Today’s interviewee is Matt Dickmann, coach of 2019 Class 6A champion Harrison. Dickmann’s Hoyas won their school’s first state title last season. In 2020, Harrison will be playing in Class 7A in a region with defending champion Marietta.
Matt Dickmann, Harrison head coach
1. What was the story of Harrison’s championship season? “Our seniors last year, that was our sixth-grade team when we got here. That was the first team in the weight room. You could already tell that was a special group. They had a lot of talent. When they were 10th-graders, eight started in the third round of the playoffs. Usually when you have eight sophomores starting, you’re not in the quarterfinals. Their junior year, I thought we underachieved. We lost the region by one point in overtime to Creekview and had 110 yards in penalties. I felt our egos got in the way. They were not embracing the grind. They got knocked out in the second round by Lanier. I just talked with the players at the end of that season said, ‘This team is so talented, but for you to get past the third round, you’ve got to put your egos away, embrace the grind and work hard every day of every week. If we don’t do all three, you’ll probably get to the third round, and your season will end, and to me, that will be a disappointment.’ We had high expectations last year. Our motto was ‘Relentless, Finish the Season.’ We felt we didn’t finish the year before. That offseason, the team broke all of our team weightlifting records and five of our individual records. Usually if you have a good year in the weight room, you’re going to have a good season. As a coach, you just have to get players to understand that all these things we talk about is going to help you reach your goals and have success. It’s a special season when you have a group that does that.”
2. What’s the outlook for Harrison this season? Are you returning many starters, or is there some significant rebuilding that must take place? “The biggest problem is the inexperience. We have kids that can play, but no matter what you say, they didn’t have spring practice. They didn’t go to camp. Today was the first day of pads. We went at 6 a.m. and got lightninged out. We haven’t seen many of these kids in pads yet. We’ve got pencils with erasers on them because we haven’t seen then. We have four starters returning on offense. Defensively, we really have only two returning starters in their [2019] positions. We have inexperience and not a lot of depth. We didn’t have a lot of depth last season, to be honest. We stayed healthy. To have a successful season, those inexperienced guys have to step up and play at a high level, especially going into 7A.”
3. How do you expect the move to Class 7A to be? Are you excited to be playing Marietta? That will be a rare meeting of reigning state champions. “Class 7A to me is the real deal. Not that 6A isn’t, but there’s definitely a difference. In 6A, we were one of the biggest schools. I’d rather be one of the bigger ones. Class 7A has tremendous talent. It’s a high level of play. Any of the teams in our region can make the playoffs. It’s a heck of a region. I’m not sure what Marietta has coming back. I think they’re a little like us, looking to see who steps up. It definitely won’t be the same teams. That game is for the newspapers to make a big deal of, but it’s definitely not the same teams. We’ve got our hands full with that region and classification. [Region 3-7A will feature Harrison, Hillgrove, Marietta, North Cobb, North Paulding and Walton. All six made the playoffs in 2019, but only four can make it this season.]
4. This has been an unprecedented offseason with the pandemic. How optimistic are you that we can have a full season of football this year? Can we get to Dec. 26-28 with the state finals? “I’m one of those guys that’s just going to take it day by day, week by week. There’s still things that are changing with transportation and with fans. My job is to make sure we get through each day, do the temperature checks, things like that. If we get into the season and start playing, I think that’s a major hurdle. We have to get there before we start thinking about November and December. I’m hoping for the seniors that we get enough games in to help them have film, and that if that’s taken from them that they can play next year. So that’s my biggest hope, that we get enough out of this season for the seniors. It’s definitely been a different kind of year. This pandemic has been unbelievable.”
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