Today’s interviewee is Mary Persons coach Brian Nelson, whose team ended Prince Avenue Christian’s 20-game winning streak with a 45-28 victory last week. Nelson became Mary Persons’ coach in 2012. His teams are 102-37 with four region titles. Mary Persons is 5-1 this season entering its Region 2-3A opener this week against Jackson.
1. What made the difference against Prince Avenue? What was the game plan? “Prince is a really good football team that is well-coached. They made a few more mistakes than we did, and in most games, that is usually the difference. I thought our coaching staff and players did a great job in practice and preparation for this game. We were able to run the ball effectively, which allowed Philo [Prince Avenue quarterback Aaron Philo] not to have the ball in his hands. I thought our players played really hard and remained focused for four quarters.”
2. Duke Watson, who is committed to Louisville, rushed for more than 300 yards. What’s his skill set, and how was he overlooked for so long? “Duke is a really good player. He has a combination of physicalness and elusiveness. He had a great game in a big game last week. That may cause some schools to re-evaluate him. I think there are a lot of good football players in the Middle Georgia area, and in my opinion it gets under-recruited. We have several players on our team that are really good football players that can play college football. Recruiting has changed a lot for high school kids over the last three-five years.”
3. This Mary Persons teams is off to its best start since 2018, which was the last of four straight region titles. What’s been the difference in this team? “We are a small-town football team. For small towns, the football teams and their success run in cycles. We have what we have. Our kids play through our community – rec league, middle school, high school. The last few years, we have had small senior classes. We have had some good players but not enough of them. We are in a cycle now where we have some really good players coming through and the depth of good players to go with it. Our players and community take pride in Mary Persons. It has been that way forever in Forsyth and Monroe County. And that is what makes this place special.”
4. Who were your most influential mentors as a coach? “I am the son of a high school coach. I’ve been around football my entire life. So I would start with my dad, Bill Nelson [a Hall of Fame coach in Iowa], who is in his 51st year of coaching high school football. The field at my high school is named after him. And yes, we talk every Friday night so he can tell me all the things we screwed up. He coached in an era where the head coach did everything – taught all day, coached a couple of other sports, mowed the grass, lined the field, washed the uniforms, etc. I tagged along for most of that, so I learned the importance of hard work and doing what had to be done. Along the years, several other coaches have had an influence. Bob Nielson [current head coach at South Dakota) was my college coach and gave me my first job in coaching. Others are Don Patterson and Mark Hendrickson, who I worked for at Western Illinois University, and Brian VanGorder and Willie Martinez, who I GA’d for at Georgia. All of those coaches have had an impact on my coaching career. But besides my dad, two people at Mary Persons have had the biggest impact. Rodney Walker hired me 17 years ago when he was the head coach at Mary Persons. He is a 300-game winner. I was one of his assistants when he won game No. 300. I owe a lot to Coach Walker. And then next is a coach on our current staff, Pat Burdette. When I first got to Mary Persons, he was my mentor, and he has given me guidance throughout my time here. He is somebody that I really look up to.”
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