South Ga. coach shares how 4-0 team is nearing 1st winning season since 2016
Today’s Four Questions interviewee is Randolph-Clay coach Charles Truitt, whose team is 4-0 for the first time since 2016. The Red Devils have won their first four games by an average of 26.75 points and are one win away from their first .500 season since 2016. Randolph-Clay opened region play last Friday with a 62-30 win over Calhoun County.
1. Was this season one of those years that you knew a few years ago could change things around the program?
“Yeah, we felt that way because this group right here, they’ve pretty much only had us as coaches. So we felt real good about having a chance to coach these guys once they get to this point as seniors. We felt that they understand what we ask them to do, and we were the only ones coaching those kids, so we were hoping at this time, of the time of this career, that we’d be at this point.”
2. When did it become obvious to you that this group could be the group to improve things at Randolph-Clay?
“We didn’t have to coach as hard as we used to coach. Those kids have sort of been able to hang on to what we have been teaching them. So it’s been a situation that they understand the offense, they understand the defense, they understand the expectations. So now, we can do a lot more because they know the basics of what we expect of them to do. And that’s the main thing with them understanding the concept of what we expect them to do, and they’ve been doing it, and they’ve been dedicated to get it done.”
3. When during this season have you seen the biggest difference compared to past years?
“When we had to play against (Mitchell County). They had so much going on there. They’re a very talented football team, but we went into that game and sort of executed what we expected them to do. Being able to line up and play against a team like that, a lot of times, we’d get beat before we’d play the game because our expectation wasn’t as high as it is now. So I knew back then if they could come up and line up against a team like that and be successful, that we may have overcome one of the hurdles that we’ve been looking forward to overcoming over the last five years.”
4. Before Randolph-Clay, you coached at Monroe for 17 years. Are there a lot of differences between coaching those two programs?
“I tell them all the time I never went to a program that I actually built. We all want to build a program, and that’s good to see a kid that hasn’t been successful be successful. And we knew we could have a chance to do it here, but we knew it would take a little time. But now being able to see some of the fruit of our labor, we’ve still got a long way to go. We’re not a finished product by far. But being able to be 4-0, I just think that it just feels like our program again is taking shape. We got hope we can build on that.”