Football Fridays In Georgia: Jaybo Heads South as the Offseason Coaching Carousel Spins On

Caption

New Head Coach Jaybo Shaw addresses Wayne County fans at a Meet and Greet on February 3, 2022.

Credit: Wayne County Touchdown Club Facebook page

 

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 on your favorite podcast, your large device or small if you're watching the video version of this on the GPB Sports YouTube channel. You get to see me and Hannah back for the first time in too long. Hi, mom.

Hannah Goodin Hi!

Jon Nelson So how's it feel?

Hannah Goodin I'm a mom.

Jon Nelson You are.

Hannah Goodin Still rocking the power pony. I still got the power pony going on here. Can't quite get out of bed the same on Monday mornings.

Jon Nelson So how?

Hannah Goodin It's great.

Jon Nelson For those of you that don't follow Hannah on social media? She posts pictures of the twins and you and your husband, John, and how this family has now gone from just the two of you and the two dogs to now the two of you, the two dogs and the twins. And so for has become six all through her Instagram. So follow Hannah on all of her social media so you can see how this family has expanded ever since the semifinals of football season.

Hannah Goodin We get stopped constantly. So we walk a lot and everyone's like two dogs and two girls. And good luck to you. I'm like, Thank you, ma'am, we need it. It has been fun, though I do post a lot of pictures of the girls on my Instagram,.

Jon Nelson So Commanders Sandy, have you seen these these photos that have been posted yet? Have you have you gone all the way through her Instagram account to see these things?

Producer Sandy Malcolm Oh yeah, oh yeah. But they are beautiful photos. It helps that she's, you know, professional.

Hannah Goodin Professional photographer.

Jon Nelson Yeah. So you're telling the photographer it's like if it's if you're in the photo, you're telling the photographer, here's the deal. Here's no, it has to look like this. And she's framing it up all of it.

Hannah Goodin I know, I know John's usually like the sidekick.

Jon Nelson Your husband John,.

Hannah Goodin My husband John.

Jon Nelson Yes, there are multiple John's and I usually just me, but I'm an ageless Jon. John, your husband has an age.

Hannah Goodin I usually just say my husband, John, there you go really quickly all together and anyone at work.

Jon Nelson One word.

Hannah Goodin They have gotten confused. I'll be talking about my husband and somebody will be like, Wait, you're talking about Jon Nelson? I'm like, no! But anyways, he is. He's my sidekick. He gets the lighting going and and all of that. But because I started my photography business, you just have an eye for things. It's different. I want like the perfect picture and so it can be so involved. Sometimes.

Jon Nelson Nothing but perfect pictures perfect involving Hannah and the twins and her husband John.

Producer Sandy Malcolm For the perfect twins,.

Hannah Goodin Perfect twins. Look, I used to make fun of people that posted a lot of pictures of their kids.

Jon Nelson Until she became one of those people.

Hannah Goodin Until I became a mom, and now I'm full of pictures. It's all, it's all. It's all. My phone is all those pictures. Yes, I have turned into my worst nightmare.

Jon Nelson Well, and it's all on Instagram. It's all on.

Hannah Goodin It's all out there for everyone to see.

Jon Nelson yes, all on social media, but it's good to see you. Great. Great, great. You're back and back. And the fact that football never stops, basically, it's like the two of us trying to catch a comet's tail, you know? And so now we're having to do that again. It's a great topic this week, by the way.

Hannah Goodin We do have a good topic. While I've been out there has been lots of coaching changes. Yes, there has, which Jon so nicely kept up with. Well, I said, I'm not doing this right now. I have babies to take care of. So you do it? Yes. Yeah, I think I say that to Jon about everything, though. I'm like, You've got this,

Jon Nelson you do it,.

Hannah Goodin You do it.

Jon Nelson And so we'll talk. We're talking silly season this week,

Hannah Goodin silly season coaching carousel. We were just going through all this before the show began, and there is a lot of big names on this list. I'm looking at that that have new coaching positions.

Jon Nelson Yeah. And our anchor this week, Jaybo Shaw, who a lot of folks know from his time up at Raybun County. Lived there, grew up there quarterback to Georgia Southern. Head coach at Raybun County for the last three seasons. He's now the new head coach at Wayne County down in South Georgia in Jessup, and we catch up with him and find out what life is like for Jaybo Shaw away from home. It was a really cool interview and that's coming up in just a little bit.

Hannah Goodin It was a great interview and you know, we talked to him last year and he went on and on about Gunner Stockton and all those great stories. So it was really cool that we got that perspective last year, and now we're jumping into his new job and he kind of pulls the curtain back, as you like to say on on the difficulties of starting a brand new team, especially one that's rebuilding.

