Today’s interviewee is Prince Avenue Christian coach Greg Vandagriff, whose team won his school’s first state championship in any sport in 2020. Vandagriff came to Prince Avenue in 2016 after being Woodward Academy’s defensive coordinator for 12 years. His five-year record at Prince Avenue is 56-9.
Greg Vandagriff, Prince Avenue Christian head coach
1. What will last year’s team be remembered for, and what was its legacy? “Although the school is 40 years old, the football program had its first varsity football season in 2005, and we had never won a state championship in football, nor any team sport for that matter. Being the first team to win a state championship at our school was awesome, not just for our team but for the school and community.
“We were very optimistic about our chances as we had 19 seniors in the class and most of our offense back, including two all-state wide receivers and the quarterback. At the end of the season, we had some T-shirts made that stated 2020 ‘The Revenge Tour.’ Most of those seniors were on the field when we lost three games in 2019, one to our crosstown rivals [Athens Academy], one to the runner-up in the state championship [Wesleyan] and one to the five-time defending state champs [Eagle’s Landing Christian] 62-57 in the third-highest scoring game in playoff history. By the end of 2020, we averaged 47 points a game and held two of the last three playoff opponents to a field goal or less. We played all of the teams that had beaten us the previous year, and we able to avenge those losses on our way to the ‘ship.
“As far as legacy, it was raising the bar for the future teams and getting those in the communities around us to understand that single-A private football in Georgia is some of the best football in state regardless of the classification. We were the first team in school history to play on ESPN [vs. Rabun County] and played two other games on TV last year [vs. ELCA and Trinity Christian]. The 2020 team is the first team to win a state football championship in Oconee County this century. Also, we had the 34th Gatorade Player of the Year Winner on the team – Brock [Vandagriff’s son, the quarterback, now at Georgia].
2. What do you have coming back this season? What’s the scouting report? “We have 70 players on the roster, but only one started on offense, guard Will Frost, but we do have five starters back on defense led by linebacker Luke Lanier, defensive linemen Uriah Howard and Ethan Garner and defensive backs Bailey Stockton and Josh Britt. We will be inexperienced, youthful but talented. The schedule is loaded with top teams – seven made the playoffs, two the semifinals - and we will have our hands full in the pre-region schedule. I believe we will have been battle-tested by the time region play starts, and we should be ready to make another strong run.”
3. Big cleats to fill at QB. Who’s the new guy, and what are his strengths and weaknesses? “Brock moved down the street to UGA having thrown for 10K worth of yards and a basket worth of TDs. However, he proved his leadership by going to pick up his successor every morning before school at 6:15 to get him to understand that to be the starting QB on a highly ranked team, you must pay the price, and that payment begins in the weight room. Aaron Philo got up every morning and went in with Brock to learn what a strong work ethic looks like and how it creates a culture that many schools do not have but ours does. Brock started doing this as a seventh-grader at Woodward Academy and continued at Prince Avenue, and he shared this with Aaron Philo, who helped influence 28 players to come in before school today and get extra work in because that is what it takes to be more than average. Aaron is accurate and a competitor. He wants to win and is a diligent learner. His strengths are understanding what we are trying to accomplish and competitiveness. His weakness is inexperience, but we did have a ton of success this summer in seven-on-seven. The offense will not change a ton, but we will curtail it towards his strengths. The backup is talented Zach Hill, a wonderful young man that works hard and could step in and help lead if necessary.”
4. How do you see Class A Private playing out this season? “Although we are the reigning champs, I still believe the road to the championship goes through McDonough and ELCA. They still are very talented, and it took a talented team led by a five-star QB to unseat them last year. I believe Trinity will be very good and then the usual suspects. We keep getting better and better coaches joining the ranks as former Blessed Trinity head coach Tim McFarlin took the Fellowship Christian job. Again, I have now been here for five seasons and know that most of the top four-six teams can play with many other classifications’ teams.”
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