Today’s interviewee is Benedictine coach Danny Britt, whose school moved up to 4A this season and was set to play in four-team Region 3-4A with fellow Savannah schools Islands, Jenkins and New Hampstead. That changed Aug. 12, when Savannah-Chatham Schools decided to play intra-district games only, which left Benedictine, a private school, as the only team playing a region schedule. Benedictine’s original schedule also included two Florida teams, and those games also came off the board.
Danny Britt, Benedictine head coach
1. What was your reaction to the news that you’d be going it alone in your region, and what did you do about your schedule? “I was anticipating something might happen. I didn’t know what it would be, whether they’d pull out altogether or postpone their season. Fortunately, I’d talked with other schools and people and said, ‘If something happens, let’s talk.’ So it didn’t take me but a few minutes to reschedule. We’ve added South Effingham, Brunswick and Appling County. What made it hard was getting games at the end of the year when everybody is playing their region schedule, so we ended up with two open dates before the playoffs. But it is what it is. Fortunately, we got games rescheduled.” [GHSA football coordinator Kevin Giddens told GHSF Daily on Monday that no decision has been made on how to handle the playoffs for football regions with fewer than four teams. Benedictine presumably would be the region champion.]
2. How has your own team dealt with COVID-19? “It’s been pretty smooth because we’ve been organized. We haven’t stopped workouts or practices. We’ve had kids screened out because of exposure, not because they were sick. The most we had at one point was 12 guys that were out. Other than that, we’ve been rockin’ and rollin'. We’ve done a good job wearing masks and socially distancing. I’m proud of our kids for that. I’ve talked with other coaches, and it’s a common theme. These kids want to play. It’s been taken from them for long enough that they’re scared. They do what they’re supposed to do. But it’s also been fun because we were taking football for granted a little bit. Now we’re not.”
3. What has been the hardest thing with this offseason? “The hardest thing is the continuous change. My head trainer and myself have done pretty much nothing but COVID organizing. Everybody else has done the rest – the conditioning, the weightlifting, the coaching. I’m constantly planning for the unknown and taking change when it comes.”
4. You’ve coached in Class A at Calvary Day. At Benedictine, you were in the highest class your first season in 2011, and now you’ve played in 2A and 3A. This season, you’re in 4A. What’s the difference in those classifications? “A great team is a great team whether it’s A or 7A, but the numbers are different. By that I mean in the highest class you can roll out that second team and they’re just about as good as the first team. It changes special teams. You have guys that are fresh not having to play offense and defense. In 2A, having over 100 kids was an advantage for us. When we get to 3A and 4A, it’s not as much of an advantage. That’s more normal now. As for this year, we chose to play in 4A because of the region we were going to be in. I feel like at the very top of 3A, it’s strong too. I don’t know if it’s going to be that much difference because in each class, you get to that top eight and they’re all really good.”
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