Jon Nelson Yeah, rough season last year for Wayne County, they were 0-9 in a tough region under head coach Ken Cribb. But now Jaybo Shaw and his new staff are in charge down there in Jesup.

Hannah Goodin Before we get to that, Jon, take us through some of these top names with new positions the crazy coaching carousel of 2022.

Jon Nelson Well, and to be perfectly honest, this year there's actually less names than normal. Traditionally anywhere you're from like 80 to 100. I mean, hundred and north of 100, we've seen north of 100 changes in years past 80, about 17 or 18 percent, 20 percent turnovers, about average. Right now, we're pushing about 70, so we're a little under all of the transitions that you're getting from coaches on a yearly basis. Just some of the the headliners, let's see Rance Gillespie leaves Hart County goes to Brookstone, that was one of the early surprises. Robbie Pruitt leaves Coffee, Coffee and is returning to Florida. He's coaching at Williston and so the Madison County head coach Mike Coe is now coming from Florida, and he's going to be coaching at coffee. Justin Rogers leaves Colquitt County and he goes to Thomas County Central.

Hannah Goodin Was that a surprise?

Jon Nelson I mean, there's a lot of pressure involved at Colquitt County. And, you know,.

Hannah Goodin Because we talked to Justin probably more than we did anybody.

Jon Nelson Yeah. And but there's also a lot of pressure Thomas County Central too. When you're in a region that Colquitt is in and you're constantly having to go up against Lowndes and you know, Camden and you're in a really tight region that the expectations are always going to be there. And you know, we both know this from the time that we've spent in Moultrie talking to folks in and around Moultrie being in the region of doom in the highest classification like that, there's pressure there, but there's pressure Thomas County Central, too. And he's going into a situation where Thomasville, you know, you know what you're getting with the Thomasville Bulldogs, too. You got the War of the Roses rivalry game every single year and you've got Thomasville chasing championships and things like that. So it's it is a tough. It is South Georgia football we know this that it's very, very tough across the board. And Justin Rogers, friend of us here at GPB, is going from one tough job in Moultrie to the one in Thomasville. No question.

Hannah Goodin So Sean Calhoun replaces him at Colquitt.

Hannah Goodin Yeah, so Sean Calhoun has replaced him at Colquitt. Byron Slack, who spent some time in some staffs in South Georgia, Lowndes and such. He was coach up at Hillgrove. He's now the new head coach at Cook. Gainesville, and this was one that our guest was tied to. Yeah, at one point. And so it's was no longer Heath Webb. Josh Niblett comes over from Hoover to take over at Gainesville, and that one's I mean, that's going to be a team to watch. That's a big hire. That's a huge hire for Gainesville to bring Josh Niblett in. Then let's see

Hannah Goodin Gene Cathcart going to South Carolina.

Jon Nelson Yeah, he went home. He went home to South Carolina. So Travis Nolan goes from Oconee County, and this one was big too. Travis Nolan from Oconee County, who's making it to the last game of the year constantly at Oconee County. Now he's going to Jefferson to take over there, and that one was a big one. Bobby May, who we've seen on Football Fridays In Georgia podcast at Westlake. He's now going to Cobb County and

Jon Nelson back in my old stomping grounds.

Jon Nelson Adam Clack leaves Milton. That was a big one.

Hannah Goodin I'm having a flash because I knew this. But you saying it surprised me all over again?

Jon Nelson Yeah.

Hannah Goodin Where is he going again?

Jon Nelson Still trying to figure that out? I've not seen anything about the future of Adam Clack.

Hannah Goodin I'm obviously surprised and I knew this, but I'm being re surprised. Yeah, wow. Yeah, I forgot about that.

Jon Nelson Sean Pender leaving Brunswick. Going to North Hall is is another one. Chris Slade leaving Pace Academy in the former Mountain View head coach Nick Bock taking over. Page three, I feel like Paul Harvey doing all of this, you know where we got Jaybo coming up. Mark Fariba leaving Stratford Academy after all those years.

Hannah Goodin You've got to be going so fast that we talked about Miguel Patrick Ohio State?

Jon Nelson No, we have no OK. I mean, that's that's a different that's a different one entirely where you have a coach who. And we've seen this over the last handful of years where successful high school coaches like Mickey Conn at Grayson are brought into college programs. Why? Because why coaches want to tap into the knowledge base that the high school coach has. So you can make a footprint in that home state.

Hannah Goodin He's a good one to do it.

Jon Nelson And so and Miguel Patrick, I mean, Miguel Patrick,

Hannah Goodin that's a long way, Ohio.

