Latest / The Jake Wimberly Podcast / Head Coach Kris Thigpen Discusses his Terry Bulldogs Football Team for 2025.

Transcript

Head Coach Kris Thigpen Discusses his Terry Bulldogs Football Team for 2025. · The Jake Wimberly Podcast

• 0:03
  Speaker 1: Three two one, taking you through the afternoon. It is
• 0:09
  Speaker 1: the Afternoon Drive. We're again powered by friends at Sea Spire.
• 0:11
  Speaker 1: They are customer inspired from your fiber Internet Internet to
• 0:15
  Speaker 1: your home, your cell phones and more personal or business
• 0:18
  Speaker 1: chewse Sea Spire.
• 0:19
  Speaker 2: They are customer inspired.
• 0:21
  Speaker 1: Christick ben Head football coach, athletic ex director Terry Bulldog's coach.
• 0:24
  Speaker 3: You're looking great, Yes, you like you.
• 0:26
  Speaker 2: I'll still be playing man.
• 0:27
  Speaker 3: Well, well, I try to stay in shape.
• 0:29
  Speaker 4: You know, this is year sixteen, so and every year, Jake,
• 0:34
  Speaker 4: it seems like it gets hotter, and so in my mind,
• 0:36
  Speaker 4: I say, hey, I got to continue to work out
• 0:38
  Speaker 4: and try to stay fit, you know, keep the energy
• 0:41
  Speaker 4: level up absolutely, because you know, not only do I
• 0:45
  Speaker 4: have my team, but I also have three younger boys.
• 0:47
  Speaker 3: Ye so, and they're growing. So Dad got try to
• 0:50
  Speaker 3: stay in shape.
• 0:51
  Speaker 1: Oh, there's there is no doubt about it. I mean,
• 0:54
  Speaker 1: you know, and I fight that too. You know, I'm
• 0:56
  Speaker 1: forty nine. I think we're fairly close in the edge
• 0:59
  Speaker 1: the weed eater. It's a little harder, that's it.
• 1:01
  Speaker 2: Like you said, the heat gets a little hotter, and
• 1:02
  Speaker 2: it used to not be this hot.
• 1:03
  Speaker 4: It feels like that's right, now I hear all the
• 1:06
  Speaker 4: older people say it wasn't as hot when I was
• 1:08
  Speaker 4: that age, you know, and so I'm starting to understand now.
• 1:11
  Speaker 4: And so you know, being in Mississippi, you know, that's
• 1:14
  Speaker 4: that's a part of living in Mississippi.
• 1:16
  Speaker 3: You gotta deal with it.
• 1:17
  Speaker 1: There is no doubt about it, all right. So let's
• 1:20
  Speaker 1: talk a little bit about the conference. You know, love
• 1:23
  Speaker 1: seeing coaches move around, shake hands, collaborate because Friday nights
• 1:26
  Speaker 1: are a little different, but this is such a great
• 1:28
  Speaker 1: event that they may see puts on here.
• 1:30
  Speaker 3: It is.
• 1:31
  Speaker 4: It's awesome. I've been going since twenty sixteen. The rooms
• 1:35
  Speaker 4: has kind of changed a little bit. We used to
• 1:37
  Speaker 4: be at the the Hilton, I guess off County Line
• 1:41
  Speaker 4: in Jackson, and that was a much tighter space. Now
• 1:45
  Speaker 4: at the Shearing, and I think it's a better venue.
• 1:49
  Speaker 4: Parking is better, even though I had to park on
• 1:51
  Speaker 4: the grass the same here, you know, it's more parking,
• 1:55
  Speaker 4: it's a bigger place to have it. And every year
• 1:57
  Speaker 4: they come with great speakers and centers.
• 2:00
  Speaker 3: And then I.
• 2:01
  Speaker 4: Also like the fact that high school coaches, you know,
• 2:05
  Speaker 4: as a high school coach myself, having a chance to
• 2:08
  Speaker 4: see what other high school guys are doing that's helping
• 2:12
  Speaker 4: them be successful because a lot of times on a
• 2:14
  Speaker 4: college level, you could you could recruit what you need
• 2:18
  Speaker 4: for each position. And now with the transfer portal, you
• 2:21
  Speaker 4: could just go in there and select what you need
• 2:23
  Speaker 4: and you maybe, you know, check a few other boxes.
