Football Fridays in Georgia: Championships and Expectations

Caption

Langston Hughes Head Coach Daniel "Boone" Williams talks with GPB's Jon Nelson after his 6A State Championship win.

Credit: Javy Gonzalez

TRANSCRIPT

 

Hannah Goodin: The theme is championships.

Jon Nelson: And expectations.

Hannah Goodin: And expectations.

Boone Williams, Langston Hughes Head Coach: It is great coaching, amazing resources, and a lot of players.

Marquis Westbrook, Peach County Head Coach: We're trying to just implement our culture into the building now.

Sean Calhoun, Colquitt County Head Coach: Obviously, for me to not get a lot more gray hair.

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, audio video podcast, social media, choice D, all of the above. Jon Here, Hannah There. And all right, so it's June.

Hannah Goodin: It's June.

Jon Nelson: We have one more, after this. We have one more monthly and then we get into doing this on a weekly basis.

Hannah Goodin: Yeah. And I think next month we have our All-Stars on.

Jon Nelson: I think, yeah, I think it is the All Stars. Next month is.

Hannah Goodin: It is going to be awesome for a big season preview but today.

Jon Nelson: Today.

Hannah Goodin: We are taking you on a trip around the state to give you three different perspectives from completely different programs. But the theme, yes, is championships.

Jon Nelson: And Expectations. 

Hannah Goodin: And Expectations, which we all know began in June.

Jon Nelson: They begin the day after the season, at the day after the championships. Who are you kidding?

Hannah Goodin: Well, spring practice.

Jon Nelson: True.

Hannah Goodin: Everyone is zeroing in. Eyeballs on the players.

Jon Nelson: Spring training and you know. Optimally everything spring and it's hope springs eternal. All that kind of stuff. The day after the 2022 season was when the 2023 season, the expectations started for everybody.

Hannah Goodin: We'll have on the head coach of the reigning 6A state champs, Langston Hughes Head coach Boone Williams will be on first today. We'll hear from a coach who's never missed the final game of the year in his four years as a head coach. He won two of those with Warner Robins. That's Marquis Westbrook, who is now the brand new head coach at Peach County. And finally, a coach who's trying to win his first state title almost made it last year to the final game of the year. That's Sean Calhoun at Colquitt County. So, Jon, this is going to be really fun hearing from three totally different programs and different coaches in different situations.

Jon Nelson:  Different classifications, different expectations. You know, you know that with Langston Hughes on a national scale after what happened last year with all the recruits that are there, you're going to have one more year of Air Noland, and what is Air Noland going to do with his college of choice?

Hannah Goodin: He is taking some visits.

Jon Nelson: Well, there's that. But the thing is, is that you wonder if Air basically took his phone and handed it to Boone.

Jon Nelson: And it's like, here you answer for me for the next couple of months. And so Boone can sit there and go, no, he's not answering the phone, not sorry. He'll get back to you later. Now he's got class. I just wonder what that situation is the second that that Air steps on the Langston Hughes campus every day, does he just hand his phone to Boone? And as Boone sat there and he-.

Hannah Goodin: Does he have like a separate recruiting phone?

Jon Nelson: Yeah.

Hannah Goodin: From all the phone calls he's getting.

Jon Nelson: It is it is.

Hannah Goodin: Just a visit, though. And Coach knows about it.

Jon Nelson: The Boone Williams recruiting phone that that he handles with everybody at Hughes. That one is fun. And then, you know, catching up with Marquis Westbrook, who moves across Georgia 247. He goes there and he heads over into Fort Valley, into that environment there at Peach County. Looking forward to that. And then Sean Calhoun, Colquitt County Perennial Power, obviously their season ended prematurely by their own standards. And so in the toughest region in one of the toughest regions in the country, how do you respond with that? And we catch up with him to find out about that as well.

Hannah Goodin: And I've got a pop quiz for you at the end of the show.

Jon Nelson: Oh no.

Hannah Goodin: And it's the theme is the three schools we're talking about today, so stick around for that.

Jon Nelson: Commonality of theme. I have to think about this one.

Hannah Goodin: Well, it's not necessarily commonality and just. Okay, just just hang on for that.

Jon Nelson: Okay.

Hannah Goodin: But let's get right to it, Jon.

Jon Nelson: Sure.

Hannah Goodin: Let's head to Fairburn first. And like we said, we'll hear from Coach Boone first, see how the Panthers are doing coming off that state title. Hey, Coach Boone, now that the dust has settled.

