Coach, thanks for hanging out with us from down there on the coast.

My first question for you goes back to last year.

What lessons from last season were you able to carry with you into this year?

Yeah.

So last year we had a great season.

Obviously the win loss record was really good.

But I think what I really want to take take with us is accountability.

Last year our kind of work for the year was family and of course we stuck together.

We were really a good family, but more than that, we held one another accountable and not just coaches holding players accountable, but players holding players accountable.

You know, I've been around coaching now for over 20 years and yeah, when you get those special teams that were the players actually hold one another accountable.

It's a lot less work on your end as a coach.

But those are part of great teams and hopefully that's that's what we're looking to have in this year.

I know the weather is getting hotter and hotter.

Give us an update on summer practice and how the spring went and how the team is looking so far.

Yeah, we've really been lucky despite, you know, we've had some really good temperatures because of the rain.

But at the same time, you know, span of Christmas is a 250 acre campus and half of it is when it rains, half of it goes under water and swamp land.

Around here.

We have deer on campus, alligators on campus.

And so when we get those cool temperatures that bring those those rains, that's good.

We can practice, but we don't have a turf field out here.

So we practice on grass and it gets a little bit wet.

But so far we've been really fortunate.

We haven't ran into the wet ball yet, but we also practice about 745 in the morning.

So when you look at Region three triple-A, it's Calvary Day, the region champs last year, obviously Jake McClung at quarterback.

You know, one of the true talents that he are here in the state of Georgia.

It's you guys it's liberty and long and Johnson and Country Day and beech and Groves which means you only have only a couple of non-regional games that you have to go chase when you look at your region schedule and the non region games, when you look at your 23 schedule, what do you see?

Yeah, and so we, we had a couple of non region games we, we scheduled a really good smaller program Hilton Head Christian Academy they had won like 24 games in a row an they have a really good coach really good program so we scheduled them it was very tough to get non-res in games so schedule them and then we also had battery Creek and Islands and islands.

They've been a been a good program.

Islands has a really good coach and coach print up and so we're excited about that.

And then we wanted to play Battery Creek again.

We had a two year deal with them, but unfortunately Battery Creek has chosen not to play us in, so it has been really hard for me to find an opponent.

But thankfully we we got an opponent in mares.

So game three, we get to travel to two mares and play six AA mares.

And so yeah, I am looking forward to that.

Just to kind of gauge where we at where we're at as a program.

Mares has a rich tradition, a rich history, one of the best high school football coaches of all time, and we get to go against them in Atlanta.

And so there was, there was a lot of there was actually only a couple of options that I really had.

It was kind of like a IMG type team and a lot of the other team lens mares which are which I knew and I know the coach there.

And so we want to just kind of gauge where we're at as a program.

And so we chose Flight mares, we're going there to play them.

And then after that we'll have a little bit of a bye week and then, you know, there's kind of no slowing down that we have one of our biggest rivals in Country Day.

And then right after that we had to play Calgary.

And of course Calgary's probably got more powerful players on their team than anybody else, and they have a great coach and Coach Stroud.

And so yeah, we have our two biggest rivals at the very beginning of region play.

And then, you know, it doesn't, it doesn't stop there.

You know, like you said, John, we have Liberty County.

I mean their quarterback is coming back and he through of course, Jake Marcolini is a great quarterback.

But then you got the quarterback over at Liberty County.

He threw for almost 2000 yards.

And they're very talented.

And not to mention Long County.

Long County has one of the best running games we face.

I mean, we still haven't tracked start stop their inside track from last year.

I mean the guys still run it So we have our work cut out for us and you know our non region schedule of course is going to be difficult by the region schedule starting off with Country Day who's got every single starter back and then Calgary you know with the power five guys that they got and there is really no no weeks off and you know even even in the bye week you're preparing for your next opponent.

So it's going to be tough, especially since you're in triple-A when you really should probably only be in in single it, you know, all that.

Mary's game will certainly bring a lot of exposure to your team and your players.

And with that comes some phone calls from college coaches or any of your guys getting looks.

And who do you think deserves a really good offer?

Yeah, so we do have some guys getting looks You know our probably our biggest powerful player that we have right now is a larger Griffin.

He's been starting for us since he was a freshman.

He has multiple SCC offers as probably got he got an offer from Georgia when he was really young and Penn State, as were two of his first offers which are really good nice yeah and but we also have David Duke who's a linebacker for us but he kind of plays everything.

He plays linebacker, he plays wide receiver.

He's our long snapper, He's our punt returner.

Pretty much anything that we need him to do, he can do.

And he had about 15 offers or so, but he just got a big one.

About two weeks ago he got the University of South Carolina and so he committed to University of South Carolina.

So we're really excited about that.

And then Logan Brooking, who's going to be a junior, he's a tight end, one of the best tight ends around, and he's got several SCCA offers.

So this is the first time since I've been here that we've had three legitimate power, five guys on our team.

But I think the guy that, you know, he doesn't get a lot of recognition, he doesn't have any offers quite yet, but he will.