• 2:26
  Speaker 4: But the guys on the high school level are really
• 2:28
  Speaker 4: doing it in an organic type of way to where
• 2:32
  Speaker 4: development is real. And if you can't develop a kid
• 2:35
  Speaker 4: to get to where you need to be, got to
• 2:37
  Speaker 4: change your scheme. And so I like learning from high
• 2:39
  Speaker 4: school coaches.
• 2:40
  Speaker 1: You know, I was talking to Ryan Ernest earlier about
• 2:43
  Speaker 1: schem and fit and you know, because high school football,
• 2:45
  Speaker 1: as you reference it still I like the way you
• 2:47
  Speaker 1: put it's still very organic. Absolutely, you see your kids
• 2:50
  Speaker 1: come through your what I always call your feeder programs, sixth, seventh,
• 2:53
  Speaker 1: eighth grade, ninth grade, and you're identifying, okay, four years
• 2:56
  Speaker 1: from now, we need him to be here three years
• 2:58
  Speaker 1: from now.
• 3:00
  Speaker 2: But scheme wise, the state of Mississippi.
• 3:02
  Speaker 1: Boy, you can go from two plow over DeSoto County
• 3:06
  Speaker 1: down to the I mean everywhere between and you'll see
• 3:08
  Speaker 1: people running spread power, They'll run for Nest. We'll see
• 3:12
  Speaker 1: we'll see people, you know, pick a you in West Point,
• 3:14
  Speaker 1: They're gonna get under center and come.
• 3:15
  Speaker 2: Right at you.
• 3:16
  Speaker 1: It's just a it is a unique brand of football
• 3:20
  Speaker 1: because everybody's a little different.
• 3:21
  Speaker 3: Everybody's a little different.
• 3:22
  Speaker 4: And even when I coached smaller school ball, you know,
• 3:26
  Speaker 4: we were flexed bone and seeing a lot of wing
• 3:28
  Speaker 4: tea and guess what you can win with it. A
• 3:31
  Speaker 4: lot of programs win playing football that way because you
• 3:33
  Speaker 4: may not have the all star quarterback that could execute
• 3:37
  Speaker 4: a spread type scheme.
• 3:39
  Speaker 3: So he may be an athlete that's a.
• 3:41
  Speaker 4: Really, really hard player that makes good decisions, and so
• 3:44
  Speaker 4: you got to find a way to try to put
• 3:46
  Speaker 4: a group of eleven guys when they get on the
• 3:48
  Speaker 4: field in a position where they can be successful, play
• 3:51
  Speaker 4: to their strengths, and also give yourself the best chance
• 3:54
  Speaker 4: to win.
• 3:54
  Speaker 1: On Fridays, Christick pen on your radio head football coach
• 3:57
  Speaker 1: athletics director Terry Bulldogs as so we move through the
• 4:00
  Speaker 1: afternoon coach a little bit about Terry as we jump
• 4:03
  Speaker 1: into this. You guys went seven and four last year.
• 4:05
  Speaker 1: You bring back a lot of talent this year. I
• 4:08
  Speaker 1: don't know what you're doing down there, but it's working well.
• 4:11
  Speaker 4: It's we've been building, you know, and I go back
• 4:15
  Speaker 4: to twenty one and twenty two. You know, I was
• 4:17
  Speaker 4: telling people this is before seven eight classification came out.
• 4:21
  Speaker 4: You know, we were closing the gaps. It just wasn't
• 4:24
  Speaker 4: translating to wins. Burn Our kids was bigger that were competing.
• 4:29
  Speaker 3: You know.
• 4:29
  Speaker 4: My first year, I tell my defensive coordinator now said, man,
• 4:33
  Speaker 4: it'd be a halftime, the game be over, And I said,
• 4:36
  Speaker 4: you know, we only got one way to go, and
• 4:39
  Speaker 4: that's up. And so we kept grinding, we kept trying
• 4:42
  Speaker 4: to you know, wins for us came off the field,
• 4:46
  Speaker 4: you know, trying to build the kids confidence, trying to
• 4:48
  Speaker 4: get their bodies to where they need to be.
• 4:50
  Speaker 3: To compete on that level.