Jon Nelson: If it was just.

Hannah Goodin: Looking back a few months ago in December, what was that championship like? It was your first. It was the school's first. What is your take now?

Boone Williams, Langston Hughes Head Coach: Now that I've had enough time. And instead, like you said, let the dust settle. It was just looking back on it. It was like I mean, it was a time, you know, It was monumental for the program, for the county, for South Fulton County schools. I mean, I made if I went to the a local grocery store to Wal-Mart. You know, people still talking about it to this day, how much it meant to the community. I didn't realize that big, but it was.

Jon Nelson:  I mean, you come up with this special moment for for South Fulton and for a school that I know that, you know, when it started, I know everybody was looking at Willie Cannon and what he was able to do there and getting into the playoffs. And now the last handful of seasons, what you've been able to do with with an offense, I think that just scored again, as a matter of fact. I mean, I mean, it's been it's been staggering to see what you guys have been able to accomplish on the field. But you mentioned the impact off the field. And I think that that's just as important for for South Fulton County, an area that has been starved for a championship that you and everybody there at Langston Hughes was able to give him last year.

Boone Williams, Langston Hughes Head Coach: Yeah. I mean, I have no question about that. I think that that we've always known what was down here. We always we put in the same amount of time and effort everybody else does. They just it was we were just it was just hard work to get over the hump. And it was open to, like I said, this past season because I think Creekside won in 2013. So from 2013 you got roughly ten years of just stagnant and it was like stagnant but just couldn't get over the hump. But like I said, we like being the last season and the year before that. I think we made strides when we lost to Buford by one point in the state championship. So, last year was our year to get over the hump.

Hannah Goodin: What did you learn as a coach last year, and how are you implementing that into this year's spring ball and looking forward to the fall?

Boone Williams, Langston Hughes Head Coach: I learned last year. I think the biggest thing I learned was leaders, like I told in pre interview before, the exemption leadership doesn't go 15 games or ten games. My leaders changed throughout the season, so other guys stepped up and were more vocal than other the guys at some point and it was, you know, that was kind of one thing that I have never been a part of the way leadership, you know, in the sense you get captains and stuff at the beginning of the season. Those are your guys. But you know, last year, you know, a guy going to the state championship get off the bus. One of our starter, he took a leadership role, getting off the bus, and I think when everybody saw him being emotional, breakdown, and cry [they realized] how real and serious that moment was.

Jon Nelson: When you when you look at last year and you carry it forward to this year. Obviously, everybody everybody knows about graduation. Graduation happens at every school across this planet in the solar system. Obviously, you had a lot of firepower and a lot of big names graduate this year. When you look at the group of rising seniors that are now seniors that are going to be with you in 2023, who are some of the folks that we need to keep an eye on that we haven't had the chance to keep an eye on before. Everybody knows about Air and what he can do. But what about some of those other rising seniors and other younger talents that are kind of flying below the radar that folks need to keep an eye on this season?

Boone Williams, Langston Hughes Head Coach: Jojo Stone. Justin Savage, he is definitely one. Troy Page. I mean, we've got a host of guys that just kind of been with us for three or four years like Justin Bonds, Jordan Thompson. We've got guys that have been here Tavaris Dice, just guys coming in and go really help us in their 24 class to continue what we've been, you know, because of the way we've been progressing.

Hannah Goodin: And Air Noland is now a senior.

Jon Nelson: I feel like we've been covered in forever.

Hannah Goodin: I know. So, how does he look at in practice and tell us about that offense.

Boone Williams, Langston Hughes Head Coach: Man, his leadership man. He is. I mean, he's a competitor. Since he was in eighth grades to now, he's been the same competitor, a strong willed kid. He's got to lead by example. Lead by voice. We just got back from the Elite 11. He did phenomenal out there. He took his official visit, I think, to Ohio State this weekend. So he's you know, know he was and even away he was leading what was going on here. It was just crazy.

Hannah Goodin: Wow.

Boone Williams, Langston Hughes Head Coach: Like in the groupchat, he's telling them what to do, and he's telling them how to attack the day. And I mean, the person that he is- man I can't speak enough about that kid.

