The head coach of Collins Hill, who had won one Class AAAAAAA state championship, took the head coaching job at... of all places.. Gordon Central. The Gordon Central Warriors, located in the same county with Calhoun High School (city school district). Gordon Central and Murray County were usually the two schools battling to not be the last place team in the local area region.

This is a great story from this morning's Georgia High School Football Daily email. This is yet more proof in the pudding of just how critical is coaching in high school football (any football, for that matter):

Today’s interviewee is Gordon Central coach Lenny Gregory, whose team broke a 31-game losing streak with a 62-0 victory over Southeast Whitfield last week. Gregory took over the program in 2023 after leading Collins Hill for six seasons, including the 2021 Class 7A championship year. Citing differences with administration, Gregory resigned and was hired at Gordon Central, a rural Class A Division I school.
 
Lenny Gregory,
Gordon Central head coach
1. What did this win mean to you and your team? What’s been the reaction? “The win was incredible for our kids. You know, our kids who are seniors this year, this is their first win in their high school career. And they have been through a lot of adversity. They have been through coaching changes, and for me on a personal note, getting these kids to buy in and believe in our program and our culture is what we’re trying to do. It was just extremely rewarding to see the kids experience success. I think as coaches we forget that this game is about the kids. For me to be able to help out and bring a plan here and work for these kids is extremely exciting.”
 
2. What has been your main focus for the improvement of Gordon Central since the beginning? “Some of the issues that I found when I came in was the weight room. They didn’t have a strong strength-and-conditioning program, and our kids were out of shape and weren’t very strong. You can’t play football and be successful and not be good in the weight room. So we had to implement the same strength program I had at Centennial and Collins Hill. Both of those programs that I had were very similar when I took them over. So getting that thing fixed first, and then getting the kids to commit and the families to commit because it’s not just the kids that you’ve got to get to buy in. What I mean by that is, you know, our summer program is so important and requires people to commit four days a week, getting up early in the morning. So being there at 7:30 to work out until 11 o’clock. And not all families can do that, and they definitely were not used to that here. And so, year one was a struggle, a lot of issues with attendance. And then we had injuries. And part of the injuries was we were physically not strong enough. Now they have a year under my belt and a year in the weight room, experiencing what a summer looks like, of commitment. What they did this summer was they bought into it. They bought into the all-season strength-and-conditioning program. We saw tremendous growth in the weight room. I mean, tremendous growth. And then they bought in in the summer, and they were there every day. We had over 90% attendance all summer long, which is incredible. And some of the coaches that have been around our program here at Gordon Central have not seen that. And so our kids, our parents, our communities really bought in to get invested in the hard work, and that investment is what pays off.”
 
3. Previously coaching Collins Hill to the state championship, what was it like to take over at a school coming off consecutive 0-10 seasons? “Kids are kids. It doesn’t matter where you’re at. The kids want structure, they want to be coached, they want to learn, and they just need somebody to pour into them. And there’s such a deep level of appreciation here at Gordon Central that they almost thank you for coaching. I’m just like, ‘Guys, I’m doing my job,’ you know. But it really is a joy to work with these kids because they’re just starving for structure and guidance, and they want to believe in something, and I think we’ve given them something to believe in.”
 
4. Coming off of this big win, what are some realistic expectations you have set for this program? “First off, it doesn’t matter what program you are in, you have to stay grounded. The mindset we have had is your focus is just every week to go 1-0. Can’t look at the season, can’t predict records or scores. We have to focus on us, and every week we have to improve. Good football teams get better as the season goes. They get to win state championships, they just get better and better every week. And bad teams get worse. So we have to be one of those good teams that every week builds on the previous week. And part of that is staying humble. Part of it is being allergic to some of the compliments you’re given. It’s OK to get recognition, but we also have to stay grounded and keep our eyes on improvement and fixing our mistakes. I believe that if you don’t fix your mistakes, your opponents will. So we tell the kids all the time, ‘you’ve got to come to work, put your hard hat on and come with the energy and the effort to improve.’”
 
- Interview by Ansley Gavlak

a testament to good fundamentals and teaching. Pretty awesome. Was that a new school he took over?

(08-23-2024, 05:51 AM)Replying to Milldawg

Gordon Central has been around quite a while, and has been a very weak program for a very long time. I looked up their history. Looks like their first football season was 1985. Since that time they have had:

8 winning seasons
7 seasons in which they did not win a single game
3 1-win seasons
7 playoff appearances, all 1st round losses except for one, which was 1995, when they lost in the quarterfinals
0 region championships

As the article mentioned, the win broke a 31-game losing streak, i.e. they were 0-10 for the past 3 straight seasons.

It is going to be interesting to see how their season turns out. The team they beat... Southeast Whitfield... is a perennial weak program, too. But, they beat them 62-0. This year they are playing in Class A, which they have been in AA for several years. Who knows, they might even pull off a playoff appearance.

Great story, great lesson. I am proud of those boys and don't know a one. I believe that coach just got a star in his crown.

Thanks for sharing.

Coaching makes all the difference. Ridgeland, where my kids went, has been historically fielded a bad football team. For a few short years, while Coach Mariakis was there, they went to the state playoffs 3 out of 4 years. When parents started complaining about his rules about dedication to off season workouts, he left for a Christian School in Tennessee.

Ridgeland immediately dropped back to being a mediocre to bad football team with almost no players being recruited to the next level.