• 4:51
  Speaker 4: And then when the High School Activities Association came out
• 4:54
  Speaker 4: with the seven classification, we staged six eight. I knew
• 4:58
  Speaker 4: we would have a chance to really you know, possibly
• 5:00
  Speaker 4: jumping to that contender role. Sure, and you know, we
• 5:03
  Speaker 4: got some talented players. I've been very very consistent in
• 5:08
  Speaker 4: I guess the direction of the football program, which before
• 5:11
  Speaker 4: I got there, previously they've had you know, head coach
• 5:15
  Speaker 4: after head coach after head coaching. So I knew that
• 5:17
  Speaker 4: was one of the challenges going in is you know,
• 5:20
  Speaker 4: I had to try to stay and build something consistently,
• 5:23
  Speaker 4: and you know if I had some really talented coaches
• 5:26
  Speaker 4: come and go and some guys left to become head
• 5:30
  Speaker 4: coaches of the place. But you know, it's it's been
• 5:33
  Speaker 4: good for us. The kids bought again. One thing we
• 5:36
  Speaker 4: do that I think that helps us. We go to
• 5:38
  Speaker 4: team camp over the summer. This will be our third
• 5:41
  Speaker 4: year in the road doing it. I think that kind
• 5:42
  Speaker 4: of helps our guys get off and right before the
• 5:46
  Speaker 4: season starting and really refocused on what it is we're
• 5:49
  Speaker 4: trying to do. And then the main thing we've we've
• 5:51
  Speaker 4: been able to remain somewhat healthy and trying to avoid
• 5:55
  Speaker 4: the major injury with key guys.
• 5:58
  Speaker 2: Talk a little bit about this team.
• 6:00
  Speaker 1: Uh, you know, again, a team coming off a big
• 6:01
  Speaker 1: year last year, you play in a region this year.
• 6:03
  Speaker 2: I don't believe it's changed.
• 6:05
  Speaker 4: Looking at George County is the addition PRC went back
• 6:10
  Speaker 4: to the coast. Uh, we added George County and so
• 6:14
  Speaker 4: you know, you say six A South, it is arguably
• 6:17
  Speaker 4: we have the tougher region. I was telling our coaches
• 6:21
  Speaker 4: the other day, you know, for of the teams that's
• 6:24
  Speaker 4: in our region the last two years have either played
• 6:27
  Speaker 4: for a state championship, won a state championship, or been
• 6:30
  Speaker 4: to the second round the playoffs in sixth A. So
• 6:33
  Speaker 4: I mean, you know, I think if you make it
• 6:35
  Speaker 4: second round, the higher you you definitely in that contending
• 6:38
  Speaker 4: mode six A. And and so we got our work
• 6:41
  Speaker 4: cut out for us. You know, Uh, coach Reynolds does
• 6:45
  Speaker 4: a great job at West Jones. Hattiesburg has a new coach.
• 6:47
  Speaker 4: They're always talented, and their program is coming off of
• 6:51
  Speaker 4: state championship appearance. And and so with our team, we
• 6:56
  Speaker 4: returned a lot offensively. Defensively, we lost a lot of guys.
• 7:01
  Speaker 4: We lost eight guys on defense, and so we got
• 7:04
  Speaker 4: some talented guys coming. But you know, that experience of
• 7:08
  Speaker 4: having certain guys back there hopefully won't show up later
• 7:12
  Speaker 4: in the season. We got to try to work some
• 7:14
  Speaker 4: of those things out early. And so, but I'm excited.
• 7:17
  Speaker 4: The kids are excited as well.
• 7:19
  Speaker 2: Also.
• 7:19
  Speaker 1: It looks like every time I come by there, you
• 7:21
  Speaker 1: guys are doing some sort of a facilities upgrade, you know,
• 7:24
  Speaker 1: new baseball, this new facility that talk a little bit
• 7:27
  Speaker 1: about that, because you guys are putting money into the programs.
• 7:29
  Speaker 3: Yeah, that's that's a big part. You know.
• 7:31
  Speaker 4: Now if you come down I fifty five and you're
• 7:36
  Speaker 4: you're somewhere near the X seventy eight, you'll see a
• 7:40
  Speaker 4: huge gym that kind of sits right off the frontage road.
• 7:44
  Speaker 4: And it's great for our schools, great for our community
• 7:48
  Speaker 4: that we could do that. Hopefully the next phase will be,
• 7:52
  Speaker 4: you know, somewhat geared towards you know, football facilities upgrade.