Jon Nelson: When you look at 6A this year, I mean, it's traditional powers that a region one obviously one of the toughest regions in the state, top to bottom. It's Brunswick. It's Effingham County who was five and one last year, Lovejoy, Woodward, Marist, who made a deep run. Everybody looks at Saint Pius to you guys, South Paulding, you know, Douglas County, Paulding County, your region was knocked down, drag out last year. Region six everybody's staring at Rome. Region 7, it's Roswell in Alpharetta, maybe BT on the outside and in the folks that you played in the championship game in Gainesville, when you look at six eight this year, what are you looking at in your class?

Boone Williams, Langston Hughes Head Coach: I'm a competitive, competitive class. I mean, I think that the coaches in this classification, which I think we had a big classifications at the bottom in state of Georgia, it is great coaching, amazing resources and a lot of players. So, I think this is one of the most competitive group together. But I mean, it's not like a big stagger. Like our top teams are top teams, but without top teams, because a bunch of good teams in that 6A classification, I think, I mean, you named seven schools. They can all go against the exemption.

Jon Nelson: Well, Coach, thanks for hanging out with us here on the Football Fridays in Georgia podcast breaking down your spring. You know, we'll be banging on your door pretty soon as we get to summer and August 1st because that's when the rubber meets the road and practice starts, and get ready for this massive schedule of yours coming off of it as a state champ. Thanks for hanging out with us here with me and Hannah.  We look forward to seeing what Hughes is going to be doing here in 2023.

Boone Williams, Langston Hughes Head Coach: All right. Thanks for having me.

Jon Nelson: One interview down next one up. And this show so far seems to a being brought to us by the letter F. We go from Fairburn to Fort Valley, catch up with the head coach of the Peach County Trojans, Marquis Westbrook, and what it's like for him to wear an entirely different color as he has now traveled across Georgia 247 into Peach County.

Hannah Goodin: Hey, Coach Westbrook, thanks so much for joining us. It's so different to see you in the gray hat and the yellow and the gray sweatshirt. I'm so used to seeing you in that red and black. So what does that feel like?

Marquis Westbrook, Peach County Head Coach: It's a little different, though. I'm still the same guy. And so different colors, different, different environments. But it's good. It's good, though.

Jon Nelson: And I mean, you know what football means to Fort Valley. You know what it means to Central Georgia. It's just now you're getting to do it from a different perspective. What has it been like jumping into this situation at Peach County with the expectations that are always attached, that have been there with Chad Campbell forever? What's it been like for you to to jump into this? You know, just basically hitting the ground running down there?

Marquis Westbrook, Peach County Head Coach: Well, Matt, it's a different experience like you said, and the expectations here are really high. They've been able to run off a lot of wins over here the last few years and not just the last few years for a long time. And, you know, people expect to win. And, you know, just trying to drive that mindset into this crop of kids and, you know, trying to get in, learn the kids and putting a coaching staff together has been sort of a challenge, but it's been really good. So we've been able to just grab these kids and they've been able to sort of grasp what we've been coaching them and teaching them and it's been all good.

Hannah Goodin: We're talking about champions today, and you've got a couple of those under your belt with the demons. You were in a championship game every year when you were at Warner Robins. What did you learn about yourself then and how are you going to keep that going at each?

Marquis Westbrook, Peach County Head Coach: Well, I learned that no team is the same. You know, even the ones that we won and lost with, you know, they had different personalities, different attitudes and and different ways. You know, kids had to be coached. Oh, it's no really like no blueprint to say that, you know, you can get there this doing this. You know, you got to learn the team and learn your coaches and just going through all those different experiences, you know, you kind of have to cater to not certain expectations from the community and the kids, but you got to kind of mold your coach and style to your team and just learning that and trying to implement that here. It's been, like I said, it's been kind of a challenge, and it's going to take a little while to get that through their mindset and their psyche. I'm thinking about the days practice as I'm talking to you now, but it's like I said, it's going to be really good here. The kids here are they're really hard workers. I mean, the people here, they love football. And I think it's a good formula for success.

Jon Nelson: You mentioned assembling a coaching staff, and that is something I think that kind of falls below the radar a little bit. Everybody is attracted to that idea of, okay, Marquis Westbrook goes and he's the new head coach of Peach County, but now you have to assemble a staff and they have to all fall in line with you philosophically what you want to implement. Getting acquainted with the kids, all these kinds of things. What what kind of a challenge has it been like for you to bring in all of those individuals to be a part of this Peach County staff under you?

