Today’s interviewee is Dublin coach Roger Holmes, whose team won the Class 2A championship in 2019, the school’s first title since 2006. Dublin will be playing in Class A this season, but there will be challenges. On Sunday afternoon, Holmes got word that Dublin was shutting down sports for one week because of the high COVID-19 rate in Laurens County. West Laurens and East Laurens, part of the county system, also suspended sports for a week.
Roger Holmes, Dublin head coach
1. Looking back one more time, what was the story of Dublin’s 2019 championship season? “The biggest thing about our last football season was our team’s ability to win a state championship being somewhat one-dimensional. We talked to our kids about sports being a life lesson. We could’ve given in to the press, to the fans, to social media about their beliefs that Dublin would not be able to win a state championship because we didn’t throw the football enough. But the reality is, you have to learn to live within your means. Our football team was exceptional at running the football. We were able to eliminate all those outside distractions and continue to do what we did best. At the end of the day, it helped us achieve what we set out to get done.” [Without attempting a pass, Dublin defeated Brooks County 42-32 in the championship game.]
2. How does your new team look? “Every once in a while I wake up at night in cold sweats thinking about losing 10 of 11 starters on offense. But we’re returning two quarterbacks who both can run our football team, and it always starts with who’s under center. [Those quarterbacks are Kendell Wade, who suffered a season-ending injury in the second game of 2019, and Markelle Mitchell, who replaced him and scored two touchdowns in the final.] Our returning players also lined up against the state champions at practice every day last year and had to get after it. Also, we had a team that played in the state championship in ’06 and graduated 21 of 22 starters and thought there was no way we could put together another good run, and that team happened to play in the Dome against a good Buford team [in the 2007 semifinals]. Our kids don’t have a lot of Friday night experience, and that’s a big question mark. But we’re cautiously optimistic.”
3. How has COVID-19 affected your preparation? “It’s created issues because we’ve got a road map that we like to follow, whether it be with our summer work or offense or defense or whatever it is. That road map has been developed over my 38 years of coaching. Now all of a sudden, we had to take the map and throw it away. Dealing with the unknowns has been tough because we’re still a school where our kids go both ways [playing offense and defense], and being in groups with our coaches split up, we couldn’t work both sides of the football when we were able to get out on the grass. We think that put us behind some. In my opinion, not having to prepare for a scrimmage was helpful. When we got the word Wednesday afternoon [from the GHSA, saying all scrimmages are canceled], we tore up our practice plan and began to have spring practice. It allowed us to get more quality reps and not have to simulate the other team we’d be planning. This was supposed to be week two of spring practice, and now we’re shut down.”
4. How do you feel about the superintendent’s decision, and what are your expectations for the season as it relates to COVID? “Dublin and Laurens County have been identified in the red zone. Our case numbers are high [912 positive coronavirus cases this year]. We haven’t had any athletes that have tested positive, which knock on wood has been a positive thing simply based on the high positive rate. Our superintendent has made the recommendation that we not do athletics this coming week. ... As far as the season, I feel comfortable that everyone is going to do everything in their power to make sports happen. Now, that said, I do not feel comfortable about the numbers right now. The state of Georgia has a positive rate that’s like the 12th-worst in the nation with about 12.7%. If you believe what you read, anything above 5% is treading on thin ice. There’s still time. My gut feeling is there’s going to be weeks where there’s going to be [some] games not played, and you’re just going to have to work through those. Those guys at Georgia High School [Association] have a tremendously tough decision to make, they’ve got to do what they are told by their medical professionals, and we’ve got to trust them to make the right choice and follow it.”
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