Marietta ready for game against 'incredible, tough' North Cobb

1. What did the win over Walton do for your team, and what will you remember about it?

“I thought it was one of those games that was a real defining moment for the character of our team as we’re continuing to build and lay the foundation of what we want our program to be based on. To go on the road and play, it was a great environment. Walton’s a really well-coached team. Coach (Daniel) Brunner and his staff do a great job and (have a) talented group to go and just battle to the end. And I told our guys, at the end, I was proud. No matter what was going to happen in overtime, I was proud because we just continued to fight, we continued to believe in one another and felt the encouragement on the sideline. It was through the roof, and we played to the last whistle, and we were fortunate to make a play there at the end to win in double overtime. I was just really proud of our guys’ display of love for one another and toughness throughout the game on the road against a really talented Walton group.”

2. What drew you to Marietta this offseason, and how have you combined the culture you want with the school’s rich traditions?

“When I was at Edgewater, we came up here and played in 2019, and we lost but played well. We ended up playing for a state championship that year, and of course Marietta won it (in Georgia’s Class 7A), but we played up here at Northcutt (Stadium), and it was actually six years ago from Oct. 6 when we were here. [Marietta won 39-24.] So, I remember leaving and going, ‘Man, this place is special and what a community and what an environment and what rich history.’ And of course, they had great success and played for a state championship that year. But fast forward when our administration reached out with the job opening, it was something that I had to look at, and it was a lot of prayer on my end and my wife’s end, and we had two little girls. We loved where we were, but we felt like if this is where God wanted us to be, that he would open the doors for us. And then, and we asked the entire time, our prayer was, ‘God, bless it or block it.’ And things kind of continued to fall in order for us to be here, and we’re very fortunate and I’m very excited to be the head football coach at Marietta. The rich history and traditions, we want to make sure we not only embrace it, but we become part of it. There’s so much great history, so many great players and coaches that have come before myself.”

3. What will it take to bring Marietta back to competing with the state’s best teams?

“We want to invest in all aspects of our program from our middle school into our (Marietta Youth Football League) and make sure that we continue to build from our grassroots that we have here in Marietta. We want to have a program that is truly based on guys that love one another, that are going to not just play for one another, but that are going to try to build this program back to what we all want it to be because of the love that they have for one another and the love that they have for our great school and community. We’re very fortunate that we have such great, rich history and there’s deep Blue Devil pride here, and that’s awesome. We don’t talk way about the future. We talk about right now and trying to continue to focus on the present and getting better one day at a time. But we want to build a program on selflessness, toughness and great leadership. This group is doing that this year, and I’m really proud of where we are.”

4. What is your message to the team entering a massive game against North Cobb?

“Our message has been what it’s been all year: We get a chance to renew our mind daily. (Last) Friday was a great game against Walton, but we want to renew our mind daily and focus on the task that’s at hand. And we’re trying to get better today. Our guys started off 0-4, and there’s a lot of teams that would have folded or would have really packed it in, and our guys didn’t. And I’m so proud of that character that has been developed, and we’ve been able to win three region games in a row. We’ve got an incredible, tough opponent in North Cobb. Coach (Shane) Queen does an incredible job, great program. They’re coming to us, but we have a chance to go and hopefully find a way to get another region win against a great opponent.”