Today’s interviewee is Blessed Trinity coach Tom Hall, whose team defeated four-time North Carolina Class 3A champion Charlotte Catholic 28-10 last week in Charlotte. Hall returned to Blessed Trinity this season to succeed Tim McFarlin as head coach. Hall was on Blessed Trinity’s staff from 2007 to 2017 and was offensive coordinator on the 2017 team that won a Class 4A championship. In 2020, he was the offensive coordinator at Somerset Academy Canyons in Boynton Beach, Fla.
Tom Hall, Blessed Trinity head coach
1. You beat a really good program that many in Georgia might not have heard about. Who is Charlotte Catholic, and how did the game come about? “The Charlotte Catholic game was set up two years ago and was canceled last year due to COVID. Charlotte Catholic is an excellent football program historically and won their fourth consecutive North Carolina state championship last year. Our game Friday was called the Patriotism Bowl, which has been around for 10 years now, honoring America and 9/11. This year obviously marked the 20-year anniversary of 9/11/2001. The bowl committee organizes these games, and Blessed Trinity was chosen mainly due to recent football successes. We have also been asked to host this event in 2022, which we are thrilled to have this opportunity. We played a complete game Friday in all facets – special teams, offense and defense. We also did not have any turnovers, which really plagued us the previous two games [losses to Marist and St. Pius]. It was an electric atmosphere, and we’re proud of how our players competed.”
2. Justice Haynes was back. What does that do for your team both physically and mentally? “Justice Haynes returned, as well as Deldrick Franklin and Will Parton. We were missing six starters against St. Pius. We don’t use that as an excuse, but it certainly presents a challenge. To beat good football teams, you have to execute well, and we did not at Pius. Justice is an outstanding player and competitor. His presence and his abilities certainly gave us a physical and emotional lift.” [Haynes rushed for 200 yards against Charlotte Catholic.]
3. What has been the most challenging thing about your first season as head coach, or maybe something that was more challenging than you anticipated? “Really there have been two big challenges. One is the administrative part of the job, specifically equipment inventories. With the supply chain being jeopardized due to COVID, it’s been frustrating for all coaches across the country. The other challenge for us has been the injury bug. Three starters out versus Marist and six versus Pius. It’s part of the game, but certainly hit us hard. Good news is we are getting guys back in the fold.”
4. Where is Blessed Trinity at this point in the season? What is the team capable of accomplishing this season? “We feel we will continue to get better each week. We played well Friday and need to build off that. Last year’s team graduated 10 college football players, so we had a lot of inexperience coming into the season. We feel this demanding non-region schedule is going to prepare us well for region play in two weeks. We do not look too far down the road. The only team on our schedule right now is an excellent Eagle’s Landing Christian team this Friday.”
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