GHSF Daily's Four Questions feature historically poses the same questions to a different Georgia head coach each issue. This season, head coaches are being asked Four Questions tailored to current events. Today's interviewee is Forsyth Central coach Frank Hepler, whose team is 6-3 after an 0-10 finish in 2017. Forsyth Central defeated defending Region 5-AAAAAAA champion South Forsyth 26-21 last week to clinch the Bulldogs' first playoff berth since 2000.
Frank Hepler, Forsyth Central head coach
1. What did that victory over South Forsyth mean for the program and community? "Well, because of where we were at a year ago, it was a tremendous victory for our program. South is a very well-respected program with good kids and coaches. And to be able to compete and win shows that our process is heading in the right direction. As far as the community goes, I run into Central alum all the time, some dating back to the '50s, and they want to know, 'Hey, can we win at Central?' I tell them all the time we are working hard and the boys have great attitudes and that we're doing everything we can to produce wins."
2. What's the difference between this team and last year's and the original team that you inherited in 2016? "As you know, high school teams in most areas ebb and flow. Central was down some when I first got here. The previous staff worked very hard with the players, and they had a good work ethic. We just changed some things around in the weight room and on the field and with our schemes. We also have grown in population over the past three years, which helps tremendously. We first went out and got with the other coaches on campus and got some athletes from around the school that weren't out before and got them out, and that has helped a bunch."
3. There have been good teams in Forsyth County, including a couple that you had at West Forsyth, but what do you think needs to happen to push one or two of them over the top so that they're playing for state titles? "I think the football in Forsyth is pretty good and will continue to get better as this area continues to grow. Dr. [Jeff] Bearden, our superintendent, supports athletics tremendously and is going to make sure we are doing things the right way. And he supports us and his administrative teams greatly, and that is half the battle right there. I know this year at Central we are adding to our stadium seating, stadium locker rooms and concessions to catch up with the other schools in the county. The facilities at these schools are excellent and getting better all of the time. They realize here that students that are involved are better academically, socially and mentally. As far as pushing over the top as state champs, I think in the near future you may see one of the Forsyth schools get to the Dome. Each school already has numerous players playing D-I all over the country, and that is a sign that it could happen soon."
4. What brought you back to Forsyth County? What makes it home for you? [Helper started the program at West Forsyth in 2007; his teams were 51-18 in seven seasons with a region title in 2012.] "We left in 2014 after seven wonderful years at West Forsyth to attend to my wife's ill mom. She sadly passed away that year. We were prepared to stay in Florida if necessary, but financially we could not stay after she passed. It was tremendously hard coming back only for the fact that my daughter was still there with her husband and my two grandchildren. (I had to mention them). But we loved Forsyth, and when we decided to come back to Georgia that is where I looked first. But Discovery High School in Gwinnett was opening, and I applied there and was hired to be their first head coach. After many unexpected changes at Discovery after the first semester, I saw that the Central job was open, and being that we loved being in Forsyth, I jumped at the chance to get back there. Now many people told me I was crazy to take the Central job because they were not doing as well as the other Forsyth schools and that they were going to jump from 5A to 7A. We said, 'Well there are great people there in place and this would be a great challenge.' We had taken a program like Plantation High School in Florida to national rankings and then opened and had success at a new school in Georgia, West Forsyth, so I thought taking the Central job would be the toughest challenge we have had as a coach. And so far we have had a great time working and living The Process here at Central."
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