Today’s interviewee is Social Circle coach Rob Patton, whose team is 4-1 after a 39-7 victory over then-No. 8 Lamar County in a Class A Division I game last week. Patton is in his third season with the Redskins. He was the defensive coordinator on Grayson’s 2011 and 2016 championship teams and was on Collins Hill’s staff when hired at Social Circle.
Rob Patton, Social Circle head coach
1. What happened in Friday’s game that allowed you to win so comfortably against a tough opponent? “Our kids played their most physical football game since we have all been together the last three years. Our offensive line, backs and receivers all blocked with great effort all night, and defensively we pursued the ball and gang tackled their talented backs. I think as the game wore on, our kids grew in confidence because of how physically dominant we were playing.” [As an aside question, Patton was asked about Lamar County RB/LB C.J. Allen, who is committed to Georgia. He said, ‘’I think he is an incredible player, definitely didn’t help my sleep having to watch him on film all week. The things he has done this season and previous seasons speak for itself. He made some really good plays this past week as well. We were just able to limit the long TD runs because of how hard our defense was pursuing the ball. All the accolades he has are well-deserved because he is a special player.”]
2. What made you decide that Social Circle was a good place to begin your head-coaching career? “One of the things that made this such an attractive job was the fact that Social Circle was having success in a lot of sports outside of football. The school has great leadership that is very supportive of our players and coaches, and we have unbelievable facilities for a school our size. We have a great atmosphere for home games, and the entire town is supportive and wants to see our kids and program succeed.” [Social Circle has won recent state titles in wrestling, girls soccer and fastpitch softball, and its boys basketball team was 30-1 last season.]
3. What have you and your staff done at Social Circle that’s made the biggest difference? “Without a doubt the biggest thing our staff has done has been to change the mindset in the weight room. Our administration made a commitment to improve our weight room, and we have an incredible strength coach in Nate Ethridge who pushes our kids in there every single day, for all the student-athletes not just football, and their work has led to a lot of success throughout our entire athletic department.”
4. What’s the identify of your team? “The identity of our team is to do what it takes to improve every single day. Every day before practice or workouts we ask our kids what is our goal today? Their answer is to just get better. We ask them to focus on whatever the task at hand is whether it’s blocking and tackling fundamentals, running routes or lifting weights, and we ask that they commit their mind fully to improving at whatever it is they are currently working on. We have had the same talk before and after practice every day for the past three years, and we don’t plan on changing that moving forward. Improve ourselves as individuals and as a team, and the rest will take care of itself.”
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