• 7:56
  Speaker 4: Even though we were moved into a new field house
• 7:58
  Speaker 4: in twenty nineteen, and so speaking with our district athletic director,
• 8:05
  Speaker 4: you know, we're talking about some some other things that's
• 8:08
  Speaker 4: really going to help us move even further. And so
• 8:12
  Speaker 4: you know, now it's all about facilities and resources.
• 8:14
  Speaker 3: And that's one thing, Jake.
• 8:16
  Speaker 4: I know, the schools at the top that play for
• 8:19
  Speaker 4: state championships and win state championships at the top level
• 8:22
  Speaker 4: where I'm talking about six eight, seven, A, five A,
• 8:25
  Speaker 4: you know, they have the resources. Yes they have good coaches,
• 8:29
  Speaker 4: Yes they have really good players, but they also have
• 8:33
  Speaker 4: the resources and the support they need because all of
• 8:36
  Speaker 4: those things come into play now, there's.
• 8:38
  Speaker 2: No doubt about it.
• 8:39
  Speaker 1: You know, we've talked about this over the years, and
• 8:41
  Speaker 1: I've talked with other people, and a lot of people
• 8:43
  Speaker 1: will say, you know, ask questions, what you know. I'm
• 8:46
  Speaker 1: a I'm a five A school and I'm down the road,
• 8:48
  Speaker 1: you know, ten miles from a seven A school.
• 8:50
  Speaker 2: Our kids aren't that different. Why are our programs different?
• 8:53
  Speaker 1: And it's it's buying, it's commitment from the community, It's
• 8:57
  Speaker 1: it's the money.
• 8:58
  Speaker 2: There's a lot that goes into it, versus Friday night.
• 9:00
  Speaker 3: Versus Friday night.
• 9:01
  Speaker 4: And guess what, those kids that are five and ten
• 9:04
  Speaker 4: minutes from that other school, they know, they drive by there,
• 9:06
  Speaker 4: they know players there. You know, they see what they have.
• 9:09
  Speaker 4: And it's almost like recruiting too, even though you can't
• 9:12
  Speaker 4: recruit in high school. But families now more mobile than ever.
• 9:16
  Speaker 4: And then in the area we live in, which is
• 9:19
  Speaker 4: Central Mississippi, in the metro area, people can move around
• 9:22
  Speaker 4: and just like they do on the college level, if
• 9:25
  Speaker 4: you have a talented baseball player, basketball player, football player,
• 9:29
  Speaker 4: and that program is not on the up and up
• 9:31
  Speaker 4: of where you think it should be. As a parent,
• 9:34
  Speaker 4: you're going to say, you know what, son or daughter,
• 9:36
  Speaker 4: We're gonna invest in your future and we're gonna sit
• 9:39
  Speaker 4: you at this school. And so I don't knock the
• 9:42
  Speaker 4: parents for doing what they feel is best for their
• 9:45
  Speaker 4: son or daughter, you know, in terms of debt, but
• 9:48
  Speaker 4: absolutely resources and whether school is plays a huge part
• 9:53
  Speaker 4: in it. One athletic director I was talking to yesterday
• 9:56
  Speaker 4: he said, he said, if you shut down football, fifty
• 10:01
  Speaker 4: of the kids will probably transfer and go somewhere else.
• 10:04
  Speaker 4: But if you drop a math class, they'll be like, yes,
• 10:08
  Speaker 4: you know, we'll take something else. And so yeah, I
• 10:11
  Speaker 4: think a lot of times administrators don't always see the
• 10:14
  Speaker 4: value not just in football, but athletics and activities as
• 10:17
  Speaker 4: opposed to the whole school community and culture and what
• 10:21
  Speaker 4: it brings, you know, for the students and the student athletes.
• 10:25
  Speaker 1: I think you're one thousand percent correct. Christig Penn head
• 10:27
  Speaker 1: football coach, Terry High School coach. Thanks for coming over.
• 10:30
  Speaker 1: We'll be seeing you here in the next week or so.
• 10:32
  Speaker 1: We're gonna come down and spend a day with you guys.
• 10:33
  Speaker 1: I look forward to it.
• 10:34
  Speaker 3: Awesome. Thank you so much.
• 10:35
  Speaker 1: Christickpenn on you radio, we got to take a time
• 10:37
  Speaker 1: out stream us on his own one oh five nine
• 10:39
  Speaker 1: dot com. We're brought to you by Maristar Casino back
• 10:40
  Speaker 1: in a moment