is because I value that more than anything else. You know, when I left my job at South Florida, there were a thousand people that were lining up to take that one. If I don't do what I'm supposed to do as a daddy and a husband, a thousand people aren’t lining up to take that one. So, I want to make sure that those relationships are cherished and that I'm doing what I'm supposed to do as a daddy and a husband.

Jon Nelson: Banished to the press box a Grisham stadium. ,

Hannah Goodin: Is that a terrible place to be? I wonder how the air conditioning is in there?

Jon Nelson: Well, I'm sure that he was definitely in control of the air conditioning because, you know, if you're there and you're trying to work and, you know, as he told us, we were like the third or fourth thing that he had stacked up, it was like planes on the runway. It's like, OK, so it was you know, I've got to talk to Hannah and Jon at this time, but it's like three or four other things. And so, you've got to make sure that the air conditioning is functional. And also, I mean, that you're getting, that you're able to get your work done. You know, you need your MiFi, you need your wireless. You need to make sure that everything's there. Because, I mean, you're... College coaches, I'm sure, are calling you're trying to get everything done on a daily basis with all your administrative stuff. I mean, they're doing some fantastic stuff to the field house there at Grisham Stadium. But Joey's kind of working from the press box right now. He's got a different home.

Hannah Goodin: He's got a great Wi-Fi setup. I mean, there was not one glitch. He showed us the view. I was like, hey, that's a pretty good high school press box.

Jon Nelson: Yeah, it's a great facility. What they've done there at Grisham Stadium over the last handful of years.

Hannah Goodin: Yeah, they've renovated, right?

Jon Nelson: Yeah, they've renovated. And it is truly one of the great facilities here in the state of Georgia, not just in west Georgia, but in the entire state. And if you've never been to a game at Grisham Stadium, I would highly recommend it because it's another one of the great environments here in the state of Georgia when it comes to high school football. Going to Carrollton to see a Carrollton Trojans game with the history that's there with Coach Grisham and Ben Scott and everybody up through, you know, Ed Dudley's been there and it's not just in football, but, you know, now with Joey coming home, I mean, it's really cool to see this kind of stuff go down there in Carrollton.

Hannah Goodin: So with the reno to the field house, is that like updating locker rooms and..?

Jon Nelson: I would just go choice D all the above. I would imagine that there's a lot

Hannah Goodin: your weight room in there.

Jon Nelson: It's see, now this is the kind of stuff that Joey needs to tell us about or what he needs to do when it's done give us another tour.

Hannah Goodin: Yeah. A tour, yeah. 

Jon Nelson: He needs to give us another tour. And once it's done, he can take his phone and just like he did with the Zoom interview that we had him with here, you just sit there and just go through the facilities like, OK, here's what this looks like now and all this kind of stuff. But, you know, once again, great credit to not just the school system there in Carrollton, but the city of Carrollton and everybody that's done a great deal of support and backing to make sure that things like this can happen, to make sure that your students can have the great facilities that they can have to to compete in this day and age.

Hannah Goodin: And his former school Cartersville, their facilities will knock your socks off. I mean, the weight room is its own building. I couldn't, I couldn't believe that.

Jon Nelson: And, you know, shout out to Darrell Demastus and everybody there at Cartersville for what they've been able to build as well. How cool was it that we got to find out that he was invited to Trevor Lawrence's wedding?

Hannah Goodin: So cool. And he said he went?

Jon Nelson: Yeah, he was invited.

Hannah Goodin: But doesn't mean he could go?

Jon Nelson: Well, I think, I think he, I think he went. I'm assuming he went.

Hannah Goodin: Is he married yet? Wait. He just got engaged.

Jon Nelson: Trevor? No, he got married. Oh yeah, Trevor, Trevor got married to Marissa. I think it was just after the NFL draft. And because I follow them both on Insta or the IG. What is it the kids say these days?. The Gram.

Hannah Goodin: The Gram. Instagram.

Jon Nelson: I follow them both on the Gram.

Hannah Goodin: OK, I do not. Maybe I should.

Jon Nelson: I think you need to. And there were pictures of Trevor and Marissa's wedding and everything from draft night all the way through. So, it's been a very, very busy summer for T-Law and his hair.

Hannah Goodin: That's awesome. Is he going to make him cut it?

Jon Nelson: No, no, no. You do not step on Superman's cape, and you do not have Samson cut his hair. We know what happened when Samson had his hair cut. And the Twitter account would be just crestfallen. What happened? I mean, T-Law doesn't have hair.

Hannah Goodin: We're going to hop on Instagram and follow him.

Jon Nelson: OK. I think it's TLawrence16, something like that and Marissa, I think it's Marissa Lawrence. So, see, this is once again, yeah.

Hannah Goodin: I can't believe I don't follow him.

Jon Nelson: See, and now you got to follow Marissa too.

Hannah Goodin: OK, here are the wedding pictures. See, I'm just behind.

Jon Nelson: Yeah. See, this is stuff. All right. So, we've caught up with everything going on in Carrollton.

