GHSF Daily asked Georgia head coaches to answer these four questions. We'll report from a different head coach each day.
Lee Shaw, Rabun County
1. What is the most memorable game you've been a part of as a player or coach? "I've been fortunate to have coached in several memorable games during my career. The game I seem to talk about the most would be the 2009 quarterfinal game against Carver-Columbus. We had to play them in Columbus, and they were loaded. The stars lined up on this particular Friday night and we upset, in my opinion, the best AAA team in the state. I've made the comment that if we had played Carver-Columbus 200 more times, we would get beat, but for one special night and two fourth-down conversions late in the game, the biggest upset win in my tenure as head coach at Flowery Branch happened. It solidified the truth that anything can happen on a Friday night."
2. Which high school coach would you want your son to play for, and why? "I would have loved for Jaybo and Connor to have played for coach Jay Russell. I was an assistant coach for Coach Russell at Rabun County the 1993 season and at Stephens County the '94 season. Coach Russell was a perfect example of how building a personal relationship with players and coaches, motivating the players with some mojo and keeping the game of football in perspective could influence and make a difference in everyone associated with the game of football. Coach Jay Russell was a tremendous 'difference maker' during his tenure as a football coach." [Russell is now the assistant executive director of the Georgia High School Association.]
3. What is your favorite saying/motto? "My favorite saying is, 'It's the hard that makes it good!' I believe that if a team wants to go from bad to good or good to great, you must go through the hard. You have to suffer together."
4. Which GHSA policy or high school football rule would you most like to see changed? "I would love for the GHSA to allow teams to play a jamboree scrimmage at the end of spring practice. It would give players a purpose for a great spring practice and it would excite the community while adding another gate to the athletic budget, which we all need!"
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