UGA football great enjoying 1st coaching experience, ‘expanding the toolbox’
At first, senior linebacker Jaxon Holly didn’t realize what he was getting when NFL great Justin Houston became his position coach.
Then Holly, a Florida State commit, saw NFL highlights of Houston “wrecking stuff,” and the weight of Roswell’s new hire hit him.
“I was like, ‘OK, this man went to Georgia. He played in the NFL for 13 years, and this man is an edge rusher, who I want to be,’” Holly said. “So I’m just learning everything he’s teaching me and trying to pick at my craft.”
Roswell coach Jonathan Thompson asked Houston — a former AJC Super 11 selection at Statesboro, All-SEC defender and NFL All-Pro — to join the staff in April. Houston’s son, Justin Houston Jr., is a freshman for the Hornets.
The younger Houston is in his second season of football and, according to the father, “you’ll hear about him soon.”
Houston’s first game with Class 6A No. 7 Roswell was certainly memorable. The Hornets overcame an early 14-0 deficit to beat Walton 32-20. Holly made the first key play of the comeback, a 58-yard interception returned for a touchdown.
“You can never base a game off the first quarter because that’s not the game,” Houston told The Atlanta Journal-Constitution after the win. “That’s not always how it’s going to go.
“It just showed that these guys can take a punch, and they can keep going. They’ve been working hard, they’ve been busting their tail, and they came out here and showed it tonight.”
This season is Houston’s first as a coach in any capacity. Houston said he’s “having fun with it” but isn’t sure how long he wants to do it.
Thompson has already seen Houston’s presence pay dividends in his players’ technique and confidence.
“He’s just expanding the toolbox for those guys,” Thompson said. “I think that’s the biggest thing, is those kids feel that it doesn’t matter whether they get quick-set or whether they get whatever, they’re prepared because their toolbox has been expanded.”
Partially famous for giving rookie offensive linemen “welcome to the NFL moments,” Houston says he hasn’t had his “welcome to coaching moment” yet.
He has simply enjoyed watching those toolboxes expand and produce a strong start to Roswell’s second season under Thompson.
“Just being here for a few months, you can see the work they put in and the daily growth,” Houston said. “That’s what you want to see, and that’s the enjoyment of it.”
