Riverside Prep coach: End of 35-game losing streak was ‘an emotional time’

Today’s Four Questions interviewee is Riverside Prep coach Jeff Lee, whose team defeated Cross Keys 36-6 last week to end a 35-game losing streak. Lee has been a head coach for 36 seasons at nine schools, seven in Georgia and two in Florida. He took the Riverside job in 2024.

1. What did it mean to your team to get the win? As Cross Keys also was a team on a 35-game losing streak, did you schedule in a way that would give you that opportunity?

“It was ironic the way the game came about. I don’t get our kids during the summer like I used to for 39 or 40 years (coaching at more traditional high schools). We’re a boarding school, and most of our kid are not local. We were playing our first game two weeks after getting our kids together. So, what I did was drop that first game and make that an open date. That gave us an extra week to get ready.

“As far as what it meant, one of our seniors said to me after we were up 7-0 that it’s the first time we’ve been ahead at home since he’s been here. It was an emotional time for a lot of people sitting in those stands. I’m happy for the kids, the fans and the community.”

Notes: Cross Keys saw that Riverside had an open date on the second weekend of the season and agreed to a game that coincidentally matched teams with losing streaks. Riverside junior quarterback J.J. Blackwell scored two touchdowns and passed for two in the win.

2. What is Riverside Prep? The makeup of the student body and the football team?

“The school has been around since 1907. It started out as Riverside Military Academy. It maintained that name until the last two years, and it was rebranded as Riverside Preparatory Academy. We still have the military aspect, and it will not go away, but we’re trying to rebrand because of what happened when I wasn’t here. When COVID hit (in 2020), they sent the students home and they didn’t play football the next year because they couldn’t bring them back in time. That hurt the school with enrollment. This campus at one time was housing 400 to 500 kids. Our enrollment now is 150. COVID did a number on us and the school, but we’re making a comeback. We’re slowly getting that momentum back.

“This year we’ve had more outside interest than since I got here in February 2024. We’re pushing the academic side more than in the past to attract those kinds of kids. And we have a military. Our kids go through more in one day that most do in a week. The beds have to be made right and their clothes have to be hung. They have to dress with an appropriate uniform of the day. For example, on Friday, they drill in the morning with fatigues and boots, and we’re expected to have them ready to go for a game when they’ve had a whole load of classes.

“I try to tell the players: We’re different in a good way, and we need to take advantage of that. We have them from all over the nation. We have a huge base in Georgia, but it’s not considered a local kid within that 30-mile radius. We finished last season with 16 players (dressed out on varsity.) Nineteen (from the entire program) returned. Our roster size is at the 40 mark now.”

Note: Riverside won a GIAA championship in 2005. It played in the GHSA from 2008 until 2021 and produced an NFL player, Khalid Duke. Riverside has played in the GIAA since 2022.

3. What are some things you’re implementing to rebuild the program that would be different from a traditional high school?

“The first thing was to get relationships going and see what the players wanted out of the program. What do they want to see happen? They said they wanted Friday to be fun. So, what does that look like? They said they wanted to win. OK, here are the steps: Get in the weight room, get faster. A cornerstone is our speed program, and that’s evidenced in our track and field performance. So, this wasn’t about making this mine. I could’ve approached it differently with, ‘This is how we do it. If you don’t like it, hit the door.’ That would not have been effective here.”