(08-23-2024, 05:38 AM)Replying to RockmartDawg

 
Having a legit feeder program is a big benefit as well.  We are seeing that in Dunwoody.

One thing I am interested to watch is if the success at Gordon Central starts to become a factor at Calhoun High School. Calhoun is the city school within Gordon County. Calhoun has had an enormous number of out-of-district students to attend their school over the past few decades. They've had very strong baseball and football programs because of it. The arrival of this new coach at Gordon Central coincides with the retirement of Coach Lamb at Calhoun. Things could be changing... dramatically... at both schools. Because of the high level of out-of-district students, Calhoun was playing in Class AAAAA the past several years. GHSA made a slight change in the student enrollment rules (counting out-of-district students) and Calhoun dropped down to Class AAA this year. Last season was the first time in like 20 years or thereabout that Calhoun did not make the playoffs. In response they immediately hired the retired Hal Lamb into a position like Athletic Advisor or something another.

I dunno... we'll see what transpires. This story with Gordon Central reminds me of back in the 1990s when Armuchee High School hired a coach... Tommy Welch. He came up from Thomasville. But... and this is interesting... Welch was an assistant at Thomasville, with George Bobo ... Mike Bobo's dad... being the head coach. Welch took the head coaching job at Armuchee, and George Bobo came along as an assistant coach. This all coincided with Mike Bobo starting his tenure at UGA. Dad and Mom wanted to be closer to Athens, so they took this new role at Armuchee, which is immediately north of Rome.

Well, Armuchee... a perennial dead-last finisher... a much worse history than Gordon Central... all of a sudden started winning ballgames. Players stopped leaving Armuchee for other Rome-area schools. In Welch's 2nd and 3rd seasons Armuchee actually won their region, which was not just unheard of, but spectacularly unheard of. Still, to this day, those two seasons are the only time Armuchee football has ever won a region championship. They made it to the semi-finals in 1993, losing a close one to the eventual state champion, Lincoln County, 24-20. They made it to the quarterfinals in 1994, losing to Manchester.

Welch stayed through the 1999 season, never posting a losing season throughout... at Armuchee (you have no idea how huge of a statement that is). Since his departure after the 1999 season, Armuchee has had 3 winning seasons. They have made it to the playoffs, once, losing in the 1st round (2009).

My son-in-law coached with Coach Gregory at Grayson and Collins Hill. Met him a few times and he seems like a really good guy. I know he's a really good coach. Life is always tough for a coach at a small school like that so who knows what will happen win/loss wise. But they lucked into a good one after a screwed up administration at Collins Hill cost them their coach.

They do have some good athletes this year. I saw their spring game and it was easy to spot a little talent here and there.

(08-23-2024, 08:26 AM)Replying to Walnut River

Them beating Southeast Whitfield isn't much of a feather in anyone's cap. Beating them 62-0, though, does get a bit more attention. But Southeast Whitfield is that bad of a team, too, though. Nothing can be definitely said about Gordon Central until they start playing some decent opponents. Time will tell.

I thought Lenny was kind of a prick, but I guess he knows what he's doing. Maybe my perspective of him was tarnished because my wife is an AP at Collins Hill, but really, the rub was between him and the AD that isn't there anymore (because she really was a prick).

I'm glad he's seeing some success and results, and those kids are getting something out of it. The year Collins Hill won the state title, he had Travis Hunter, a D1 QB, and a D1 receiver on the team, maybe a couple of others, so I thought it was really more of a flash in the pan.

(08-23-2024, 09:08 AM)Replying to dncdawg

Right now I don't think he's likely to get any real stellar athletes. But, if he starts winning it will likely stem the tide of any athletes leaving to go outside to ... I dunno... say, Calhoun?   I took note that he said that they made tremendous improvements in the weight room. That says several different things.

I won't be surprised to see them make the playoffs. Fannin County is in their region and they're a very well-coached team and they play disciplined football. I will be following this story throughout the season.

As far as his tenure at Collins Hill... he took over a middle-of-the-road program and took them up, step by step. They played and lost in the state championship and the very next year they won it. But the very next year they went 4-6, and that was his last season.

Lenny Gregory's head coaching record

(08-23-2024, 09:52 AM)Replying to RockmartDawg

Right now I don't think he's likely to get any real stellar athletes. But, if he starts winning it will likely stem the tide of any athletes leaving to go outside to ... I dunno... say, Calhoun?   I took note that he said that they made tremendous improvements in the weight room. That says several different things.

I won't be surprised to see them make the playoffs. Fannin County is in their region and they're a very well-coached team and they play disciplined football. I will be following this story throughout the season.

As far as his tenure at Collins Hill... he took over a middle-of-the-road program and took them up, step by step. They played and lost in the state championship and the very next year they won it. But the very next year they went 4-6, and that was his last season.

Lenny Gregory's head coaching record
[/quote]

Yeah, I happen to know that he was going to be terminated at Collins Hill before he quit.  He let too much emotion get in the way of his management of that team, and he got into trouble for it.  Too many people thought they were on easy street after winning the state title, but most of those guys that won it for them graduated.

(08-23-2024, 10:04 AM)Replying to dncdawg

I'm sure it got sideways after winning that title, and having played for it and lost the previous year. Him being in the heat of that Gwinnett County high school football juggernaut area. Attitudes must have been able to make the lights come on sometimes, they had to be so strong. I don't envy anybody who would have to coach in an environment like that.

Great read, Thanks Rockmart.