Jon Nelson But but think about it. Cedar Grove and Crisp. So Miguel Patrick has done things in the Atlanta area and in South Georgia. So if you're the Ohio State University as they like to refer to themselves and I just sit there and go, toe issue, if you're Ohio State University and you can bring in a coach like Miguel Patrick to help your recruiting in the state of Georgia and maybe chasing after folks that Kirby's chasing after too,

Hannah Goodin what's his position?

Jon Nelson I think he's a I think he's a coordinator. It's one of those coordinator positions or Googling. Yeah, so it's one of those where it's he's not a position coach, but he's it's the advisor coordinator kind of thing. And so when you have that kind of knowledge base that Miguel Patrick has, that's great for for the Ohio State University trying to get talent out of the southeastern United States and away from the Southeast Conference. I mean, it's it's a great move tactically by Ohio State.

Hannah Goodin Okay, this is a position I have not heard of. Uh-Huh. He is the defensive quality control coach.

Jon Nelson Yeah, well, and that's but that's an entry level kind of a thing. You know where your quality control coach you're saying,

Hannah Goodin I've never seen that before. Is that just me? A quality control?

Jon Nelson You're you're learning how to be a coordinator or a position coach. And so what they do, it's like quality control.

Hannah Goodin They used to just  call that some sort of assistant, though, right?

Jon Nelson Yeah. I mean, you're you're trying to make sure that all of the day to day operations, it's like, you know, all of those kind of below the radar things that coaches while they're coaching can't take control of. So that's what Miguel Patrick is doing. So he's doing he's doing the second level stuff to make sure that the three dimensional approach that you have as a coach and as a coaching staff is taken care of. So that's what he's doing.

Hannah Goodin Most of my career comes from SEC teams, sports broadcasting. I don't know why I've never seen them before.

Jon Nelson Well, I mean, cause if you go to the staff at where you were, you know, covering things in you and

Hannah Goodin That team, that's crimson and white.

Jon Nelson Yeah, at UAT

Hannah Goodin that we do not speak of.

Jon Nelson No, we don't. If you if you look at the staff at UAT and you do some Googling, you'll probably see quality control coaches underneath coordinators and things like that. Okay. So yeah, that when they have like how many how many coaches do you figure Alabama has Commander Sandy you like 98?

Producer Sandy Malcolm Yeah, it's some insane number.

Jon Nelson So so you're going to have quality..

Hannah Goodin they have the max number allowed and then some secret ones.

Jon Nelson and then they sit there and..

Producer Sandy Malcolm And they each have their own meeting room in weight room,.

Jon Nelson Right. And they have their own creative titles and things like that. So the creative titling that you see at UAT, you're seeing that in those rather large Division One programs. And Miguel Patrick is now part of that, but a great tactical move by Ohio State. Robert Edwards went home. He left Riverwood to go to Washington County. And so he's going home to the twin cities of Sandersville and Tennile in Washington County. So that one's going to be fun. Joel Ingram left Washington County. Now he's on the staff of Roger Holmes at Dublin and then Rico Zachery. This is one that's below the radar. Rico Zachary spent time on the College of College Staffs, and he's recruited, so now he's taking over Westlake for Bobby May. And so that's just, oh,.

Hannah Goodin There's a few more on here..  Jonathan Gess.

Jon Nelson I forgot. Yeah, Jonathan Gess going from Eagle's Landing to Hebrew Christian. That's big in single A. That's big in single A considering what he built at ELCA, and now he's going to Hebrew and Christian and then Philip Ironside.

Hannah Goodin And you got Sean Pender.

Jon Nelson Yeah, Sean Pender mentioned him, then. Philip Ironside resigned from Worth County after two seasons. So like I said, that's the highlights.

Hannah Goodin Awesome. Some well, we've got a lot more to talk about. The GHSA board of trustees has a huge vote coming up very soon. We're going to tell you what they're voting about after the interview, Jon.

Jon Nelson Yeah. Time to catch up with the head coach of the Wayne County Yellow Jackets Jaybo Shaw. Time for our guest this week for the Football Fridays In Georgia podcast and he is the new head coach of the Wayne County Yellowjackets and a lot of folks remember him from his time back home at Rabun county. Jaybo Shaw, the head coach of Wayne County down in Jessup, thanks for hanging out with us on the show.

Coach Jaybo Shaw Wayne County Jon, Hannah, thank you all for having me on and it's always a pleasure. You know,and talk ball and talk high school football in the state of Georgia with you guys.

Jon Nelson All right. So first question goes to Hannah, ladies first, we believe in chivalry on the show, so it's going to be Hannah asking the first question Go for it.

