COMMERCE — If there was a Mount Rushmore-like monument for Commerce football, former coaching legends Ray Lamb and Steve Savage surely would be the faces of the foundation.
However, neither of those giants have done what current coach Michael Brown and his staff have been able to accomplish in their first two-plus seasons at the helm of the small-town, Class A power. Brown and a cadre of assistants have guided the Tigers to 26 wins in less than three full seasons, including two straight appearances in the Class A Public state semifinals.
And they can add to that total on Friday when the Tigers (9-3) travel to Homerville to take on Clinch County (11-1) in the semifinals with a shot at getting back to the state title game for the first time since winning it all in 2000.
Lamb, who led Commerce from 1967-88, only managed 12 wins in his first three seasons and it took five years for him to get 27 wins. He didn’t get his first playoff win until his sixth season in 1972 but would give them their first state title in 1981 in Class AA.
Savage (1989-2000) took over for Lamb and guided the Tigers to 24 wins in his first three seasons. He led them to the semifinals in his second season and to their second and last state title in Class A in 2000.
Thirty months ago when Brown agreed to take over the head coaching duties from Marvin Justice, who had replaced Savage when he retired, he said his only goal was try and get the Tigers, who had just one playoff win over a six-year period, back into the conversation as a state power.
“We had some years where we were doing the right things but things just didn’t seem to work out for us,” Brown said. “I think we all felt that we wanted the program to be back near the top and be part of the conversation about programs that could compete for a title every year. That is what we’ve focused on.”
But while that attitude does require big plans and long-term goals, Brown said it was the little adjustments and belief in what embodies Commerce football that has made the biggest differences.
“The weight room was a big thing for most of those teams and we just got back to doing what had made the team successful for so many years,” Brown said. “And, it was the belief in the triple-option offense. We used to be the strongest team anyone faced. Combine that with outstanding execution of the triple-option, and that was what made Commerce the program it has been known as.”
In an age of spread offenses with five receivers and quarterbacks throwing the ball as many as 40 times a game, the triple-option can appear as a dinosaur in today’s football. However, even young coaches recognize that a perfectly executed triple-option attack is virtually unstoppable.
Brown said Lamb and Savage were two of the true “masters” of the option attack and taught it so well to those that grew up playing in Commerce that it is almost as second-nature as walking for most of them.
“Coach Lamb and Coach Savage both felt it gives a team that may not be as big or as fast as the other team a chance to play with anyone,” Brown said. “You have to be an expert to teach it and those guys were masters of it. All but two of our staff played under them so we feel we have become experts at teaching it.
“Our kids don’t question us about why don’t we throw it more or do what the other teams are doing. The kids in Commerce grow up being taught the triple-option and understand it.”
Brown and defensive line coach Lamar Bowles are unique in that both got to play for Lamb’s final team in 1988 and on Savage’s first team in 1989. They graduated in 1992. Outside linebackers coach Bob Finch (‘79) and linebackers coach Chas Hardy (‘86) played under Lamb while wide receivers coach Nick Ladd (late 90s) and quarterbacks coach Reuben Hayes (‘08) played under Savage. Defensive coordinator Brannon Tidwell and running backs coach Ron Minish did not play at Commerce but have been integrated into the “Commerce” way, as Brown said.
“Our kids believe in the triple-option. This is who we are,” Brown said. “We will run it and if we execute it properly we feel we can move the ball on anyone and score. The things (Lamb and Savage) taught us are showing up in how we teach it.
“It’s really just a continuation of what they did. That’s why we don’t take too much credit of how successful we’ve been lately. We wouldn’t be here without (Lamb and Savage).”
They will need all the expertise they can muster on Friday against the Panthers. It is a rematch of last year’s first round matchup -- a 37-7 Commerce win -- but that will be the only similarity, Brown said.
“They are a much different team than we played last year,” he said. “They probably have the most team speed of any team we’ve played this year, and that includes Jefferson and Prince Avenue. They run a single-wing and execute it to perfection most of the time. Very, very tough to stop.”
Clinch County, the No. 5 seed in the playoffs, averaged 40 points a game during the regular season and has stayed true to that in the playoffs outscoring its first two opponents, Dooly County and Johnson County, 80-42. However, the Commerce defense is allowing just 14.3 ppg, including holding No. 1 seed Marion County 30 points below its average in a 20-7 win in the quarterfinals last week. Only Irwin County (13) has given up fewer points in the playoffs than the Tigers (36) so far.
“It’s a little like trying to stop the triple-option in that you have to stay at home and take your man and get off blocks,” Brown said. “But when it’s executed right, even if you do everything you’re supposed too, it’s still hard to stop.”
The Panthers defense has shown cracks. They are allowing 21 ppg in the playoffs and gave up 34 to No. 13 seed Johnson County last week in a 50-34 win.
“Again, it’s really not about what the other team does or doesn’t do. If we execute our triple-option, we feel like we’ll have success moving the ball,” Brown said. “We don’t always have the most talent on the field. But we feel heart trumps talent every time and that is something have a high supply of.”
Brown acknowledged that they know what is at stake and how close they were last year, falling 28-7 to Irwin County in the semifinals. But he said one game, win or lose, will not define their program or their success as coaches.
“We haven’t talked about (getting to the Georgia Dome),” he said. “It’s really just about what we do on Friday and how well we do it. Nothing more.
“We have a saying around here: ‘Failure is not fatal and and success is not final.’ We are standing on the shoulders of what Coach Lamb and Coach Savage built. Our job is just to try and keep the tradition going. That has been our goal all along.”
http://accesswdun.com/article/2015/12/353715/brown-tigers-ready-to-lay-new-foundation