Marquis Westbrook, Peach County Head Coach: Well, I think a lot of it comes with your previous relationships with the coaches and some of them whom I knew through other coaches and just having the right situation happen for for them and for here at Peach, it was a no brainer for some of them. I mean, it was a great opportunity to come over, even though, you know, a lot of people think because you're playing a lower classification, it's going to be easier. That's not true by any stretch of the imagination. You still got to coach the kids and and the situation has to be right in the building, which our administration here has been phenomenal. And in getting, you know, the coaches, everything that we need in terms of, you know, spots in the building and getting us in front of the kids as much as we possibly can so they done the damn job. You know, presenting this job is one of the best, not just in the area, but in the state. So it makes it a little bit easier for coaches to be attracted to jobs like this. And so and then, you know, different philosophies from all the different coaching staffs that has been assembled. Egos have to be put aside. And we got to know that it's all about the kids got them every day. We got to approach it with, you know, that mindset that is is more than just about our coaching prowess. It's about getting those kids across the state and graduating kids.

Hannah Goodin: Absolutely. It's all about the students and the players. So tell us about your new team, some of the playmakers. You mentioned you were thinking about practice today. What's your plan for practice and how has practice been? Just give us the entire rundown about your new team.

Marquis Westbrook, Peach County Head Coach: Oh, man. We got a really, really senior heavy. I think the kids that are in the front runs to be starters are our seniors. And we got a couple of juniors in there who are some highly touted kids as far as recruiting goes. Thank you, guys. I don't know if you got Peyton Joseph. He's one of the highly touted recruits. And then Isaiah Mitchell, who's a receiver for us, he's one of the guys both of those guys are juniors. Up front, I think we're going to be really good. We can be really good. I say that we got some size up front, two tackles, Jordan Miller-Horne and Payton's being the other one or two gargantuate kids who are really physical. They play well. The quarterback, D.J. Hutson, who is a he's coming from walks out along with Don Hutson, our coach. He's going to be at the helm at quarterback right now. And we've got a bevy of receivers that we're going to throw it on the outside out there, Dillon Jackson, like I said, I mentioned Isaiah Mitchell and also Sammy Williams. He's one of the guys who has been really, really good for us in the spring and throughout the summer. We were in spring pretty much injury free.

Hannah Goodin: Nice.

Marquis Westbrook, Peach County Head Coach: Getting into the summer. That's always a blessing. You can get them injury free. We got a couple of nicks and dings, so to speak, in the last week or so. So we're trying to play that safe and just get them in game one or at least get them to fall scrimmage versus Colquitt. So practice has been going where they learn it out tempo. They're learning our style of play and learning our philosophies. And not just that, but, you know, they just-we're trying to just implement our culture into the building now and trying to make sure these kids are well off when they leave here.

Hannah Goodin: Our last question for you, Coach, and we'll let you go to focus on practice this afternoon. For those who don't know, what are some of the fun Peach County football traditions that you're excited to be a part of this year.

Marquis Westbrook, Peach County Head Coach: Well, you know, I mean, Peach is always known for their the crowds in front of that crowd. And they've always traveled well. It's always been one of those teams where, you know, where's you're going to go to a game. It doesn't matter who's against. They're going to have a sea of black and gold around. And they've always had a really good, entertaining band. So it's going to be a new band director coming in and just being in that atmosphere, you know, playing against them. It's been intimidating. I'll say that every time I light up against them. It's always been a good game. And so, you know, you're going to get everybody's A-game because when you line up against Peach, you know, you're playing against somebody who's tough, somebody disciplined and somebody who loves football. So just being on the other side of it now, being it, being immersed in it, just trying to prepare the kids for it and just being a part of this, this this community is is a lot and it means a lot. It's been an outpouring of love for from inside the building and the community and just being a part of that. I just love being a part of it.

Jon Nelson: New school, a couple of years old, new facility, new stadium in the backyard, and Marquis Westbrook gets to be a part of it now as the head coach of Peach County. Coach, thanks for hanging out with us here on the Football Fridays in Georgia podcast. We'll be obviously keeping an eye on you down there at Peach with your new gig and the new business card. Thanks for hanging out with me and Hannah.

Marquis Westbrook, Peach County Head Coach: All right. Thanks for having me on. I appreciate y'all.

Jon Nelson: Two down, one to go. And we head to Colquitt County, Colquitt County. And the Packers expectation is to always make it to the last game of the year. Friend of GPB and GPB Sports a friend brought to us by the letter F Sean Calhoun, the head coach of the Colquitt County Packers. Breaks down what spring has been like and what they learned from 2022.