Hannah Goodin All right, coach, when did you officially get down to Jessup and how are you and the family settling in?

Coach Jaybo Shaw Wayne County My first, I think my first official date was, I think, January 17th. So it was a pretty quick turnaround after we got done playing at Rabun and then get through Christmas break and you know, all the interviewing and going through that, that process. And then, yeah, my first official day was towards the end of January, and my family came down probably about a month after. So they got down here, probably towards the end of February. And we got we got we're getting settled and everything is getting in order and just in the middle of winter workouts right now and trying to try to get ready for spring ball. So the transition has been great. You know, there's there's a lot of a lot of great people, great great support, great administration down here in Wayne County. I'm just glad, glad that I get to get the honor of being in charge of the football program and see where the future takes us.

Jon Nelson One of the things that I wanted to get into in this particular time where we get to catch up with you is, I think a lot of folks just sit there and think that, OK, you're a new coach and you just kind of parachute into a situation, but you kind of got into it there a little bit where it's you're moving your life, you're packing your life, you've got family, you have kids, you have assistants who have families who have kids. I mean, there are a lot of moving parts to this. I don't think a lot of folks understand when it comes to a new administration moving into a new job.

Coach Jaybo Shaw Wayne County Yeah, that's that's probably the, you know, I leaned on my father a lot during this transition because, you know, this is the first is first time I've been through it as far as, you know, taking a new job and transitioning, transitioning a staff and putting things into place. But there's a there's a lot of pieces that that you almost kind of you kind of take for granted while you're at a place, if that makes sense. Yeah, just there's so many things there that were in place and you just kind of rock and roll and that you just kind of went on about your business. And then when when the change happens and you know, all of that stuff goes down, there's a lot of moving pieces. There's a lot of people that you lean on or at least that I did. And you know, I leaned on my dad, like I said a lot, you know, through the transition and especially, you know, with coaches and making sure that the staff that I was trying to put into place here, Wayne, you know, were taken care of and the timelines, you know, making sure everything lined up for their families and their kids, you know, especially being right there in January when, you know, kids are in school and, you know, do they come in towards the end of the school year or are we going to transition, you know, here in February, March, April, before spring ball. So, yeah, there's a lot, a lot of moving pieces that, you know, I'm kind of learning for the first time, but it's been great. I've had a great support system here within the administration. And then, you know, my family and the coaches and their families, you know, my whole family's from Rabun County and my wife's family is from Rabun County, so, you know, moving five and probably five and a half hours away. That was that was a huge transition for my wife and my family and me. But it's been so great. It's been it's been a great challenge so far. And you know, it's like we thought we tell our our football team or whoever you know, during the during the process, you learn the most when you get out of your comfort zone. And that's definitely happened with us and it's been really fun and, you know, just trying to keep it going.

Hannah Goodin Yeah. Jon just wrote down on a piece of paper, Yeah, you're leaving home, going down south. I know it's a little early to talk about talent in assessing the talent that you have, but you mentioned spring practice coming up. You've met with the team. I'm certain of that. What was that like and what's it like just being a part of your your second team here as a head coach?

Coach Jaybo Shaw Wayne County Yeah, it's been a lot of fun. I mean, it's you know, we had a team meeting shortly after I got, you know, I got here in my first day, we had a team meeting and kind of set out, you know what that expectation would be and you know, for them to start learning me because, you know, they're going to they've got to go through a transition just like I'm going through a transition. And, you know, I told them, it's like anything. You know, change can be hard sometimes, but change is also good. It's where we grow. It's where we, you know, are pushed past our breaking point. So that part has been has been really fun. Re-energizing, you know, all those things that you just hit the ground running and, you know, you feel like your list grows by the day. So you just try and prioritize and you know, the kids have been great. They're excited. You know, it's going to be a process. And that that part is always, for me, really exciting because you see where we're at and then hopefully where we'll be in the near future. And it's all about our kids bonding in the process. But we've been in our winter workout program right now. We've been in it for about seven or eight weeks now, and that's going to lead us all the way up to spring break the first week of April and then come back from April. And we got about three weeks until spring football starts. So we'll transition our training geared towards more football specific stuff after spring break. But the guys have been great. The administration has been great in this community. You can definitely tell this community cares about its football, and that's one of the parts or one of the things that attracted me and the staff to the Wayne County.

Jon Nelson You're reading my notes because that was going to be my next question is, you know, what attracted you to Jesup? Because Jesup, we know they've been. And Wayne County has been in tough regions in the past and.

Hannah Goodin A tough year last year.

