GHSF Daily's first Four Questions of the season features Adam Clack, head coach of defending Class AAAAAAA champion Milton. His team became only the second outside of Gwinnett County or south Georgia to win the title in the highest class over the past 20 years when the Eagles defeated Colquitt County, 14-13, in the Dec. 12 championship game at Mercedes-Benz Stadium.
Adam Clack, Milton head coach
1. What has the offseason been like as defending state champion compared to previous seasons? "It's all uncharted territory for me and the staff and the community with all the things that have gone on with the state championship, from getting the rings to going to the capitol and the board of education to be recognized. We finished in the top 50 of MaxPreps' national rankings and they came to a basketball game to honor us. We've continued to do what we're supposed to do in January, February and March to follow the process that got us successful in the first place. As good a season as it was, we don't want to be one of those programs that can't answer the bell."
2. Teams from outside Gwinnett County and south Georgia almost never win state titles in the highest classification. Is this a signal of a new era? "I think you're seeing parity start to take shape in the landscape of Georgia high school football, whether it's Fulton County or Cobb County or teams in the middle of the state. I don't know if this is a signal that football is not as great in Region 1 or particularly Gwinnett County. They've been good because they made football and athletics important decades ago. They're still bearing fruits of that today. They really jumped ahead of everybody, and now you're seeing different counties catching up. I know in Fulton County, in every region that Fulton County competed in last season, we won it. Maybe there's something to be said about that. Time will tell." [Fact check: Clack is correct. Fulton County school district programs won the seven regions that housed their 16 schools — 2-AAAAAAA (Westlake), 4-AAAAAAA (Roswell), 5-AAAAAAA (Milton), 5-AAAAAA (Creekside), 7-AAAAAA (Johns Creek), 6-AAAAA (Banneker) and 6-AA (Hapeville Charter).
3. How realistic is another deep run in the playoffs? "I don't know how realistic running the playoffs is. It's not something we talked a lot about last year, and it's not something we've talked about this year either, as cliche as that sounds. We want to give ourselves a shot to have a shot. That just means take care of business in the regular season to get into the tournament, and once we get there, get to where we can win on any given night. What's exciting this year is we could be built to be a November-December kind of team that's able to run the football and is stingy against the run. I think we'll be disciplined. I think we'll buy into our core values of brotherhood, effort and toughness, and when we show up and our backs are against the wall, we can count on the guy to the right and left, that he'll fight for 48 minutes. We have a great non-region schedule to test ourselves, and we'll take it from there." [Milton opens with Buford in the Corky Kell Classic.]
4. What do you think of the GHSA's move to Georgia State for the finals? "It's kind of a shame that we made a run through the playoffs last year and didn't put away the money financially that I've heard other teams have made in the third round. We technically had three home games, and I've never seen a crowd like we drew to Mercedes-Benz. Fans came out in droves. But it costs money to make those runs. It is definitely a very cool experience to play at Mercedes-Benz, but if they cannot make it affordable for the GHSA and the schools, it isn't worth it, in my opinion. Georgia State was a fun venue to play in last year [for the Corky Kell Classic.] But if we're fortunate to get to the championship again, we'd play in Piedmont Park if that was more beneficial for my program."
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