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2023: A Final Tuneup · Houston County Football Coach's Show Jeremy Edwards

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  All right, welcome again, guys to another week of talking Houston County Bears
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  football. And of course, last week we kicked things off with head coach
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  Jeremy Edwards, and today we come with week two and the Bears are coming
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  off their final tune up. I guess we can call it before the regular
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  season get started. And without further ado, now let's welcome in the head
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  coach of the Houston County Bears football program. Coach Jeremy Edwards joins us.
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  Coach once again, thanks so much for doing this and how are you today.
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  I'm good, Phil, Thanks for having me. I appreciate you all
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  you do for Georgia high school sports and excited to talk with you today.
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  Hey, same here, coach. Really are glad that we're doing this with
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  you this year. So we got things started off last week, of course,
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  just kind of talking about a few things, how the off season had
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  been, this and that, and now as we fast forward here to week
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  two, you guys, actually, as I mentioned in the introduction, had
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  your I guess wouldn't call it your final tune up from the just and all
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  I've got to go by is the score. That's the beauty of doing these
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  shows coach, is that it enables you to give our listeners and myself insight
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  into you know, what happened beyond the scoreboard. So I saw what you
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  guys won. I think it was a shutout victory. But take us a
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  little bit further into the preseason scrimmage win over Mary Persons. Yeah we,
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  uh well it was it was good for us to have a scrimmage to where
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  we went on the road to kind of get some practice, you know at
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  traveling and you know, packing the trailer and packing bag and all that good
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  stuff. It goes into to going on the road, which is important.
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  And and so we made that trip and we we did a great job of
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  handling that. Kids did a great job of handling that well for the first
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  game of the year. And yeah, well first half we played our really
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  our varsity the guys for a half. You know, we uh we did
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  some good things offensively. Uh Aj was was on. Uh Ricky Johnson had
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  a big night. I had three touchdowns in the in the first half receiving.
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  Our defense, which I'm extremely proud of, played lights out. Yeah
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  really did. They didn't really have uh how much going offensively because of how
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  aggressively and fast. We were playing on defense, so I was real proud
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  of that. And obviously with it being a scrimmage, we didn't do any
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  uh real live special teams. You know, we lined up, kicked off
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  with no return team, put with no return teams, stuff like that,
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  so couldn't get a real gauge on our special teams. But I'm excited about
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  what we're doing. Special team Twist league up into this week got you and
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  uh what was the final score? Thirty thirty thirty five to nothing? We
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  uh, we got two scores with our young guys in the in the second
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  half, which was encouraging. We played a fresh quarterback, which you know,
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  he was pretty nervous going into it, but did a great job of
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  managing our offense and our defense. Even in the second half. Our young
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  guys played lights out, So it was it was a positive, uh,
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  you know, kind of a tune up, like you said, for the
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  season and going into this week against Sumter County. Absolutely, So let's reviews
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  talk about and I know you kind of briefly touched on some things, so
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  let's take it a little of it deeper. Now, tell me what you
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  were pleased with. I guess let's start offensively coached, or were some of
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  the things that you were pleased with? Well, I think that we did
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  a really good job running the ball, you know, on on their front,
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  Ryan Talib had had a good night, you know, as far as
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  on the ground, you know, again, Aj, we we dropped some
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  balls sore tho are some things we got to clean up. We weren't perfect
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  by any means, but you know we we we dropped a couple of touchdown
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  passes, to be honest, and so we got to clean up that.
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  But I thought AJ did a great job of managing our offense and and playing
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  within the system and you know, taking what the defense gave him. And
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  and I thought our offensive line did a great job of especially in pass per
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  all night. They were solid and there was obviously the quarterback wasn't live,
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  but they never got to him. You know how those scrimmages go and they
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  just blow it dead on the touch, but they that really got close to
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  him, which was a tribute to our old line and how hard they worked
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  off spring and summer to get to this point. Absolutely all right, So
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  let's talk about defensive defensively, Coach Edwards, what were some of the things
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  that you liked over there on that side of the ball. Uh. Well,
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  well, defensively, you know, we've we've really put an emphasis on
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  getting some help over there as far as uh, like I alluded to last
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  week, added some more coaches, which has been huge, you know,
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  just to get more eyes on that side of the ball. But I was
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  just pleased. You could tell after a year of being in the system,
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  they they really have taken you know, got a good grasp of what we're
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  trying to do. Really good at stopping the run. And we got an
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  interception, So that was big. Cary Brown got an interception on the nine
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  and made a nice return. I don't know if you saw the highlight on
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  that. I was real proud of him and the way he played. Got
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  to work on his ball security though. That's why he plays defense, I
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  guess. But you never know those guys who gonna get the ball in their
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  hand though, right, that's right, and he's and he's an electric athlete.
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  So once he catches it, you know, on the on the interception,
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  you know he he's gonna try to do something with it. And so
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  that was good. It set up a touchdown for the offense on the return
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  that he gave us on the interception. So you know, anytime you can
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  get any takeaways and and and stop the run, you feel like it's gonna
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  be it's gonna be a good night for us. And it didn't hurt that.