Jon Nelson Yeah, it was for for Coach Cribb and everybody down there in Jesup and Wayne County. But what attracted you to this particular job in this particular football town, which is a great football town and a county that supports its football from day one to day 365?

Coach Jaybo Shaw Wayne County Yeah, probably. You know, no one before I started meeting people of Jesup and the administration, the southeast part of the state of Georgia has always kind of, you know, been on my radar as far as that feels important to me because of my time at Georgia Southern. You know, when I was in school, right, and in Statesboro, you know, it's always been a special place for me and always, you know, kind of just kept my eye on this part of the state. And then when this opportunity came came about, it was very evident that football mattered in this community. Football matters in Wayne County and Jesup. And you know, there was a lot of support and people want to do it the right way and pour into kids the right way and and get our kids to be successful, be successful. And then there were some Georgia Southern ties as far as administration and, you know, other coaches in this area. So there was there's probably two or three of those things that just jumped off the page at me right from the get go. And then and then, you know, just the more you sit down and talk with, you know, Dr. Kelly, our superintendent and Dr. McDaniel, our principal, and seeing how, you know, their priority priorities align. And then in the community and the more you talk to people and see how much it matters, it just felt like a perfect situation for for myself and my family and and we are very honored and humbled to be a part of this community and this and Wayne County High School.

Hannah Goodin Well, I'm sure the Yellow Jackets feel the same about having you. You had an extremely successful three seasons at Raybun. You went 35-3, never lost more than two games in a single season. And as your years, first three seasons as the head coach three state quarterfinal appearances, a semifinal run in 2020, three State Region titles. And then you've got Wayne County coming off an 0-9 season. So I know you're an offensive minded coach. What's your game plan? What did you learn from Rabun County that you plan to go down to the Yellow Jackets and kind of turn things around?

Coach Jaybo Shaw Wayne County Well, I think number one is, you know, hard work work and, you know, you get a bunch of kids that will buy into the process. And number one is like I told them in the first team meeting, you know, those players will always be number one priority in this football program. In every decision that I make or our coaches make, the players will be the number one priority. And I think there's a trust system that needs to be built. And, you know, it's not uncommon for us and for me to and the staff, you know, we're going to tell the kids we love them and and we're going to care about them deeply. And I told them, like I told them on day one, you know, it's not you're not always going to like what I have to say or or anything, but it's going to be what you what you need to hear. But it's because out of love and and I want to see you walk across that stage one day and I want to see you be successful and, you know, win as many games as we can on a Friday night and a walk across the stage with your head held high. And so we do have a process here. You know, it will be a process here at Wayne. And, you know, it's like anything. I mean, it's going to be a lot of hard work. It's going to be who can buy in to our system, to, you know, what our standard is and how we're going to act on a daily basis and how we're going to perform on a Friday night and what's acceptable and what's not. So the positive thing is our kids have been so welcoming, and the best way I can describe it is, you know, when you stand in front of a team and they just have that look in their eyes when they're looking back at you, like, just tell us what you want us to do. Just tell me what to do to be successful. And that's what has been here so far. And look, we all know there's going to be some hard. There's going to be some tough, tough times with this sport in this game and what is demanded of it. And it's we're going to have to find a way to fight through some adversity and fight through the growth and continue to grow. But it's been a lot of fun. And like I said, for number one, for me, it's been re-energizing and you know where me and the staff are very excited to be here, no matter what happened last year. You know, a couple of years before, whatever it may be, we're here to move forward and represent Wayne County with a lot of pride and give Wayne County something to be, you know, very have a lot of pride in

Jon Nelson Jaybo Shah, the new head coach of the Wayne County Yellow Jackets, hanging out with me and Hannah here on the Football Fridays In Georgia podcast. You mentioned day one, and I know that it can be an anxious time for both student athletes and for coaches when you're preparing for that first speech, that first gathering with those student athletes. I mean, are you practicing in the mirror or you're walking out in the backyard with your speech to try to get everything down? Is it? I mean, what is that meeting like? Because, you know, there's always that notion that you can't there's no second chance to make a first impression and you've got to get the tone right. You've got to get the message right, and they have to understand the student athletes, the administration, the fans, the supporters boosters, everybody. They've got to understand where you're coming from from day one. What's it like to prepare for those first impressions across the board in a place where you're just as new as everybody, but you're a focal point from the absolute beginning?