Hannah Goodin: Now that that's done (laughs)

Jon Nelson: Incredibly important piece of business is done. We've got media days coming up.

Hannah Goodin: Ok, let's get into the real...

Jon Nelson: Media day.

Hannah Goodin: Really important stuff. Yeah, media days. We've got…

Jon Nelson: I mean, we got DeKalb County,.

Hannah Goodin: On the 19th.

Jon Nelson: And we also have, I think late in the month, we've got Fulton County Schools is coming up.

Hannah Goodin: On the thirty, twenty third.

Jon Nelson: I think it's the week after the 30th. The 30th. The thirty. How many?

Hannah Goodin: 30th. The 30th. July 30th will be Fulton County.

Jon Nelson: Yeah, so if you, if you've got a media day. If you want to let us know what's going on in your county with your schools, let us know about your media, because that way we can post it and everybody else knows what's going on and we can say hi to everybody, which is something we didn't get to do a lot of last year unless it was done digitally. It's going to be great to be out there and catch up with folks. So let us know on our social media platforms what's going on with your media days in your area. Like, friend, be a part of the conversation on Facebook, on the Gram, on Twitter, on our YouTube channel. Am I missing anything? Do I have all of our social media platforms? So, yeah, if you, if you're not liking, friending or being a part of a conversation there, let us know what's going on in your part of the world so we can share it with everybody else because it's going to be fast and furious coming in very, very quickly. Media Day is just around the corner. End of this month it's conditioning and then you're getting into practices and scrimmages. And before you know it, as we're talking, we're probably like, what, five weeks away from the regular season?

Hannah Goodin: Oh, yeah.

Jon Nelson: So, it's going to be fast and furious. Go over the schedule with everything with GPB Sports one more time when we're doing stuff and when folks can expect us to be wall to wall for the 2021 season. What are the dates that you wrote down?

Hannah Goodin: Yes, we finally have some dates for everybody. The very first Countdown To KickoffFacebook live broadcast and the very first recruiting show will both be on August 19th. So put that into your calendar. We are changing the date and time once again. Last year for Covid, we switched from noon to five on Wednesdays. And this fall we are going to Thursdays to give us one more day in the week to prepare to get one more day closer to Fridays. So, it will be Thursdays back to noon, Facebook live, August 19th. And then our very first pod, weekly podcast, will start Monday, August 9th. That will be the one o'clock podcast. Taping comes out usually pretty quickly after that the next day or so. Yeah. And then our first game, our first Football Fridays in Georgia broadcast will be September 10.

Jon Nelson: So I feel like this is where we need the music stinger for the beginning of the Football Friday's In Georgia show. So just drop it in there.

Hannah Goodin: You know, September 10th, we have a few games in mind. We cannot spill the beans yet.

Jon Nelson: No, but when we know, we'll let you know. And that's why you're supposed to like and friend and be a part of the conversation on all of our social media platforms.

Hannah Goodin: I know. Gwinnett County and Fulton County media days look for coach interviews coming up soon to start cranking some stuff out.

Jon Nelson: Yeah, and it's going to be great to see everybody. It is going to be great to have another fantastic season of high school football here in the state of Georgia. Is there anything else that I forgot before we go?

Hannah Goodin: I'm just excited for the season.

Jon Nelson: Yes.

Hannah Goodin: I'm excited for media days. We had no media days last year. So, to get some to get one on one time with coaches and players and get just that extra information to prepare for games that we didn't get last year is going to be extremely helpful.

Jon Nelson: In the next time that we talk. There's going to be a lot of storylines that we're going to be looking at, teams looking to repeat. You're looking at teams with some of the top prospects, not just in the state, but in the entire country that are going to be on display. You've got coaches with milestones coming up just around the corner.

Hannah Goodin: Oh just one, one particular coach.

Jon Nelson: Brought to us by the number 400.

Hannah Goodin: 400

Jon Nelson: Alan Chadwick, one win away from 400 wins for a career at Marist.

Hannah Goodin: The bobblehead will have to be on the desk.

Jon Nelson: Yes!

Hannah Goodin: And Alan, if you watch Countdown to Kickoff, the Alan Chadwick bobblehead will be on the desk.

Jon Nelson: As an homage to one of the legends of high school coaching here in the state of Georgia. So there's a lot of storylines that we'll get into next time around, all the stories, everybody looking to repeat all the top prospects. We're going to cover it for you all season long here on the Football Fridays in Georgia podcast and across all of our different platforms here at GPB and GPB sports. It's going to be fun. Thanks again to Joey King for hanging out with us from the press box at Grisham Stadium, his office.

Hannah Goodin: Give him his office back!

Jon Nelson: The office away from his office temporarily with his time back with the Carrollton Trojans. Great to catch up with him. Anything else before we go?

Hannah Goodin: I'm good.

Jon Nelson: So since she's good, that's it for the show, for Jesse, for Jahi, for everybody else on the conference. Sandy, Sandy. She's Hannah. I'm Jon. Play it safe everybody! We'll see you next time. (music)