Coach, thanks for hanging out with us.

Obviously coming from last year to this year, what's the biggest lesson that you carry from the 22 season here into 23?

Well, you know, our our experience coming back this year is phenomenal.

I mean, we got 36 seniors coming back.

So a lot of those guys got a lot of experience last year and a lot of learning curve.

Last year, I would broken a new quarterback.

That's throwing the ball around a little bit more than they did in the old school.

And so so there's been a lot of a lot of new things.

We lost to Wear County last year ends up winning it.

And where we've been past four years since I've been at John's, we've lost to the state champions.

So hopefully we can get over the hump this year and beat those guys.

You've made a run in the playoffs all four seasons with the greyhounds heading into your fifth season.

How's practice?

How are your guys?

Give us an update on everything that you've been seeing out there on the field so far.

Well, with with the 36 seniors that we have coming back, practice has been really, really good.

I mean, that's expected with a with a veteran group.

That's the most seniors I've ever been a part of.

And and so so so we're excited about this year.

We've had a really, really good season.

We just got back from Georgia and the 707 and our 32 teams in and we won the seven or seven.

But I tell our guys, that's not real football.

Football is about tackling and blocking and tackling and so.

So you don't do that at seven or seven.

But we did have a good 707 deal at Georgia and went over to Auburn and had a pretty good day over there too as well.

And now we're starting to get more into real football coming into July and we're excited to see our guys put on pads when we get to August 1st.

When you look at things in Region 25a, it's a region with Dutch town, Warner Robins, all of you guys, Union Grove, Eagles Landing, Locust Grove.

When you look at your region this year and your nine region schedule, what do you see playing out?

The region is tough.

I mean, you take those town and Warner Robins post both semifinalists.

Last year when I was played for they played for the past, I guess five or six years now.

I mean, so our our region is tough all up.

All of the tough team, Are they past few years, We've had some battles with those guys.

They do a really good job up there.

And and so we've got a tough, tough region schedule.

But non-res.

And we start the year off with a scrimmage game against Buford.

Then we play North Side in the kickoff classic at Mercer and then Peach County and Perry has had a really, really good year the past few years and our past few years they've had.

And so we got we got tough, tough non-res schedules.

Well, yeah, to say the least.

That's going to be a tough scrimmage, Coach.

Tell me about some of your players who are getting college offers and a kid for Make that Kid an offer segment who should be getting college looks.

Well, right now we've had a good season with with some offers.

We have signed Reagans who's who's going to be committing here.

So he's got offers from Georgia and Oklahoma and several Florida State, several almost every school in the country.

And then you got Tyler Stewart, who's had a really good year last year, don't really have a good year this year.

He's committed to Temple, where we have a safety Javon.

But who's committed to or just got off North Carolina really likes those guys and some other places.

So Kurt Anderson, our quarterback, has got a miami offer or he's committed to Miami excuse me.

And then I think I'm missing somebody.

Oh, Javon Solomon is another receiver.

So we got three receivers with Division one offers.

He's got a Pittsburgh golfer and so we got a good little group coming back.

If I had to pick somebody we like I say, we got 36 seniors and there's several guys that could play.

But right now I have I have two offensive linemen.

Will Aggie Dell out there in Cleveland who are both really, really big kids and athletic kids and both of those guys, I think some colleges guys are missing out on.

Right now, they're both 162 and one of that most athletic offensive linemen I ever had That's their Cleveland and we'll Agudelo is a six 3 to 85 both of them are for our students and just great leaders on the team.

So I think some guys are missing out by not offering them.

But linemen at the lower levels get offered late, so I think they'll pick them, pick some up here over the next few months.

Coach, it sounds like you're going to be throwing the ball just.

Yeah, just got those big guys right there making sure that that that judge is got enough time to sit there and throw.

Let me let me ask you this.

Every time that I come to see you, one of the things that I always do is I make a point to stop at all Clinton barbecue right there on the Great Highway.

So I know what I'm getting into every single time I get to Jones County.

For someone who's never been to Gray, never been to Jones, to see a game there, what does football mean to Jones County and to Gray?

I'll tell you, it's not it's not just football.

It's there.

Before every sport in gray.

Our community loves athletics and they come out and support man.

Really like no other place I've been will have people tailgating before the games and I mean they just set up tents and and have a good time especially if it's a big game that they'll that'll be fun we'll have a blow up house for kids out there.

I mean it's a really good atmosphere and and and our fans love love their sports and they love John's football.

Last question for you, Coach.

We love making you think on these shows.

It's a funny coaching moment over your coaching career that you'd like to share.

Well, when I was coach of the House of Charity Shoot back in the late 2013, we started January over there and the first day I I'm running the weight room and I got a girls softball class.

And the first thing I want to do the first day is make sure they're good on squats because we're in the middle and where they're in starting off their all season, we got to start off hitting it full speed and and I want to make sure they're good at squat.

So I'm I'm demonstrating the squat by going up against the wall.

And so I look, you don't want to me you don't want your knees going out over your toes.

And so I'll go down to do a squat and I'm telling you my shorts.

That's why flap open.

I'm not talking about the little small.

No, no, no.

They, they, they remove from from the bottom of the shorts all the way up to the weight now and it made a loud noise and and I'll tell you, I backed out of that white robe and the girls, they could laugh like they couldn't stop laughing.

So that was that was probably the probably the funniest coach moment I.