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  You know, very persons didn't play. Uh, their their top running
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  back, you know, I think he was a little injured, so he
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  didn't play, So that certainly helped. But I was just real proud of
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  how fast they played, how they got to the ball. I got you.
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  We're talking with Jeremy Edwards. Course he is the head Bear of the
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  Houston County Bears. The head coach of the Houston County Bears. Kicking off
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  his second season after a fantastic debut last year, it now gets ready to
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  take the Houston County Bears into season two. It will be officially week one
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  this week. Coach, let's move to that discussion, and let's talk about
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  you're opening week one upon it in Sumter County. Yeah, so we well
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  it's gonna be the home opener for us, which is exciting for our fans.
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  You know, we'll we'll do everything that we do in a home game
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  six oh five. We'll have a bear Walk and so that'll be exciting for
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  our kids. And then you know, Sumter County come into town. They
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  just had a scrimmage as well last Friday night with Darlington out of Rome.
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  So you know, we've we traded film and so were we We game planned
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  and we're ready to go. They got a lot of athletes all the field.
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  The head coaches is uh new, but he was on staff last year.
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  He was he was the defensive coordinator. So we're gonna see a lot
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  of similarities to what they did last year defensively and offensively. It's very similar
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  schematically. They've got a lot of guys that are playing, uh, both
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  sides of the ball, and uh so I think that'll be you know,
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  we'll use that to our advantage as we don't have anybody playing both ways.
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  And I knew that you had said, you know, in our discussions coach
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  that we had had this off season. You know, you and I talked
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  to a good bit and uh, of course now you know we're we're kind
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  of on the record, so to speak, and so the listeners can hear.
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  But one of the things that you know we talked about, you really
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  emphasized all year was just that trying to get away from having so many kids
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  go both ways. Talk about the advantage and what that provides. Well,
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  you know, with us being a six A school, you know, we
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  our numbers are are pretty good, and we've our numbers in our program or
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  have gotten larger, and I think with having thirty six seniors this year,
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  you know, we we just felt like that we were kind of stretching some
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  guys a little bit thin so in order for them to be what rested and
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  we've put a premium on you know, rest and recovery this offseason and training
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  speed and things like that, I just felt like we kind of got exposed
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  a little bit late in the playoffs with some guys getting a little tired,
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  especially when you get into game you know, twelve and thirteen, you know,
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  guys are naturally gonna get tired. So it's helped us out from a
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  practice standpoint, able to cut some periods out because we're not having to train
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  guys both ways. And so you know, again with us being a bigger
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  school, I mean, playing a smaller school Friday night, it's gonna obviously
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  be to our advantage from a depth standpoint, and but we're looking forward to
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  it and and uh, we'll see what happens on Friday night. And I
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  would really think, coach, that's always an important thing, you know,
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  making sure that you know that you've got guys that are rested. But I
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  would think now more than ever, with this intense heat that we've got.
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  I mean, even starting up at what seven thirty eight o'clock, Coach,
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  it's it's still quite hot and human. So I think that that's more important
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  now than ever. Don't know if that was kind of your forethought when you
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  know you wanted to get to that point, but I think that's more important
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  now than ever. Your thoughts on that absolutely, And we've adjusted how we
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  practice. In addition, you know, obviously with cutting periods and things like
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  that, we could go a little bit outside the box maybe, but we
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  go Mondays after school. Actually, last Monday, the weather got us the
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  wet bulbs, so we're you know, forced to be inside in the gym.
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  But obviously players safety is at the utmost importance for us, and so
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  if we have to go inside, we feel like that, you know,
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  the kids are just have to adapt and overcome and us as coaches and they're
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  gonna follow our lead. So they're really unfazed by that. It's not ideal
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  to be inside, but if we can get outside on Mondays, that's what
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  we would prefer to do. So that's kind of our our our longer practice
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  of the week. Tuesdays we go in the morning at five fifteen in the
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  morning at the stadium. We go helmets only, which again is a little
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  bit different than what most people do, but we feel like it gives us
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  a chance to recover from a good long day Monday Wednesday we kind of ramp
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  it back up and go again in the afternoon, you know, so we
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  can get outside and we put full pads on again. And then Thursday obviously
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  back in the morning again at five fifteen for kind of a run through,
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  walk through if you will, for you know, kind of tune up for
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  the game and then play the game on Friday. So it's, you know,
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  again, it's one of those deals where we're trying to you know,
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  ramp them up and then rest them. Ramp them up and then rest them
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  and then be ready to roll by Friday night. Five fifteen. That's in
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  ere's early and that's that's on the field at five fifteen. No, they
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  arrive at five fifteen. We're usually on the field around five thirty five.
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  But Ye'll tell you what feel it. This place is phenomenal. We got
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  great kids. Never an issue with attendance, you know. And and that's
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  a tribute to the kids, you know, handling their business getting up.