Hannah Goodin: Hey, Coach Calhoun, so great to catch up with you. You're heading into your second season at Colquitt County. Are you approaching spring practice this year any differently?

Sean Calhoun, Colquitt County Head Coach: Well, thank you all for having me. No, ma'am. I mean, I think, you know, every every spring and summer, you definitely have high expectations and you want to you want to get better at little things that you obviously weren't really good at last year because you fell short from winning the state championship. And you always want to build depth. And I felt like we did that in the spring and I really feel like we're doing that in the summer.

Jon Nelson: What were some of the bigger lessons that you could carry with you from last season? Not making it to a championship game, Not winning a championship, winning game 15. What were some of those big lessons that you carried with you from last year?

Sean Calhoun, Colquitt County Head Coach: Experience in big games and in big moments. And those are very hard to simulate in practice. Obviously, you know, you can do different scenarios and everything, but we had we had the majority of our team and a lot of our coaches, too, which, you know, is kind of a it's kind of a topic that a lot of people don't talk about. You talk about your players not being, you know, the quarterfinals and the semifinals and this. But some of our coaches, too. And, you know, we got in the semifinal game last year and just did not perform and just did not play good enough to win. So, unfortunately, you need some of those moments because the only way to get that experience is to go through it. Obviously, you want to go through it and win, but we weren't we weren't that fortunate. So that was probably the biggest thing is when we get back to these big moments, hopefully we can find a way back to the semifinals and hopefully kind of get over that hurdle so that stage is not too big.

Hannah Goodin: Yeah, I know. Last year did not in the way you wanted it to, but you've got the same team back. Did you lose too many players to graduation, and what do those juniors look like now as seniors?

Sean Calhoun, Colquitt County Head Coach: Well, our junior class definitely is is hungry. You know, they were definitely, you know, pretty devastated last year. Obviously, you know, we did a lot of good things. And, you know, 13 -1 record is fantastic. But, you know, you need to find a way, you know, to win that 14th game and to give yourself a chance to win game 15. But, you know, we graduated 9 of 11 on defense know, so that's been a big, big emphasis in the spring, in the summer. We're returning a lot of firepower on offense, and you know, they've kind of left off exactly where you want them to. You know, with a three year starter at quarterback and and you got four receivers back and two running backs back and 3 to 5 offensive line. You know, offense may be the maybe the best part of our team, but that's why defense and special teams is so crucial for us to just continue to get better offensively, too. I mean I don't think you're ever you're ever there as a coach where you where you want to be. But we're trending in the right direction.

Jon Nelson: So then do you think it's going to be where your offense is going to be at full song first and the defense is going to have to kind of come along quickly? Or how do you anticipate this? Because sometimes you'll have if there's turnover, the defense will have to carry the offense a little bit. Is this going to be early on in your non-region where the bigger offense may have to carry the defense and have high, high scoring games to try to get through?

Sean Calhoun, Colquitt County Head Coach: You know, when you look at it on paper , that's probably that may be the case in a couple of games. You know, obviously, for me to not get a lot more gray hair, you know, I definitely don't want, you know, you know, I don't want to have.

Hannah Goodin: There's a few new ones.

Sean Calhoun, Colquitt County Head Coach: I definitely don't want to have, you know, the 52-40 game. But but, you know, but I'll say this. You know, every Friday night, if we have one more point than the opponent, you know, that's all that matters. But one one good thing is that obviously you always lose kids to graduation, but we didn't lose one coach. We had we had a handful of coaches that, you know, had other job opportunities. And the one thing that I know about our staff and our defensive staff in general is that they're really good. So, I know we're going to be breaking in a lot of kids when it comes to Friday night experience, but I'm very confident in our defensive staff to get those to get those boys in the right place and, you know, and to get them playing fast and physical.

Hannah Goodin: Take us through your schedule really quick. You start things off at home against Dutch Fork. You always have powerhouses Lee County, Cedar Grove, Lowndes, and Valdosta. But, this year you have them all four in a row, so-

Jon Nelson: Who is the schedule maker that he has to talk to about this?

Hannah Goodin: Take us through your schedule and what were you thinking here?

Sean Calhoun, Colquitt County Head Coach: Well, one great question, too. I inherited that, so.

Jon Nelson: Okay.

Sean Calhoun, Colquitt County Head Coach: So, when I took over the job, when I got here, I said, all right, let's look at the schedule and see who we need. And they said, Coach, we got it for you, and slid it and and, you know, but I couldn't back out at that point.