Coach Jaybo Shaw Wayne County You know, I think number one, like for me personally, you know, I was going to be myself. I wasn't going to be somebody that I wasn't because I truly believe this and I'll tell our assistant coaches this all the time. You know, a kid can spot a fake faster than adults can. And I truly believe that they like spot one. And if you're trying to be somebody, you're not just in my opinion, it's not going to work. So my my number one goal was to be to be myself, to let them see me. And for me to rip my chest open and show my heart and show me exactly who I am, who I am as a husband, a father, you know, a Christ follower, you know, and and hopefully somebody that they can they can lean on and be their coach and trust. So that was my number one goal. Going into that meeting is just be myself and, you know, tell them that I've got their back through thick and thin and. But it's definitely a a stressful because you want to get it right. You know, you want to, you know, show them that you care. But also there's a point that you've got to show them that it's going to be it's going to be hard, it's going to be we're going to go through some hard, hard times. Adversity is going to hit at some point. So you try and repair them and you try to set that new standard of what that looks like moving forward, what's acceptable and what's not. So but it's definitely a stressful time. But really, to answer your question, Jon, it's just for me personally, it was be exactly who I am and try to and not don't try and be somebody that I'm not, because to me, it just wouldn't work down the road.

Hannah Goodin You join a tough region, you'll drop from 5A to 4A,  the Yellow Jackets will for the next two seasons. So Region 3 4A. That houses defending class 4a champion Benedictine. You got Burke County, Island's, New Hampstead, Southeast Bulloch. Have you really looked at this region? I guess you the the the schedules are already are already made prior to you getting there. So what's what's your upcoming schedule like in what's this region going to be like for you?

Coach Jaybo Shaw Wayne County Yeah, I think, you know, when I got here, the schedule was done and I think, you know, our administration did a great job putting together a schedule that's going to have some great Friday night football atmospheres and important games and and really big competition games. So really excited about, you know, jumping into this and seeing this schedule through. But our non region games, you know, we'll have a fall scrimmage, with Glynn Academy, then we'll open up the year with Bradwell Institute and go to defending class Single-A state champs Brooks County. We'll go play Coach Freeman and them over at Brooks in week two.

Hannah Goodin That's going to be a tough one.

Coach Jaybo Shaw Wayne County Yeah, it's a, you know, we all know what Coach Freeman's football team stands for and you know, it's always they always do a really good job. And week three, well, we'll play Appling County, which is a neighboring county for us. Yeah, it's a big rival game for for Wayne County. And then, well, we'll make the trek up to Statesboro after our open week, and then we'll finish with Jenkins out of Savannah. So yeah, you know, our five nine regions Bradwell, Brooks, Appling, Statesboro and  Jenkins. And then we get into our into our region schedule with, like you said, you know, the Burg Islands, New Hampstead. You know Coach Britt at Benedictine and Southeast Bulloch.  I think your number one thing that jumps out, you know, outside of our non-regional schedule and you look at our region, I think the quality of coaches and the coaching staffs that are at these places and the type of football that is played, every one of those schools right there in our region, I know football matters at that school, in that community, at that location, wherever you want to call it. I know football is important and so it'll be a great challenge. I got a lot of respect for all those head coaches in our region and our non region schedule and then the coaching staff, the quality of coaching staff there at those places. But I think, you know, number one, you know, you've got to prepare your football team and that may be, you know, play in the Brookes countys playing the Benedictines play in the Appling County, who might, you know, made a run in the state playoffs this year. And then, you know, traditionally Burke County, I'll always be in Burke County and what they stand for. You've got to play those those type games. You know, if you want to get into a situation where you hopefully you're making a run down the stretch, I think it's extremely important even coming off a year. You know, unfortunately, like we had at Wayne County last year, you know, you've got to put your kids in those situations and in that way you grow from it like anything else. Like I said before, you know you, you, when the uncomfortable stuff happens and maybe the adversity happens or whatever it may be, you're going to grow from it. That's going to help you down the road. So I'm extremely excited about the schedule. Like I said, I think it hits all the check marks of big time atmospheres against great coaches, great coaching staffs, football driven towns, and so it makes football so special in the state of Georgia. There's the, you know, there's not a whole play, a whole lot of places where football is not important. And of course, I'm biased as a coach, but that's what makes it fun.

Jon Nelson How hard was it to leave home?

Coach Jaybo Shaw Wayne County It was it was tough, I'm not going to sit here and lie to you and say it wasn't all it was, it was tough. You know it was my parents are are still up there. You know, my grandparents and my wife's parents. And when I say everybody's out there, I mean, everybody is up there. And so that part is was was definitely difficult. But I think in anything, you know, my wife and I looked at it at this as an opportunity to say, let's jump off the ledge together and let's go tackle something together. And then, of course, make our marriage to grow. You know, and in all different ways of kind of being out there by yourself. And that's what's exciting. And you know, you even being almost three months down here, it's, you know, you jump off together and you know, you put your faith in the Lord and like we do and you know, you walk the walk by his footsteps and try to let him lead our family. And and he led us to Wayne County, and we're super excited.

