Hey, Coach Davis, you made it to the quarterfinals in your first year as a head coach with the Wildcats.

What did you learn last year?

Well, I learned that that was the whole year was a was a struggle for me.

I've always been the an office coordinator.

I call plays.

The big adjustment was me was having still to call the plays but be the head coach on the sidelines.

It like it was a first year in my 29 years of coaching I'd ever been on the sidelines for a football game unless it was, you know, some kind of situation in the second half.

So that was really, you know, and just also just managing people, you know, before all the years I've been an assistant, I just kind of worried about what I was in charge of.

Now charge George everything.

And, you know, being able to and I'm not a micromanager, I've got great assistant.

So, you know, I was able to delegated just but just, just, you know, having your time and being over everything as opposed to just being over a little bit.

That was that was a big change for me.

So what have spring and summer been like for you?

I know that you've got camp going on right now, but what's spring and summer been like getting ready for 23 season?

Well, we've had it.

We've actually we've got a really good spring.

We went the second week in May to a few weeks off and then we've had a really good summer.

We went to Georgia seven or seven.

We start out with some other teams and we've kind of adjusted the way, you know, my philosophy in the summer.

We're practicing a little bit more than I've done in the past, which I felt like we've got a lot of young kids that needed some work, so we've kind of doing more team stuff where as opposed to, you know, in the past, we've always just done our our weightlifting and our speedwork and then, you know, send them home.

Now we're doing, you know, doing the weights for doing the speed and then we're practice and on top of that.

So but we've had a great summer, a great, great participation, great turnout.

So, Coach, when you take a look at your schedule, you're going to be playing a lot of non region games because you only have three region games.

That's region eight single-A D1 you have Albert Coleman, Commerce, Athens, Christian.

When you when you take a look at that, what do you see?

Well, you know, like last year we were on the road.

I mean we drove we went to Haralson County.

We heard County.

The one thing I see, we're playing those same teams really good, good football, but we're good.

Those teams grew up to come to us.

This year.

We don't have to drive as much, but you know, but we like I said, we did we did have to go get seven non region games.

You know, we're playing, you know, a tough schedule.

We got Saint Francis, we got a fellowship Christian who's a who's a really good football team, you know, a daredevil who was I think is right for us right now preseason poll, triple-A, you know, and then you got Stephens County, who's the next county over, is a big rival for what might a deep run in the playoffs last year.

So we've got a really challenge and schedule.

I'm looking forward to it.

Our kids are looking forward to our coaches are.

But, you know, there's no there's no cupcakes on our schedule, by no means.

So when you look at the group of seniors that are going to be there for you this year, I know that you're going to have coaches who are giving your senior class looks.

Is there any one or might be a couple of names really quickly that would qualify for the make that kid an offer?

Part of things where for whatever reason, they're not getting the looks that they should?

Is there anybody that you would sit there and classify as make that kid an offer material?

Yeah, I've got two kids.

I've got I've got a big of Islam and Islam named Jack Hood, Jack's Jack six five and a half, about 245.

He is going to be somebody is going to get a they're going to get a dime and a rough with him because in two years he's going to be about to 75 to 80.

You know, like I said, he he's a basketball player.

He's very athletic.

He's just going to keep getting bigger, very physical kid.

So somebody is going to get a dime with him.

And that guy, also another kid named Paul Piscotty, who is a he plays outside linebacker but is a hybrid guy force on offense, plays tight end receiver, H-Back.

You know, he's about six foot he's about 195, just kind of a Swiss Army knife.

He do a little bit of everything.

I think some people are going to get some some really good football players to take chances on those two kids.

Using your words, Coach, you say you're up there in God's country.

It is beautiful in the mountains.

What does football mean to Rayburn County?

Well, you know, I have been and I say this I've been in Calhoun for for about 20 years.

And it's the same feeling.

On Friday nights, the town shuts down up here.

The stands are packed.

People really love.

It's always show in town.

You know, we were one school county.

I mean, you know, there's a private school, right.

And Gap, of course, But we're the only public school.

So, I mean, everybody loves our football up here.

And there's a lot of rich tradition that, you know, a lot of great players, great teams have been through the years, have been up here, a lot of great coaches.

So, you know, just just just tradition, the turnout support.

You couldn't ask for anything better.

And then our bonus question, Coach, I think you have a superstition that you would like to share.

Well, yeah, I mean, I'd like tradition slash superstition, like when when my little girls, when they were when they were younger, we would always go to breakfast on Friday on game day.

So every Friday morning we would go to a game.

And so over the year we did a every game, I mean, through the year out.

Now they've all, you know, they're both out of schools and whatever.

So when they left, I end up having to take somebody, so I end up taking the quarterbacks.

So I would make them for breakfast.

And so I've kind of kept that going over the years.

But the superstition I have is that whatever I'm wearing when we win that first game, I'm pretty much going to wear that the rest of the time.

From the time I wake up on Friday, Friday morning to Friday walkthroughs to what I'll wear Friday night, I mean, it doesn't change.

And so what's happened is like, you know, last year we got on a pretty good run and we won those 11 games in a row.

The first year I was in shorts and a t shirt.

And by the time we got to week 11, it was ice cold where we did t walk and now there were shorts and a t shirt on and a but I got, you know, superstitious.

I could change and I did change on one Friday night.

Wore something different.

My daughter, my my daughters and my wife saw and they my daughter come right up to me at halftime.

I want to know why I changed clothes, why I was not wearing the same thing because they know I've been like that.

Their entire life.

So.