He's been going to a lot of camps.

But is our running back or run by Joe Smalls?

He's going to be a junior this year.

He's worked exceptionally hard.

I've known him since he was a, you know, probably in the sixth grade.

He's been here since middle school.

And he was part of that seventh and eighth grade team a couple of years ago that won the championship, along with Elijah Griffin.

And so we're excited about Joe and we're hoping that he gets an offer pretty soon.

But he had a tremendous year last year, almost 2000 all purpose yards just a really good back and a really good kid.

So then let me ask you this.

One of the tenets of Savannah Christian when it comes to their head coaches has always been stability.

It's been guys who've been there for a really long time.

They've become a part of the fabric of Savannah Christian, and you're a part of that as well.

What's it been like for you to see what the community means to Savannah?

Christian And yeah, when it comes to all the extracurricular activities, not just football, but from your football perspective, what's it like to see what the community means to Savannah Christian Yeah, so we have a great community.

I mean, Raider Nation, they're always behind, behind football and we have just a great really are parents of our players.

They'll do anything for us but the school they're all around us.

And of course I took over for Donald Charnley.

He was here, I don't know, probably 15 years or so.

But this is I'm going into, I think, my sixth season now.

And so it's just it's just really a blessing.

I mean, I have I hope I'm not going anywhere.

I'm not going anywhere unless they get rid of me.

But I have all three, all three of my children here and now my my wife works here.

And so you know, we're just our whole family's here all the time.

And but the community that we have here, it's 250 acres in Savannah, Christian and everybody supports one another.

The best word to describe it is that, you know, we're family here.

And, you know, we if we call our fans up, hey, we got a home game at 730.

We need everybody to be at the Raider, walk at 615.

They'll line that park lot to support our boys.

And then the tradition that we've had here, of course, Savannah Christian is rich in football tradition.

They've won several state championships set at the smaller level and then one of the GHC.

And so what we want to do as a staff and as players is we want to keep that tradition alive.

And we always talk about to our players as like, hey, you know, play for the Raiders before you and the Raiders that are to come, you know, because we have people with these little guys that come out here and watches every day that are looking forward to being raiders.

And then we have those guys that they had a great experience when they were here and they show up at practice and they watch football practice.

And so it's a it's a great tradition.

It's great family.

And, you know, we can be happy here as a family.

That's right.

Chris, entering your sixth season as the head coach there and many more to come, I'm sure, while we have our last and final bonus question, this question, would you like to share a funny coaching moment, funny coaching, memory, game day, trad game day superstition, huh?

Yeah.

Well, you know, I don't think I don't think I'm going to share that one.

I, I, you know, there's there's several just, you know, funny moments during coaching, but I think I'm just going to go with the tradition part.

I think I think I'll keep that one, too, amongst my coaches, the funny stuff.

So but I think I'll go with the tradition, the traditions part.

Yeah, we have a great tradition here and it all starts kind of on game day and our fans are so supportive, just like a lot of the other programs.

But we set out with a Raider all right in front of our stadium and the guys get to come through.

And especially those incoming freshmen.

Yeah, they never really have seen that.

They come through.

And and all our fans, your fans are out there cheering so long as they come through.

And the cheerleaders are right there, right by the locker room, you know, as as we come in.

And so that's that's very exciting for them.

And then, you know, what we've done here in the past is we give everybody a chip.

You know, we call it an attack chip.

And on the front of that attack chip are those are the goals that our seniors have set.

You know, so maybe like this year or one of our our number one goal is is courage.

It comes from second Timothy one seven.

You know, it says the Lord does not make us timid, but it gives me love, power and self-discipline.

And so we're trying to create young men that are fearless.

And so like on the chip this year to say, like number one, courage.

And they did have the other four goals that the seniors have set and so right before I give the pregame speech or anything like that, you know, right when we're getting ready to get out, we pass this attack chip bucket around and they put the chip in there saying that, hey, they're going to be all in to all of our five goals.

And so, yeah, by the time we do the speech and everything, they throw the chips in there and they're ready to run through a wall and they run out and they always run out to the same music and they run out of big, their big Raider helmet tunnel.

And so that's, that's a really cool tradition.

I think the kids really remember that.

And, you know, when we pick that one word every year to focus in on that one scripture verse to focus in on it sticks with them, you know, And this is a so it's been a really it's really been a good thing for our guys.

And they've kind of really rallied behind it.

And I feel like the what we're doing here, football wise is great, but I think what we're doing in terms of creating young men is even greater.

It's going to last throughout their whole lifetime.

I agree.

Great, great tradition, Coach, Thank you.

And I know another tradition about the funny stuff, but yeah, there's another tradition.

It's the coaches going across th going there to get lunch.

And so that's what triggered in my head.

And now that means I'm hungry and I want to go to that sub shop now and get a sandwich.

That's what I want.

Thank you, Coach, for your time today.

We really appreciate.

All right.

Well, thank you so much for having us.

So we really appreciate.