Today’s interviewee is Dougherty coach Johnny Gilbert, whose team is 4-0 and ranked for the first time since 2006. Dougherty was 0-5 in a 2020 season shortened by COVID-19 protocols. When hired in 2019, Gilbert had been head coach at Creekside Christian and further back at McNair, where he compiled a 46-21 record from 1999 to 2004. Gilbert is an Albany native and Monroe High graduate who played at Albany State.
Johnny Gilbert, Dougherty head coach
1. You were 0-5 last season, now 4-0. What’s the difference? “I think the COVID protocol that the school system had was really strict, different than the one the GHSA had, and that set our program back a bit. The thing we wanted to do was make sure our students and parents were safe. This season, we’ve had a chance to have an offseason and summer workouts, and those two things have been huge for us so far. The coaching staff has done a great job making kids buy into our philosophy, and the biggest things has always been discipline. If we can play disciplined football, we can be a successful team.”
2. What attracted you to the Dougherty job three years ago? “I wasn’t really looking for a job at the time. I was at Creekside Christian Academy, and the principal called me down. We had a good conversation. When I was walking the hallways, I saw a great need to be at Dougherty. It had a lot of similarities to when I first got to McNair. I saw that I could make a difference. And there was a state championship won here in the ‘90s under John Reynolds, and Carror Wright and Charles Flowers had good teams. I felt that if I could get a good staff together that I could get it back to the level they’ve played in the past.” [Dougherty was 0-10 in 2018, the season before Gilbert arrived. The four wins this season are the most since 2009. Dougherty was the Class 3A runner-up in 2005 under Wright and 3A champion in 1998 under Reynolds.]
3. You’re an Albany native. Football in the county has slumped recently. What will it take to improve it? “In order for Albany football programs to improve, athletes need to believe in the program they feed into. Coaches will need to continue creating enriching programs that will develop each player. Each player should be encouraged to take pride in their own community, which results in big wins.”
4. What would you want people to know about your current team? What does it have that is helping you win this year? “This team has a different mindset. This is the group of eighth-graders I got when I first came to Albany. When I met them, I shook their hands and said they need to come to Dougherty and help turn this program around. They’re putting in the commitment, the time and the dedication. Their focus is to do everything they can to be successful on and off the field. Just like Georgia, they want to win every day on the field, in the community and in the classroom. They’ve bought into that. And they’re a well-disciplined team as well.”
Produced by Georgia High School Football Daily, a free e-mail newsletter. To join the mailing list, click here.
About the Author
