Today’s interviewee is first-year Ola coach Dustin Adkins, whose team is 5-0 overall and 4-0 in Region 2-4A, tied with Stockbridge for the region lead. Ola, a Henry County school that opened in 2006, is chasing its first region championship.
1. What’s the story behind your getting the Ola job? Had you been looking at other head coaching jobs, and what prompted you to apply for this one? “I had been coaching in Florida for the previous 14 years, and I was the athletic director and defensive coordinator for Hawthorne High School. We had a very successful run, playing for the last four state championships and winning the last two championships with undefeated seasons. However, I always have entertained the possibility of coming to Georgia to coach high school football, and I thought it would provide a better opportunity for my wife and kids as well. When I saw that Ola was open, I reached out to Mike Coe, head coach at Coffee High School [also a longtime Florida coach] and asked him what he thought about the school since they had played in previous years. After our conversation, I felt Ola was a perfect fit for me and my family and decided to apply for the job. I liked the young nucleus that was returning, along with the proven seniors we had on roster. I felt it was a perfect blend of talent and had great facilities and support behind it, from the administration to the community. I saw a school and a football program that is very close to taking the next step within the football program and was confident that if I put the right staff together, I could help to lead the program to the next level. I had actually turned down head coaching jobs in the past because if I ever left Hawthorne, I wanted to ensure it checked off all the boxes for me and my family. I definitely believe Ola has more than done that, and I have had an awesome experience since I have started in mid-February.”
2. You’re 5-0. Are you surprised? What has your team done well that has them in this position? “I wouldn’t say surprised, but fortunate. We have been able to weather a few injuries to our roster and pull out a couple of victories in one-score games, which just speaks to the mentality and fortitude of the entire program. I think we have been able to play a physical brand of football, both on offense and defense, that has allowed us to impose our will on teams throughout four quarters. We have had three games this year where we have held teams without a touchdown, and offensively we are going to feed our opponents a heavy dose of power run with multiple running backs. In addition, we compete daily at practice. I am a big believer in having competitive and physical practices in order to shape and create a physical brand of football that we can rely on throughout the course of a season. Practices should be demanding and tough, and our players have totally bought in and trusted the system that we have in place. The other main thing since taking over as the head coach was understanding what we did well and what we needed to work on as a team, then developing and tailoring our schemes to match our players. Being able to fit a defense and offense that fit and showcased the strengths of our roster has been monumental for our start. That, and having tunnel focus and just worrying about one week at a time, has been the leading catalysts for our start this season.” [Ola defeated Jones County and Eagle’s Landing Christian by 7-3 scores and allowed its only touchdown this season in a 41-7 victory over Eagle’s Landing last week.]
3. You gave up a rare touchdown last week. Hope nobody got fired because of that! What’s your defensive scheme and defensive philosophy? Did you change it much from what Ola was running last season? “Haha. I wish we could have gone the whole season without surrendering one, but I take the blame for allowing it last week. We kept a drive alive by allowing a fake punt, and that was entirely on me. But I have been very pleased with our defense and how we have performed in the first half of the year. Honestly, I like to be able to move around fronts, coverages and packages based on what the offense is giving us. We are very versatile. We can go with a 30, 40 or 50 front on any play; along with being able to go to a 4-3 or 4-2 box with one or two safeties. Having the luxury of throwing so many looks at an offense is definitely an advantage that we have employed this year. Other than that, my big philosophy for defense is to control the line of scrimmage and play fast and physical. The physical team usually wins the majority of football games, so if you are going to play defense for us, being physical is not an option. The defense is very different from this year to last year’s, both from a schematic and concept standpoint, but I have a great defensive staff behind me that trusts our concepts and does a heck of a job in coaching up our players to allow for it to work.”
4. What differences have you seen between Georgia and Florida football, both on and off the field, but also what brings coaches over the border to Georgia so often? “At the end of the day, football is football. There are great individual football players in Florida and Georgia, and usually every Friday night there will be a couple of highly recruited D-I athletes on both teams. However, the facilities and support here in Georgia is by far better than the majority of places in Florida. From the turf fields to the weight rooms, to the booster clubs, Georgia knows how to take care of high school football programs. I can definitely see why so many coaches have come from Florida to Georgia to coach high school football. Sometimes I am still kicking myself for not doing it sooner. It has been a blessing being here in Georgia, and I look forward to many more years in this great state.”
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