Jon Nelson: Oh, yeah.

Sean Calhoun, Colquitt County Head Coach: Yeah. So, you know, Dutch Fork has worn like 8, 9, or 10 state championships in South Carolina. So, that'll be the classic that all we do with Lowndes. It was at Lowndes last year. So this year it'll be at our place. Lowndes will play a school out of North Carolina first and then, you know, we got a really good Stockbridge team and then, you know, Lee County is obviously fantastic. And so, you know, with us having to try to find, you know, five non-region games, there's not a whole lot of teams that are, you know, that are just really wanting to play us right now. So, we got to go and get really good competition. But I really think it helps us for the region, and I really think it helps us for the playoffs. And you know, obviously you want to win those games, but you know, at the end of the day, the region games are the only thing that matter for playoff seeding, but you don't want to kind of be limping into region play because you're not region's schedule.

Jon Nelson: And it's Camden, it's Valdosta, it's Lowndes, it's Richmond Hill. And Matt Lezott has been known to be a thorn in the path of any lion that he comes across. I mean, this is as always, it's one of the most stout regions. It doesn't matter the size of the region. It is always one of the toughest in the country. And this year obviously is no different.

Sean Calhoun, Colquitt County Head Coach: It is, you know, and I always look at two things, you know, do they have really good coaches and really good players? And I all those all those teams do you know, it's a region where somebody is going to be left home in the playoffs, which deserves to be in the playoffs. You know, it's all these blue bloods here from, you know, from from South Georgia, you know, and every team's battling to be one of those for us. Obviously you want to be the one or the two to get some home playoff games. But, you know, definitely going to be difficult, you know, and hopefully we can kind of get through that and region schedule the way we want to and go into region play flying high.

Jon Nelson: Well, Coach, as always, thanks for hanging out with us here on the Football Fridays in Georgia podcast, hanging out with us on GPB as much as you do pulling back the curtain down there in Moultrie. We're keeping an eye on you. Thanks for hanging out with us in the spring. We'll catch up with you because season will be here before you know it.

Sean Calhoun, Colquitt County Head Coach: Yes, sir. Thank you all for having me. And thank you all very much for what you all do for high school football.

Hannah Goodin: Jon, those interviews were fascinating.

Jon Nelson: So, you were supposed to start with the fascinating. You say it's brought to us by the letter F fascinating, which is true. Now, it's really cool to catch up with all three of them because they're coming at the 2023 season from different perspectives. The pressure of repeating, the pressure of trying to get back to a championship game and a classification and a town that has the pedigree both in Moultrie and in Fort Valley. So and different classes, toughest region and one of the toughest regions in the country, one of the toughest classifications across the state. So catching up with all three is very cool.

Hannah Goodin: Yeah, I really wanted to get that perspective out there and have our listeners be able to hear from different parts of the state in three different circumstances. So and it's always great to catch up with our friends of the show. 

Jon Nelson: There you go brought to us by the letter F.

Hannah Goodin: Okay, Pop quiz time.

Jon Nelson: Football Friday's.

Hannah Goodin: Quiz. Pop quiz. Okay. Today is kind of like a series of trivia. I think I did this last time.

Jon Nelson: Wait a second wait. All right. So-.

Hannah Goodin: I think I did this last time, too.

Jon Nelson: Ambassador Jeremy and Commander Sandy, we have a judgment call here. So, she says there's like one, and now all of a sudden there's like this multiple choice thing that she's starting here. Is this legal?

Sandy Malcolm: Well, given your skill level, I think, yes.

Hannah Goodin: Exactly what Sandy said.

Sandy Malcolm: It's all about confidence in you, Jon, that we have.

Jon Nelson: That's your first problem.

Sandy Malcolm: Yeah.

Jon Nelson: All right. So. All right, so. And go ahead. And everybody behind the glass can can have the answers as well, because especially if there's anything involving Darlington, we know that Ambassador Jeremy will answer that.

Hannah Goodin: So, the theme is the three schools we talked about today.

Jon Nelson: Okay.

Hannah Goodin: Which team has had more head coaches since the beginning of their program?

Jon Nelson: Beginning of their program?

Hannah Goodin: Hughes, Colquitt, or Peach?

Jon Nelson: Um. Neither. It's all been two.

Hannah Goodin: All three programs have only had two coaches?

Jon Nelson: Well, all right. So Hughes has had Willie Cannon and Boone.

