Macon County coach says rivalry game between undefeated teams will be ‘electric’
Today’s Four Questions interviewee is Macon County coach Sheddrick Risper, whose 5-0 team faces rival Taylor County, also undefeated, on Friday. Both are ranked in Class A with Macon County at No. 5 and Taylor County at No. 3. Risper was previously the coach at Westside in Macon from 2009 to 2025 and left as Bibb County Schools winningest coach since integration.
1. Going into this season, which is your first season at Macon County, did you have a sense that you all were going to be good? And if yes, what made you feel that way?
“I knew that we could be pretty good once I saw that everybody was buying in to the way that I run a football program. Just discipline, and just playing hard and being a good person. So once I saw the buy-in, I kind of felt like with the pieces and the talent that they had coming back that we could make a pretty good run.”
2. This Friday you play rival Taylor County, which is also undefeated. What will that be like?
“I think it’s going to be a really good competitive football game between two really good football teams, and the atmosphere is going to be electric, because we’re expecting a huge crowd here. It will be exciting for our kids just to experience this as players. And as students, it gives them an opportunity to show school pride and school spirit. You’ve got two undefeated teams and it’s a rivalry game. So, that makes it fun. The magnitude is on 10 just from the rivalry standpoint.”
3. You have a Georgia commit in your running back, Noah Parker. Tell me a little bit about what he’s like and who you compare him to.
“Noah reminds me a lot of Nick Chubb. He’s kind of low to the ground. He’s built like a little tank, and he’s so versatile. He can power you. He can outrun you. He can slash you. He’s unselfish. He blocks. Such a humble kid, too. I can see why (Georgia coach) Kirby (Smart) loves Noah, because he’s a hard worker, and he’s a competitor. He loves to compete.”
4. As you have navigated coaching, who have been some of your mentors?
“Well, my biggest mentor was Robert Davis, the legendary coach at Warner Robins who won three state championships and a national championship. He hired me back in 1998 at Westside. I learned so much from him. I learned how to run a program. I learned the do’s and don’ts from him. Just a great guy. I could go sit down and talk to him, and he would come to the school after he retired and give me advice and encouragement. So he was my main mentor. (Risper succeeded Davis as Westside’s coach in 2009.)
“(Legendary Macon coach) Eddie Ashley was another mentor of mine in Macon. He’s also passed away. Just a great guy and great coach. Guys like that, they shaped and molded, molded me.
“And of course I love Kirby Smart. Kirby Smart and I are friends, and our coaching styles are a lot alike in the no-nonsense, discipline-type environments.
“Also, Kevin Smith at Perry. We have a wonderful relationship. Oh, and one more. (Longtime Middle Georgia coach and former Georgia All-America guard) George Collins is also one of my mentors. He’s retired now. And George is always a positive coach and a positive influence in my life.”