GHSF Daily asked Georgia head coaches to answer these four questions. We'll report from a different head coach each day.
Leroy Ryals, Thomasville
1. What is the most memorable game you've been a part of as a player or coach? "My most memorable coaching experience was in 2009. I was at Clarke Central and we were playing [No. 2-ranked] Southwest DeKalb in the second round of the state playoffs. They had about eight D-I athletes and plenty of others that went on to play at the next level. We were huge underdogs as everybody expected it to be a blowout for SWD. What I remember is that our kids were not worried at all about that. They actually had more confidence than the coaches. Needless to say, we played the best game of the year and went on to win the game. That game propelled us to make a state championship game run." [Clarke Central beat Southwest DeKalb 19-17 and eventually lost to Sandy Creek in the Class AAAA final.]
2. Which high school coach would you want your son to play for, and why? "The high school coach I would want my son to play for is my high school coach, Jim Price in Florida. He taught me so much more than football. He taught me life!"
3. What is your pet peeve as a coach or favorite saying/motto? "My pet peeve as a coach is allowing complacency from your players. My favorite thing to say is a saying I got from Bobby Bowden years ago: 'You get what you demand.'"
4. Which GHSA policy or high school football rule would you most like to see changed? "I wish the GHSA could move the football season back at least a week so that we can have more time to prepare in pads for the season. Most schools start at the beginning of August. We start Aug. 3. With the first day of contact being Aug. 1, that doesn't give us much time to get acclimated to pads and prepare for the contact of a football game."
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