Today’s interviewee is Prince Avenue coach Greg Vandagriff, whose team won Class A Division I the past two seasons. Prince Avenue is in Class 2A this year and will play in the Class 3A-A private-school playoffs, a new deal that will mean three public-school champions and one private-school champion below 4A. Vandagriff’s Prince Avenue teams are 97-12 through his eight seasons as head coach.
1. With some time to let the 2023 season sink in, what was the legacy or storyline of last year’s team? Were there some memorable turning points? “Going into the season, we had a third-year starting quarterback and four starting offensive linemen coming back, so we obviously felt good about that. However, out of roughly 300 balls caught the year before, we returned less than 20 receptions as a group. So we had to replace the entire receiving corps, and everyone that stood up on defense was a new starter. Add playing our toughest schedule in school history, with playing three out-of-state games and back-to-back byes due to how the schedule fell, it was going to be an interesting season.
“I am just going to tell the story about Aaron Philo as a small microcosm of our year. Going into the season, we realized we had an outside chance for Aaron to break the career passing record held by Trevor Lawrence, but we were going to need all 15 games to do it. As anyone worth their salt knows, life will continue to give you challenges and adversity, but if you are resilient enough to battle through them, something worthwhile can be found at the end of the journey. As we finished the regular season, he was still about 1,450 yards short, and we were chasing a championship, and if the record was obtained, that would be a bonus, and Aaron fully embraced this belief. Well, as fate would have it, we were about to receive a first-round forfeit, and this was going to make it almost a monumental task to overcome. Aaron was trying to do this in 42 games [a three-year starter with two forfeits] where Trevor had accomplished his in 56 games. Well, as fate would have it, we, and Aaron specifically, were able to accomplish it, breaking the record with a few minutes left in the championship game. If you watched the game, Aaron shared his accomplishment with everyone on his team, from his linemen that protected him to the ball boys that took care of the footballs during the game. In Aaron’s first varsity game against Calvary Day, his sophomore year, he threw four interceptions on the way to one of his three career loses, but he never looked back.”
2. What’s the scouting report on this year’s team? “We have seven returning starters on [both] offense and defense. It is the first time in my nine years at Prince Avenue that we have had multiple players with multiple offers. Our offensive line once again returns four starters, and we have a chance to be pretty good. We are once again playing the toughest schedule in school history, and every school that we are playing is bigger [enrollment-wise] with some of them being five or six times bigger than our high school of 300. However, like the saying goes, at the end of the day no one cares about your problems as they have their own. If we can survive the schedule, we have a chance to do well in the playoffs. The biggest question is can we hold up against these bigger schools that have plenty of depth. We have won several games by getting teams tired. It will be hard to do when they dress out 95-100.”
3. You’ve got a tradition of elite QB play for the past six seasons as your son, now Kentucky starter Brock Vandagriff, preceded Philo. Who is the next man up? “Well, since we discovered the forward pass at Prince and have thrown for over 24,000 yards in the last six seasons, and 264 touchdowns, playing quarterback at Prince has become a coveted position. To put it in a little more in context, quarterbacks in Georgia have thrown for more than 4,000 yards only 16 times in GHSA history, and our quarterbacks account for 25% of those seasons. Our biggest question mark is who our quarterback will be. We have two young men that have been competing all summer and fall camp, and we believe either could start at many high schools, but only one can start at Prince. Senior Jake Bobo served as the back-up and started on defense last year, and sophomore Ben Musser is a gifted thrower as well as a serious run threat, having been clocked in the 4.5s at some camps this summer. So, we may not throw for 4,000 this season, but we may have two 1,000-yard rushing backs – a quarterback and a tailback – plus a 3K quarterback in the backfield.”
4. The GHSA has created a 3A-A private division for the state playoffs. What are your thoughts on that? “I am starting my 28th season coaching in Georgia, having coached eight in public school in Cobb County, the rest at Woodward Academy and Prince Avenue. So, I honestly believe I have a pretty good understanding of the playing field and all the arguments. When I coached my son’s travel ball baseball team and we had to play East Cobb in the semifinals or championship, none of my parents asked any questions about where their players were from or were their birth certificates legal. All everyone involved wanted to know was: Are we good enough to beat them? That’s it. In high school, I believe every level has traditionally good teams and those that are less competitive. Some places are more committed at the administrative, coaching and playing level than others. This too is life.
“As a private school head coach, every two years our rules change. We are told who and where to play regardless of our thoughts or what is viewed as equitable. As a history major, I remember when the small states argued about the big ones having more representation and the big states argued about their representation being equal to the smaller states. They came up with an acceptable system called “The Great Compromise,” which is how our congress is comprised today. How can we not figure this out is my question. The biggest issue now is self-interest, regardless of equality. I wish private schools and public schools could get along and play together. That’s the best system.”
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