Today’s interviewee is Baldwin coach Jesse Hicks, whose school announced this week that its sports teams would play region-only schedules this season. For football, that means Baldwin’s first game on a six-game schedule will be Oct. 9. Hicks has been the most outspoken Georgia football coach against playing football this fall.
Jesse Hicks, Baldwin head coach
1. How do you feel about your school district’s decision to play a region-only schedule? “To be honest, elated is the word that can be used. It’s not that we didn’t want to play some of these great programs [Washington County, Burke County, Ware County were on the pre-region schedule] because we’ve done that in the past, and playing playoff teams in September gets you ready for the playoffs in November. But because we’re in a COVID hotspot, I felt it would be smart to play just the region schedule. My hope was that the Georgia High School Association would go to a spring season. Of course, that didn’t happen. There wasn’t enough people raising h-e-l-l about it. But I am very happy that our board and administration thought enough about our young people and our community to push it back.”
2. What has been the reaction to your statements that football isn’t safe this fall and that the GHSA doesn’t care enough about the welfare of the student-athletes? “I’ve never been met with anything negative. I didn’t think anything I said was negative. I thought it was fact. I try to respect everybody’s voice and hope they’ll respect mine. I thought I might get a call from the GHSA because I was the only person saying [publicly] don’t do this. I feel like the GHSA listens to two people – politicians and superintendents. I feel we’re treated like underlings by the GHSA. I could’ve called them just to say some coaches don’t agree with them, but that’s not the order. It doesn’t seem like we have a voice. There have been a lot of people from principals to coaches to parents, even people from churches, saying they appreciate me speaking out. I just felt somebody had to voice that opinion, that we should keep our kids safe and not put sports over life. What angers me sometimes, though, is that people coaching will tell me they agree on the phone, but they won’t speak publicly.”
3. Did you consider not coaching this fall because of your concern over safety, or even as a protest? “The reason I said push back the season was for the safety and betterment of young people. If you take the job of stewarding young men as seriously as I do, then what kind of coach would I be if I try to protect kids, but then when they decide to play, I desert them? I was between a rock and a hard place. I don’t see myself bailing out on them when things get tough, but I did feel the need to speak up. I felt that pushing back [against the GHSA’s decision] was more important than not coaching.”
4. How have your players done through the pandemic and the uncertainty of the season? “That’s a great question because not enough people ask our kids how they feel. One thing we’ve done here is get the opinion of our kids. We’ve constantly tried to educate them on the safety protocols and the numbers. We have a meeting just about every day and we’ll ask, ‘What would you guys like to see happen?’ Some of them will say, ‘Hey, coach, we want to play.’ I say, ‘I want to play, but I don’t want to bury you.’ Some say, ‘Coach, you’re talking took harshly.’ But I want to let them know where I’m coming from. I care about my children. Why would I do anything to put people in harm’s way? They’ve told me how they feel, and I’ve given them an honest opportunity to express themselves. They’re excited about playing a region schedule and still getting a chance to play for a state championship. They lost some games and hope nobody thinks we’re afraid to play anybody. But we just think it’s best, and I think our kids have been very receptive to that, and the parents have too.”
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