Rockdale County coach on ‘electrifying’ win, first winning season since 2013

1. What was Friday’s game like? What were the big moments?

“It was electrifying. It was a big 6A Region 4 matchup. For us, the more we win, the closer we get at a shot at making the state playoffs. They were up 21-6 at halftime. We had four turnovers. In the locker room, one of my messages was we’ve got 24 minutes to do what they did to us. They’ve got a 15-point lead, and we’ve got to cover the spread. Our guys came out and responded. Our quarterback (Deontae Burtts) had a MVP night (throwing for 363 yards), by far the best game in my three years of coaching this kid. He and Jaylen Thomas connected on a pair of touchdowns, one 72 yards and one 17 yards. It was 28-28 in the fourth quarter. We got in field goal range and had a chance to seal it in regulation, but we missed the 30 yard field goal. I just knew it was a shoo in because our kicker is pretty good. In overtime, we punched it in with a touchdown run by sophomore Malachi Veasley. When we went to kick the PAT, we made it, but a false start was called. So they moved it back, and then I almost had a heart attack because they blocked it. But our defense, led by Emmanuel Johnson, a four-year starter led that next series making a game-winning sack on fourth-and-9 to put it away.”

2. What was the strategy for you as a coach, knowing that Rockdale was struggling already in the second-highest classification, to get news that you’re moving up to the highest to be in a region with Grayson, Archer and Newton? How do you compete with that?

“You hire a dynamic coaching staff. I have a veteran coaching staff. My offensive coordinator is Everett Nicholas, who has 30-something years of experience. He was part of championship teams at Cedar Grove. The defensive coordinator, Brandon Lang, played at Troy (and the NFL and CFL briefly) and was a defensive coordinator at Tucker. I have four alumni who played at Rockdale County and played college football at various places. They bring so much pride back to Rockdale. I have two coaches who have been at Rockdale for eight years. I have Ethenic Sands, who played at Miami, as the quarterbacks coach. My assistant head coach is Tyree Robinson, who played at Eastern Kentucky. And the list goes on and on. The quality of coaches I have is what propels us to be in a position to overachieve. I told our kids one time this season that between all the coaches on our staff, with playing and coaching years, we have over 300 years of knowledge. That’s what we lean our hat on.”

3. What would you want people to know about this year’s team?

“The thing I’d like people to know is that the player buy-in is there as far as students in the school now wanting to be part of what we’re doing. I believe it’s because of the pride that players take in everything they do on campus, from the way they approach every day. On Thursday, the players wear track suits to school, all 100 players, with red team track suits. On Friday, they come back in red blazers, white button-down shirts, black ties and khaki pants. We treat Friday as a business trip, like we’re going to a college football game. Our pride is bleeding through the school. They take pride in their appearance on campus. Our motto is Protect the Rock. They do a good job with that brand. I don’t think I have enough equipment for the people coming out next year. We only graduate 13 seniors. We’ve got 84 kids coming back next year. We’ll do everything we can in the offseason to make sure they are ready to play football for the 2026 season.”

4. You’ve had success at two programs that were in dire straits when they hired you and made them competitive. What’s the secret?

“The biggest thing in turning a program around is being patient. My super power when it comes to it is to go into year one and be more of an observant leader. As I sit on the highest seat in the program, I’m still more observant than I am implementing my system. A lot of people make the mistake of doing everything their way. It’s not a college staff where you bring in all these people. Sometimes you have to work with some coaches already there. I don’t come in and start barking orders at everybody. As time goes on, implement your own principals and morals. I do a lot of surveying of players and previous coaches and ask questions. What was the previous experience like? What could’ve made it a better experience? I use the feedback and cultivate a plan and implement slowly. It’s worked for me.”