Hannah Goodin: Since the beginning.

Jon Nelson: Of their programs.

Hannah Goodin: Since the inception of the program.

Jon Nelson: Well, then it would have to be it have to be Colquitt, wouldn't it? Because you start with Jim Hughes and then you work your way through to present day with Sean and with Peach. I mean, are you going like, all the way back? Because Peach County all the way. Campbell Chad,.

Hannah Goodin: All the way back.

Jon Nelson: Chad, it would be Chad and Marquis going back the last 25 years.

Hannah Goodin: All the way back. That's part of the question, Jon.

Jon Nelson: So all right. So two at Hughes, two in the last 25 years at Peach, so by default, I'd have to say Colquitt.

Hannah Goodin: It's Peach.

Jon Nelson: Okay. All right.

Hannah Goodin: It's Peach.

Jon Nelson: Okay.

Hannah Goodin: And then the other series of questions, are how many coaches as each one had? So you knew Hughes with two?

Jon Nelson: Yeah.

Hannah Goodin: Since 2009. Willie Cannon and Boone.

Jon Nelson: Right.

Hannah Goodin: Colquitt? Yeah. How many coaches do you think they've had.

Jon Nelson: Since the beginning of their program? But now the thing is, are you. Are you including Moultrie High in this or are you including Colquitt County as Colquitt County High School? How far back are you going?

Hannah Goodin: 1978.

Jon Nelson: Okay, so that's Colquitt County.

Hannah Goodin: Colquitt County.

Jon Nelson: All right. So let's see, Jim Hughes took up most of that, Jim Hughes, then Rush, and then, so I'll go six at Colquitt County.

Hannah Goodin: Okay.

Jon Nelson: And then when did Peach County start.

Hannah Goodin: The 1970, so 8 years before.

Jon Nelson: Okay. So eight years before Colquitt Chad.

Hannah Goodin: They have more coaches.

Jon Nelson: Chad. So let's go, let's go. Eight at Peach. Six at Colquitt.

Hannah Goodin: You're close.

Jon Nelson: Okay.

Hannah Goodin: Eight at Colquitt and 12 at Peach.

Jon Nelson: Okay.

Hannah Goodin: They've had 12 head coaches.

Jon Nelson: Okay, well, I didn't do too bad.

Hannah Goodin: No, you did. You didn't.

Jon Nelson: Yeah, I didn't do too bad.

Hannah Goodin: You got the you got the main question wrong though, which was which team has had more head coaches.

Jon Nelson: Well, okay, fine.

Hannah Goodin: I don't think you've gotten one of my pop quiz questions correct.

Jon Nelson: No, I don't think. I don't think I have either.

Hannah Goodin: They're a little out there. Maybe I should make them a little easier.

Jon Nelson: No, I don't think you should. And besides, I think that what we also should do is we should canvass everyone behind the glass to see if they can come up with numbers to who's better behind the glass or Jon. That's your 2023-.

Hannah Goodin: Pipe with my money on you, Jon. All my money on you.

Jon Nelson: That's the 2023- with your multi-part mega predicate.

Hannah Goodin: Okay, I'll stop doing it.

Jon Nelson: Complex compound sentence pop quiz.

Hannah Goodin: I'll do one question next.

Jon Nelson: No, but I mean, but that was an easy, rapid fire, so that was easy to do. Like three. That was fine. So but no, I think you're 2023 pop quizzes. I think that the behind the glass should have part of that answer a collective and then I should have an answer. And then we keep track. All right. All right. So that's pop quiz. What else is on your mind?

Hannah Goodin: You and Patty went on a vacation?

Jon Nelson: Well, we also won something.

Hannah Goodin: You and Patty going on vacation is way more important than our Emmy.

Jon Nelson: Wow. Okay. All right. Yeah, We went to the mountains and hung out for a week like we always do. Caught up with Chad Cheatham at Fannin County and played in their touch down club golf tournament at all Taco Farm. And Seth Reese, the quarterback that was a part of the story that we did, played with him, his older brother, who's on the staff and the offensive coordinator that was that was the foursome.

Hannah Goodin: Very Cool.

Jon Nelson: We didn't finish last. And that was what was important.

Hannah Goodin: All that matters.

Jon Nelson: And then so then, you know, good luck on having any other vacations until Christmas. So yeah, so we got it. What have you what have you and your your husband named John with an H been up to.

Hannah Goodin: Well, I hope all the dads out there had a good Father's Day. We had a the first date night of the year, so that was nice.