Jon Nelson Well, coach will be keeping an eye on you down there at Wayne County, one of the great football towns here in the state of Georgia, down there in Jesup, the new head coach of the Wayne County Yellowjackets, Jaybo Shaw coach. Thanks for hanging out with us on the Football Fridays In Georgia podcast. Kind of breaking down some of the walls. I don't think a lot of folks quite understand about change and coaching changes and its volatility and all the moving parts. Thanks for pulling back the curtain with us there. It's been a great education and we keep an eye and I'm looking forward to seeing you on southern swing if things work out down there in August.

Coach Jaybo Shaw Wayne County Jon Hannah, thank you all. Seriously, everything y'all do for the football in the state of Georgia and shoot all our sports is what what makes it so great in this state and people like you guys greatly appreciate it. And please know y'all are always welcome at Wayne County. Anytime y'all come back on a Friday night or during the week, y'all come on.

Jon Nelson You got it.

 

Coach Jaybo Shaw Wayne County Thank y'all.

Hannah Goodin Well, I know it's tough for Coach Shaw to leave home, but on the bright side, he's only an hour from from the beach, so that's a good trade off.

Jon Nelson But that was what was one of the reasons that Rocky Hidalgo was. He went from Walton to Glynn Academy. It's like, you know, when I get to wake up every morning, I literally I think it's like a five or ten minute walk for him from his house to the water.

Hannah Goodin Oh, that's nice.

Jon Nelson And so that's, you know, it was one of the things that attracted Rocky when he went down to be the head coach down there. But yeah, you look at this schedule, some great coaches Danny Britt at Benedictine and Eric Parker Burke. Kyle Hochman at New Hampstead, Brooks County Maurice. Yeah. You know, we talked about Rocky Hidalgo, Glynn Academy, Jordan Wallace at Appling County. I mean, there's some great coaches in that schedule and it's going to be a great learning environment as they try to turn things around at Wayne County.

Hannah Goodin Yeah. Circling that school and that program to keep our eye on this year, for sure.

Jon Nelson No doubt.

Hannah Goodin Well, let's talk about the other hot topics that's happening around the state. While I have been gone and we mentioned that the GHSA Board of Trustees has a big vote coming up, and that's about the number of classifications, Jon. Take us through what you've learned.

Jon Nelson GHSA Board of Trustees voted as we're talking last week to support reducing the number of classifications to six beginning in the 24 25 year. Put the proposal to the Executive Committee agenda on April 11th. So by the next time that you hear and or see us, we should have an answer on that. And so that could be when the plan is adopted. The idea is to reduce schools travel to competitions because there was a bill in the state legislature that would have the GHSA responsible for travel costs above 75 miles. And we know that there are some regions where there are a lot of teams and a great amount of space. And then there's also regions where, like in one seven day, you're going from Kingsland to Moultrie, and that's longer than 75 miles. Yes. So, those kinds of things, and so they're looking at that and what the proposal currently is, courtesy of our friend Todd Holcomb on the High School Football Daily. The six class plan wants to retain separate divisions in Single-A. OK. And then they would work it there. So doing it so effectively. It means seven classes 56 regions, not six with 48. There been 64 regions and eight champs since 2016, so we'll keep an eye on that going forward. April 11th is the date that we need to keep an eye on, so we should have an answer. Yes, April

Hannah Goodin April 11 11 I have to write down everything these days because a mom by

Jon Nelson April 11th, so OK. So I wrote it down. So by the next time we are back, folks should have an answer on that.

Hannah Goodin Awesome. While some news around GPB, we are announcing a full football season for the first time in multiple years.

Jon Nelson Sweet.

Hannah Goodin Since I've been a part of the team, we have not had a full season starting early. We're doing what, three extra games? We like that starting sometime in in August rather than September. So looking forward to to that, we're adding more flag football. So I know flag football has been super popular on our airwaves saying.

Jon Nelson Flag football.

Hannah Goodin We have the championship.

Producer Sandy Malcolm I'm Excited. I'm excited.

Hannah Goodin Yeah, good. We're doing regular season now.

Jon Nelson Yeah, and flag football has been one of the fun things that we've been able to add for the championships and Championship weekend to GPB, where folks are.

Hannah Goodin It's been a huge success too.