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  And then also I got to give a shout out to our parents. I
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  mean our parents that with the kids that don't drive, they do a great
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  job of getting them here. And so it shows their you know, unselfishness
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  for our program and doing whatever it takes to uh to make us to be
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  at our best and and and I appreciate that. And so it's, uh,
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  it's big for us to be able to get in and get our work
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  done early and and kind of give those guys an opportunity to get their bodies
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  right in order to go at the maximum speed that we're looking for. You
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  know, everybody's aware of your offense. You're an offensive minded guy. I
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  mean, you know, you guys put up a lot of points. You
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  know, you know, any offense that you have overseen, be it in
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  your previous you know capacity now there at Houston County. I mean you you
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  know, you you know your exs and oos I guess is what I'm trying
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  to say. Uh, do you really try to focus and devote more time
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  to the defense? Are you hands off on that side of the ball.
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  What's your level of involvement on that side with the defense? Yeah? Well,
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  I mean I'm a firm believer in you hire guys to do a job.
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  You know, I'm fortunate here with the setup in Housing County. You
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  know, I'm able to handle the day to day things as a head coach
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  and also still be able to run an offense. Now, I do have
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  an offensive coordinator that does a phenomenal job of organizing things and also coaching a
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  position as well. But you know, I feel like, you know,
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  when I made the hire for my defensive coordinator with Georgie Singletary out of Warner
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  Robbins, I knew that I was what I was getting because I'd worked with
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  him there and I think he does just a great job. And again I've
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  I've I've went out and tried to find the best coaches possible to help him.
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  You know, we have a lot of guys we obviously had from last
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  year, but we've added some guys that I think have been you know,
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  just absolute difference makers for our team and building relationships with kids, and so
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  I'm a little hands off. I mean, I like to know what they're
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  doing and I keep track, but I hired him to do a job,
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  so I just let him run with it. I think that is the perfect
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  answer, whether it's football or whether it's making widgets. You know, yeah,
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  hire somebody, put them in place, surround yourself with good people,
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  knowledgeable people, and let them do their job. I think that's a winning
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  formula for sure. Coach absolutely. I mean it's just, uh, you
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  know, nobody wants to be micromanaged, but as you know, with me
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  sitting in this chair, I've got to and I oversee everything and we have
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  staff meetings on Sunday and we discuss everything from offense defense. I got a
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  great special teams coordinator and so we just we do whatever we need to do
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  to put our guys in the best position position to be successful. And that's
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  all we can do as coaches, and the kids got to take it from
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  there. We're wrapping up with Jeremy Edwards, head coach of the Houston County
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  Bears, getting ready for the twenty twenty three season. Coach will end with
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  this and I'll give you the final word. So obviously it's a you know,
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  a difference a year makes. I mean, you came in last year,
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  you were you were new, you know, came in, you had
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  to set things your way. Now you've had that full season, now you've
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  had a full off season. What would you say and what would you say
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  to the listeners out there, because I know we got a lot of Houston
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  County Bear fans that are listening to this, what would you tell them the
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  biggest difference, the biggest advantage that you have as a coach and the team
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  has now heading into the season this time compared to this same time last year.
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  Well, I just think that last year, you know, we we
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  built we got some momentum. You know, we had a couple you know,
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  big wins, you know, especially in county wins. And then with
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  winning you know, there's a lot of people that you know, put a
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  lot of emphasis on winning every game here in the county. So being you
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  know, per se county champs, I guess you know, we're winning all
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  the games against these county rivals. I think that went a long way to
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  building the momentum going into this year, you know, because there's some good
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  teams here that a lot of good football here in this area, especially in
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  this county. But I just, you know, I think the advantage that
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  we have is our community here here on Highway ninety six is second to none.
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  I mean, we we anything from a meet the Bears, the community
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  comes out to our bear walk. The community comes out from a fundraising standpoint.
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  I mean they're always willing to do whatever they can to help us out
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  to give these kids a great experience. And so you know that along with
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  our our admin even switching principles in the you know, in this through the
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  summer, getting a new principle a guy that was already here. I mean
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  it just those things are the things that are I think are the most important
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  pieces to a program is having the support of your community and having the support
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  of your advent. So we can check both of those boxes. And that
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  helped us to put, you know, put our kids in a good situation
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  to where they feel like they're taking care of and loved. And you know
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  that that goes a long way with kids these days. Well, it definitely
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  does. Coach, and certainly you have done a good job, actually a
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  great job of rallying the troops, and by that I mean the team,
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  the parents, the fans, everybody is on board and it's great to see
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  with Houston County football and the kind of season you guys have had, a
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  kind of season you guys had last year, and I'm sure the kind of
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  season that you guys are hoping to have in two thousand twenty three. One
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  thing's for sure. We're going to be there with you every step of the
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  way, and we look forward to our conversation each and every week with you.
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  Coach. Yes, sir, Thanks Phil, I love I love Mondays.
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  I love talking with you and look forward to it every week. Same
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  here, coach, And speaking of which, we'll talk with you next week.
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  Best of luck this Friday. Thank you, I appreciate it. You're
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  welcome. There. He is as Jeremy Edwards, head coach of the Hoko
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  Bears, the Houston County Bears, getting ready to tee it up against Sumter
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  County. We'll come back next week and talk about it with Coach Jeremy Edwards
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  right here on the Houston County Coaches Show with Coach Jeremy Edwards and myself,
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  your host Phil Jones, right here at ig next