Jon Nelson: First date night of the year is in June.

Sandy Malcolm: Better late than never. I guess.

Hannah Goodin: Man, I'm tired. Yes, better late than never. And Father's Day was good. We had my parents over.

Jon Nelson: There you go. Did they take care of the girls while you all had date night?

Hannah Goodin: No, no, we had. We had the sitter come.

Jon Nelson: Okay. All right. Okay.

Hannah Goodin: We gave my parents the night off. John's mom. The night off, so.

Jon Nelson: Okay.

Hannah Goodin: So, we had the sitter, all right, But I was just burying the lead. We won an Emmy.

Jon Nelson: There you go.

Hannah Goodin: We won an Emmy.

Jon Nelson: Yes, we did for the broadcast of Football Fridays in Georgia Calhoun versus Cartersville.

Hannah Goodin: Very cool.

Jon Nelson: We had two of our games in the live event sporting event category. It was Mill Creek and Carrollton from the championship weekend, and it was Calhoun and Cartersville from the regular season going up against a couple of Braves games with our friends over at Bally Sports South. Glen Diamond, Matt Stewart were there to grab the hardware and bring it back to 260 14th. So very, very thankful for everybody at NATAS and that's South East Emmy for bestowing the honor of GPB winning an Emmy here. So very, very cool. I think we had seven in the building for GPB on the whole, but sports representing as well with the Calhoun Cartersville region triple overtime game that went to like 11:40 at night.

Hannah Goodin: That was insane.

Jon Nelson: And you were hurting.

Hannah Goodin: Oh, man. They were like, stick around.

Jon Nelson: Postgame show and Hannah's game show. Hannah is Hannah's on life support. It's like they needed to really they needed to get like.

Jon Nelson: Infuse Red Bull, like, directly into her veins to make sure that she survived the night.

Hannah Goodin: Ooh, that was a long one.

Sandy Malcolm: Congratulations to both of you, by the way.

Hannah Goodin: Thank you.

Sandy Malcolm: For your huge contributions to that Emmy.

Jon Nelson: Showing up late. We were there late. We were. We were. We brought it home. Go to the bullpen. Matt and Wayne are off the air.

Jon Nelson: Nicky's done driving back from Cartersville. So, we're the ones who got to hang out late with the crew. And I mean, every single week on football. Variety has a credit roll of like 11 gazillion people and everybody at Georgia Public that makes this happen top to bottom. Fantastic work. But two, to have an Emmy for the football. Friday's work in season 11 as we head toward season 12. Very, very cool.

Hannah Goodin: Yeah, it's awesome.

Sandy Malcolm: Very fortunate.

Hannah Goodin: Yes.

Jon Nelson: Yes, yes, yes. All right. So what else is on your mind?

Hannah Goodin: I'm just going to give everybody the rundown. So the monthly. Weekly, weekly podcast start in August.

Jon Nelson: Right.

Hannah Goodin: Weekly blogs will be out.

Jon Nelson: Yep.

Hannah Goodin: And we'll just. Power through the summer, and it'll be here before we know it.

Jon Nelson: Yes and. All right, So. All right. So next month it is the All-Stars prepping for the season. So, we'll have as many of the All Stars rapid fire as humanly possible. And it'll be great to catch up with them, because we know that means that we're that much closer to having a season kickoff. And when we know our plans, obviously we'll post them to all of our social media platforms and, you know, all the stuff that we do on a weekly basis that will be doing when we know everything else will let everybody know.

Hannah Goodin: That's all I got.

Jon Nelson: All right. So that's the show. So let me see who's behind the glass. All right. So, Jake, the Snake, Ambassador Jeremy was, Commander Sandy hopped into the the com. Let's see, Governor Reagan. And was it the green thumb? The gardener was? Was that gardener the green thumb? That was the other one who was hanging out with, uh, with Governor Reagan over there on the, on the ones and twos. Yeah. There he is. See, there he is.

Jon Nelson: So the green thumb hanging out with us for a cameo this week. But the crew that makes this happen every single week very, very cool considering they put up with me and my ramblings.

Hannah Goodin: Yes, we do.

Jon Nelson: So for everybody here at GPB, for Hannah, for me, for everybody behind the glass, I'm just Jon, thanks for hanging out with us for another round of the Football Fridays in Georgia podcast. All Stars next month, which means that we are this much closer to football season. Play safe. Everybody will see you next time.