Coach, thanks for hanging out with us when you look back.

Team made the quarterfinals last year.

What are some of the lessons from the 22 season and the 22 team that you're bringing forward here to 2023?

Well, one, you know, we talk a lot about we hope we established a culture where tradition never graduates a year that mattered, maybe a new cast of players, which we do have a lot of new faces, but hopefully they know the standard that we're trying to hit.

And these guys that went before them had a pretty successful run, Like you said, going into the quarterfinals last year in the semifinals a year before.

But I would say probably the biggest thing from last year, saying that we hope to carry over is the resiliency of that team that started off the year old three and then rattled off nine straight wins to get into the quarterfinals.

You know, it just basically has kept fighting, you know, And I feel like that was the only way that we could get out of the hole that we had dug was to fight out of it.

And hopefully this year's team learn a little bit from that and will carry it on to this season.

You're heading into your fifth season as head coach of the Patriots team.

You mentioned new faces.

How is practice going with those new faces and how does the team look overall?

You know, it's been exciting in a lot of ways.

Be honest with you when you've had we've lost some guys that started for three years and, you know, you got some new faces in there.

And one, as coaches, we had to remember, you know, we can't expect them to do the same thing that the guy that just left did just yet.

Does it mean we're not going to expect them to get to that point?

But it's also fun in that, you know, while you may have been coaching, just the finer points with some of those kids that had a lot of experience, now we kind of get to go back a little bit to the grass roots of coaching and and have fun with that and make sure kids know the fundamentals.

But they worked hard.

This thing basically here at Wilcox and thing I'd say about the kids is they're they're willing to do what we asked them to do.

Sometimes it's harder to get it out of them than other days.

But don't get me wrong, they they want to do right.

They want to please us.

And so it's been fun.

Summer with great turnout and weight room and workouts and volunteer practices.

And we're getting better.

We're not where we want to be just yet, but I see that we have a chance.

The ingredients are there again for a successful season.

You're in region four in single-A.

They're in Division two.

It's a region with Telfair, Dooley, Wheeler, Hawkins, Ville and Truitt.

But that only fills up half of your schedule.

You mentioned last year coming out of the blocks at oh and three when you look at that schedule this year, how does it apply to to what you're trying to do this year?

We're just like we wanted to do last year.

We wanted to play tough teams early to get us ready for region play and we know it'll do it again.

We've come out this year with Lamar County, who was a region champion last year in Blakely County, who's gone far in the playoffs and Pelham all schools that are bigger than us.

And you know, we're hoping that, you know, if we if we don't get beat up too bad, you know, maybe we'll learn how to play football the right way against good competition and then be able to use that once we get to region play.

And, you know, you would hope that maybe by playing those teams when I get to task, they'll know how to respond.

One of the biggest topics in the offseason is recruiting.

So tell us about some of your guys getting some big offers and then also someone who deserves an offer.

Yeah, you know, been very fortunate here at Wilcox.

In the four years that I've been here, we've had 18 kids sign a scholarship at some level, and that's pretty good for a school with only three kids in it.

So we're excited about this year's crop we have.

B.J.

Gibson is a four star wide receiver who has committed to Florida State.

He is a very great special player and he's also a high level baseball player.

He's going to go to FSU and play both.

We believe that Trey Coley, who plays linebacker force, is a is a player that's going to be deserving of an offer.

Offensive lineman.

Defensive lineman Beach excuse me, Bobby Hilliard, I think is going to be a solid player and he needs an offer and we got other guys as well.

But you know, basically our kids know that how the recruiting calendar kind of goes is that the power five schools get who they want first and it kind of works its way on through down to the smaller schools.

And just because you may not have an offer just yet, does it mean that a college won't want you in the end?

You just got to be patient and wait for your time to come and make sure you put the film out there and get in the classroom and make the grades so that when that time comes, you're ready to answer the call.

I've been there, you and I talked there on campus a lot, and I've got the chance to see what football means to everybody there in Rochelle and in Wilcox County.

For someone who's never had the chance to go down and see a game at Donnie Clark, to be there on a Friday night, to be a part of what extracurriculars mean to Wilcox County, what does it mean for someone who's never been there as well?

For one thing, when you come to Donnie Clark, you know there's a reason why you're there.

You don't come to Wilcox County just for the heck of it.

I mean, we're kind of off the beaten path, and I'm proud of that fact.

And we hang our hat on that.

We tell our kids, you know, this is a special place and we're kind of not known by everybody.

We're out in the middle of nowhere.

Basically, football is all there is.

I mean, if you're not farm and you're playing football and it's important.

And so every Friday night when we have a home game here in Rochelle, you know, it's a way for the community to get behind their team.

And they're proud of these young men and what they've worked for and how they represent our community.

Our players love playing in front of them and, you know, it's an exciting time.

I'm getting chill bumps just thinking about the Friday nights that we were able to enjoy.

When this thing gets full, there's not a better class.

I placed up to watch a football game, I can assure you that gives me chills to a coach.

Well, last question for you.

I hear you have a funny coaching moment that you would like to share with us.

Let's hear it.

Well, there's a lot of I'm but to be honest with the one that comes to my mind right off the bat is also going to be involving my son Jace, though, who coached for me his first year.

This is a couple of years ago.

He's now at Hart County High School.

And so anyway, I'll go ahead and start at the end of the story and come back and just walk you through it.

Okay.

We came in, you know, after the game, the first game of the season at home, and I look on top of a refrigerator that's in our coaches office and I see different types of green camouflage paint cans.

And I'm thinking to myself, you know, what in the world is, is this stuff one doing in here?

And then why is it in here and all this kind of stuff?

So come to find out.

My son Jay had painted the wrong number on the wrong line and had gone down to the local hardware shop.

We might not have a lot of stuff and we'll cut scanning.

But when it comes to hunting supplies, we had it and he bought him some camouflage paint and he painted over that sucker, made it look like, you know, just regular old grass.

But I guess that was that resourceful, funny moment of using some camouflage to mess up.

I mean, to mess up.

So lots of green paint there.

Got it was.

That's right.

Yeah.

We can do the candlelight with the bass.

Oh, that's hilarious.

Thanks for sharing.

That was a good one.

Oh, man.

Rob, thanks for doing this.

We really appreciate it.