GHSF Daily asked Georgia head coaches to answer these four questions. We'll report from a different head coach each day.
Mark Myers, Dutchtown
1. Who is/was the most influential person in your coaching career? "I have had the opportunity to be under some very good head coaches in my career. I have learned something valuable from each of them. The two coaches that I feel have really had an influence on my career the most are Jimmy Dorsey, former McEachern head coach and current athletic director, and Kevin Whitley, Stockbridge head coach. I played for Jimmy Dorsey in high school and immediately learned how to win and how important it was to let your players know that you care for them. He still treats all his former players like family to this day. Jimmy is one of the reasons why I wanted to become a coach. As far as running a program, there is no one that I have learned more from than Kevin Whitley. We talk just about every week, and I'm constantly learning how to become a better head coach from him every year."
2. Who is the best Georgia player you ever faced? "As a coach, I would have to say Branden Smith of Washington High School, Atlanta, in 2008. Every game this kid found a way to make an impact. All year I saw teams kick the ball away from him and double-cover him. He still would find a way to be a major impact on the game. Branden ended up having a pretty good career for the University of Georgia, also."
3. What is the best team you ever faced as a coach? "I would have to say the 2010 Sandy Creek team. I was a coach at Stockbridge that year, and we had a pretty good team also. We played them very well, but they just had way too many weapons. There was nothing anyone could do to stop them that year. They were 15-0."
4. If you were Gary Phillips, the new head of the GHSA, what would be the first rule that you would try to change? "I would seriously have to look at the transfer rules. There are just way too many players transferring schools these days and finding loopholes to do it. Other than that I think they're doing just fine."
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