Jon Nelson And it's it's so funny when folks are on our social media and during Championship weekend and they sit there and they go, Well, this is the guilty pleasure I didn't know that I had until I started watching it. And I think it speaks a lot to Ernie Yarborough and the GHSA for bringing it to the fore. And then you're adding Championship games and you're adding all this kind of stuff and just getting the representation from around the state. The number of schools that are growing to be a part of flag football and Alabama, by the way, I think the AHSA just had it for the first time this past season and they had the Championship games at Protective Stadium at UAB. And so they're now seeing what flag football can be as a part of Championship weekend too.

Hannah Goodin Cool. Cool. Well, it'll be streaming. It will not be on TV, at least these first first games. We'll see how it all goes. It'll be streaming. So of course. Follow us on social media at GPB Sports for all of those announcements. Yeah. And then my last thing on my list is that we're starting to ingest a bunch of old football games with a bunch of younger Jon with a bunch of Jon in his youth, I was going to say Prime because you're definitely in your prime here.

Jon Nelson Yeah. So I just I firmly anticipate Sandy that. All right. So let me guess one.

Producer Sandy Malcolm One, I think we call those classic.

Hannah Goodin Yes, thank you Sandy. Classic Jon Nelson's classic takes.

Jon Nelson Yeah, so retro Nelson is, I guess, what's it is. Well, so let me guess. Black suit. Black shirt. Jerry Garcia tie.

Hannah Goodin I haven't watched em yet. We're still we're we're getting them on our servers and basically every game that we have, we're going to we're going to start putting them out.

Jon Nelson And also, I had a lot more hair as if there was there was definitely.

Hannah Goodin And we'll put together a highlight.

Producer Sandy Malcolm Oh definitely let's do that.

Jon Nelson There was a lot. I will go ahead and stipulate to this. I'm fairly certain that there was a lot going on in the back, OK, especially late 90s, early 2000s. I can guarantee you that there was a lot going on back here. There was a lot.

Hannah Goodin Well, right now we have it going all the way back to '08. There were some there were some tapes missing in action, but we've got all the way back to '08 and we've got some we've got some late 90's, so that's what I'm going to circle on.

Jon Nelson Absolutely.

Hannah Goodin The late 90s,.

Jon Nelson Absolutely. One of my goals when I started in this industry back in the days of movable type. So you know me and Ben L...   we were like this is to try and be an on camera anchor reporter with the longest hair humanly possible.

Hannah Goodin I need to see them.

Jon Nelson So then do you need to probably check the mid to late 90s.

Hannah Goodin We've got '97, '98.

Jon Nelson Yeah. And so trust me, there was a lot of hair.

Hannah Goodin I'm going to get a screenshot of this and share it with everybody. Sooner rather than later, you know, I'm going to make a a note.

Jon Nelson She's going to write this down, Commander Sandy do you see what she started?

Hannah Goodin Jon Mullet?

Producer Sandy Malcolm We got a little taste of that with the McVey stuff.

Jon Nelson Yes. That you certainly did. No question about that.

Hannah Goodin All right. Well, that's all I've got. Yeah. Well, I've got on the list.

Jon Nelson Yeah. One more thing before we go, we lost a great friend here in high school and high school football here in the state of Georgia. Jeremy Williams, the former head coach of a Greenville high, had fought Lou Gehrig's disease for 14 years. I want to show and there's a little column that I wrote remembering my friend and his valiant fight with ALS. Great, great friend to anyone who came in contact with him. And you will always remember if you met Jeremy Williams, you will always remember your time that you spent with him. And so there are there are books out there. Tenacious is the book that's out there describes Jeremy and what his family have gone through. And so we'll always have the videos, always have the time. We've done stories on GPB with him in the past. But great friend of high school football here in the state of Georgia, former high former head coach at Greenville High. And we love him very much and we love the family very much so. It's just our one tip of the hat before we go from everybody here at GPB to everybody at Kendrick in Greenville and the town of Hamilton Crossroads down there in Harris County. We love you all very much. And the remembrance for Jeremy's April 3rd.

Hannah Goodin He will be very much missed.

Jon Nelson Yeah, no doubt. So on that note, will probably be back here. Now, Sandy, are we are we coming back? You're going to like wave the flags like at the airport, you're going to sit there and it's like, Come in. Hello. Come in. Hello.

Hannah Goodin We put a flag up on the top of the building when Jon needs to come back again.

Jon Nelson Hello, Nelson. Get in here

Producer Sandy Malcolm Some time next month.

Jon Nelson So what? She said, so some point..

Hannah Goodin At some point after April 11.

Jon Nelson So at some point in the month of April, thanks for hanging out with us once again here on the Football Fridays In Georgia podcast for King James, Jake the Snake, Commander Sandy and Hannah. I'm just Jon play it safe, everybody. Enjoy your team. Enjoy your games. We'll be back before you know it.