Tucker coach says assistants, including several program alumni, drive success
Today’s Four Questions interviewee is Tucker coach Lonnie Jones, who has led Tucker to its first 5-0 start since 2013 and was recently named Atlanta Touchdown Club coach of the month. Tucker upset Rome and then-No. 4 Stephenson earlier in the season. This week the Tigers face DeKalb rival Southwest DeKalb.
1. When we spoke at DeKalb media day, you seemed pretty confident in this year’s squad. What gave you the feeling?
“We know the work that we put in. We knew what our kids have done, and I know what our coaches have done. Our coaches have put in tremendous work, on and off the field, academically, and just athletically. The thing I tell our kids all the time, I say, ‘You don’t have to have people believing you. You got to believe in you first. If you don’t believe in you first, then it’s gonna be hard for people to believe you.’
“I say, ‘Don’t worry about the support, support comes as long as you’re winning.’ I learned a long time ago from one of my former head coaches, who was my mentor, he said, ‘Everyone loves a winner. If you want people to love you, just win.’
“We knew these guys had an opportunity. As long as we can stay healthy, we think we can go far.”
2. You mention your assistant coaches as being a big part of the success. Who are some of the standouts and what have they done to improve the program?
“Well, you know, coach Brandon Henry, who I named the offensive coordinator probably like three years ago — that was the first time I’ve given up calling plays — but he had coached (quarterback) Jace (German) and those guys since they were young, so I felt like it was just fitting for me to teach him the things he needed to know to be a coordinator, and continue to help him get better with football and just be the coach for those kids. Those are his kids.
“You know, and then coach (John) Rich, my offensive line coach ... He hadn’t been coaching for a while. So, you know, you always got to surround yourself with people who have the same ideas with you, and people who want to go to the same place, and when I told him that I was gonna apply for the job, I was like, ‘Rich, you gotta coach with me.’ He said, ‘If you get the job, boss, I’ll come back out and work with you.’
“So just having him, and then having guys like my defensive coordinator, Chris Parker, who played at Tucker ... Jake Sealand, who played at Tucker and played at Vanderbilt, Detric (Bing-Dukes), who played at Tucker.
“So when you get those guys back like that, guys like Ocie Kirk, wide receivers coach, you know, they just do a tremendous job with those kids, and those kids love them, and I’m just lucky. I can’t do this by myself. If it’s not for them, we’re not where we are right now. I’m just grateful to have all those guys out there.”
Continuation on having a lot of Tucker alums on staff:
“We actually picked up a young man this past year, Malachi Buckner (who played on the 2016 state runner-up team). He was a safety.
“And we have another kid who won a state championship and played offensive line for coach Rich, who is Kyle Strauss, the assistant offensive line coach. We have coach Brandon Abrams, who also coaches at the park.
“So, you know, he’s over there with the park, and then we also have, of course, Roger Grimmett, who used to be the head of the park. So they know all those guys. They were able to retain those guys. Because there was a lot of good players out in the middle school, and, you know, people were coming at them. It’s just typical these days, you said, you got to be able to survive that. And if you don’t become a part of it, you got to be able to entice kids to come to you, and one of the ways that you do it is win. A lot of times you can put in all that great work, and nobody ever sees it. It goes unnoticed. You win, then people will notice the things that you’re doing.”
3. You were emphatic in your praise of your quarterback Jace German during the Touchdown Club presentation. Tell me a bit more about him.
“He is one of the toughest kids I’ve seen. People did not know Jace separated his shoulder (last year) in the second game of the season, right before halftime, at the Chamblee game. He sat out a week. He went to the doctor, we thought he was going to have to have surgery. They checked him out and he did not have to have surgery. They popped it back in place. He did not practice for two weeks. Come third game of the season, I asked him, ‘You want to play or you want to sit it out?’ He said: ‘I’m gonna play.’ So he put a brace on, and luckily it was his nonthrowing arm, but he played through pain the whole season. You know, wasn’t really able to lift weights, couldn’t even really do anything that would enhance his ability. So, once he got an opportunity to get clear to lift, he just took off with it.
“Jace ran track. He’s one of the fastest kids on our team, was on our relay team that made it to state, and he’s a great student, great person. He’s probably his hardest critic. If I’m telling him he’s doing things well, and I tell him, ‘You don’t have to do everything to win the game. Just do what you’re doing….’ He puts a lot of pressure on himself.
“ … He’ll do anything you ask him to do to be better.”
Note: German is a three-year starter. He also injured his throwing shoulder during his freshman year as a holder, which required surgery.
4. Up next for you guys is a DeKalb rivalry game with a lot of tradition. What do you expect from the game and the atmosphere?
“This is a huge tradition for us, those two as rival teams, so it’s always a great game. You know, (Southwest DeKalb coach Marion) Bell said to me after last year, ‘Man, is this game always gonna be like this?’ Because this has been a close game. Last year, we were down 34-14, when we came back, took the lead 35-34, then eventually lost by (five). The year before that, we had the lead and eventually lost by (a touchdown). A year before that, we beat them. So, hopefully this year is our turn.”