There are just 28 days remaining until the kickoff of the 2018 high school football season. But make no mistake, preparations for the upcoming campaign got underway months ago in weight rooms, sand pits and practice fields throughout the state. And teams throughout northeast Georgia are in full countdown mode.
With that in mind we spent the last couple of weeks catching up with programs around our area to get a feel for how spring practice went, how the summer is going and what coaches believe the fall will look like. We call the series "Two-a-Days" in honor of those old-school grinding sessions that lead us out of summer and into fall, asking each area coach two key questions about the state of their respective programs.
Over the next two weeks, AccessWDUN's Friday Game Night will get you prepped for the start of gridiron action with responses from coaches throughout northeast Georgia. (Teams run in alphabetical order)...
GAINESVILLE
The Red Elephants are under new management for the first time since 2001. Gone is Bruce Miller, who led them to playoff berths in all 16 years with eight region titles and one state championship, the first for the program in its storied history. In is Heath Webb, no stranger to rebuilding projects having led Winder-Barrow to four consecutive playoff berths, a first for the Bulldoggs program, including their first playoff win in 2017 since 1993. Gainesville is in a rebuilding mode but when we caught up with Webb he alluded that things may not take as long as some think.
QUESTION: Coach, how has the transition gone and has it been as challenging as expected?
ANSWER: Every transition is difficult in it's own way but I've enjoyed this move. The players have bought in to a new way of doing things. We've got a lot of new players out and every returning player is adjusting to a new offense, defense, and special teams plan so there's a lot of learning going on. We're not where we want to be at this point but we know it's coming. The coaches and players are remaining patient and trusting the process. The best part of the transition has been seeing the outpouring of support from the community and learning more about the tradition of the program. As an outsider, it seemed as if there was a lot of support but now as an insider I can see that it's better than I ever imagined. Folks in this community just love Big Red football and are so willing to help.
Q: The OL was young and talented last year. Do you see that group as being the leaders coming into Fall camp?
A: We certainly do have a lot of talented linemen on both sides of the ball and a lot of them have a good bit of experience under their belt. The great news is that many of them have good leadership abilities too. Our hope is that we will be able to lean on these guys through camp as the rest of our team continues to come together. The even better news is that we will have several of them for two seasons or more.
- Previously in Two-a-Days: FLOWERY BRANCH
- Up Next in Two-a-Days: HABERSHAM CENTRAL
