Today’s interviewee is Perry coach Kevin Smith, whose team won Class 4A last season for the Houston County school’s first football championship in history. Perry went 13-2 and beat Stockbridge 38-27 in the title game. Smith, a LaGrange native, is in his eight season as Perry’s head coach and 25th on the sidelines for Houston County schools.
1. What has the community of Perry been like since your team won the state championship in December? “I tell you, it’s been just great. That was a fairy-tale ending to a great season. We are just so humbled and grateful to have achieved that. It was just a dream to win that championship game and see how much it meant to the Perry community. I was part of some successful teams as an assistant, and to now be the head coach of a championship team – wow, it’s been amazing. Our town has been so excited, and our fans can’t wait for this season to start.” [Perry opens the season Aug. 17 against Baldwin at Fort Valley State in the six-game Gridiron Classic.]
2. How do you replace some of the star players that graduated this spring and helped lead your team to that championship? “We don’t really try to replace guys. We want upcoming players to be themselves and not have the pressure of replacing a specific guy. We do have a lot of players who got in a lot of snaps last season, so we have a lot of game experience coming back, but we just want to see what guys are going to step into those natural leadership roles that you have to have. We don’t go into any season looking to replace or reload. Our approach is just the next man up, and we hope guys are prepared to step into their new role. We want to keep pushing the bar of expectations higher every year.” [Perry wide receiver Dakarai Anderson, the Region 2-4A player of the year, signed with Cincinnati. First-team all-region quarterback Colter Ginn is a walk-on at Georgia. Of Perry’s 24 all-region players, 13 were seniors, nine were juniors, and two were sophomores. Perry returns Georgia Power 100 running back Ahmad Gordon.]
3. Tell me about your running back, Ahmad Gordon, and what makes him so special? “The first thing is that he’s just such a humble kid. He’s great to coach. He’s so athletic on the field and such a shifty runner. He’s hard to tackle. Kids today may not remember what a phone booth is, but I like to say Ahmad is so good in close space that it’d be hard to tackle him in a phone booth. He doesn’t need much room to make a big play. He catches the ball well, too. He brings a lot to the table – he had over 1,800 yards and 34 touchdowns last year. He’s becoming a really good leader for our team as well.”
4. What has been the key to your program’s steady improvement, from winning five games in your first season in 2017 to winning Perry’s first region title in 61 years in 2020 to winning 13 games and a state title last year? “I think any success we’ve had has come from the culture we’ve developed. Our mentality is just to always play the next play, to work hard, to always be humble and to win the right way and lose the right way. You’ve got to put the work in early to see success down the road. It’s like when you plant a tree. You don’t see the fruit immediately. It takes time. We don’t come out in week one of a season and instantly have success. You have to put in the work and grow the fruit and hopefully the results will be there at the end of the year.”
- Interview by Jeff Gable
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