FM Talk 1065 Podcasts
(PSR) Prep Sports Report 7.20.2024 w/ guest David Faulkner and Legend Series w/Josh Niblett
From the Eastern Shore, Toyota and Hyundai Studios. The Thompson Tractor Prep Sports Report. Here's your host, Randy Bergen with Coach Rick Cleveland and Coach Mark Leseter. And good Saturday morning to you and welcome to the Thompson Tractor's Prep Sports Report as we're coming to you live. From the Eastern Shore, Toyota and Hyundai Studios located right here in South Alabama. So glad to have you with us this morning. I am Randy Bergen along with, as I like to say, the stars of the show. Coach Rick Cleveland, Coach Mark Leseter, guys, how y'all doing? Doing fantastic, brother. Good to see you. And you're looking good as all. Thank you, sir. Thank you. I'll pay you when we get down. There you go. There you go. All right, how are you, ma'am? All right, pay it for us. There you are. Yeah, and voices in the mail. Doing great, Randy. I hate that we missed that opportunity to get to play some golf yesterday, but boy, it's been a great week. We're going to have a great week this week. Turner and I are going to Boston to see the Red Sox in the Yankees. When are you leaving? Leave Thursday. I hope. Yeah. With everything going on, Tracy took her grandson to Washington yesterday. Oh, wow. Dan Jennings kind of took care of some tickets for her. Nice. Shoot. Their flight was backed up about three hours. Yeah, yesterday was crazy if you were flying anywhere. No doubt about it. Hey, look, we got a great show lined up. We got a lot of coaching changes. We're going to go across the state through some of those. Or do you see some surprises in there? Yeah, I think there's a couple that we want to talk about. I'm really surprised that our buddy up at the cater. I'm surprised Jerry got back in coaching and Mark, I know you've been at the meetings this week in Montgomery, but that kind of surprised me a little bit. I'm still waiting to hear what's going to happen over at Cusa Christian. I keep hearing a familiar name going to be involved in that coaching deal. But the thing that is not on here is Weiger. Weiger has not named a new head coach. And here we are almost a week before practice. And Marcus Cook is no longer there. So those kids are just kind of going at it. They got an assistant coach. I'm sure it's doing a great job with them, but man, that's not good that there's not a coach there. It's awful late. I mean, it's late and then trying to get ready to have it had a chance to do anything. Whoever it is, I would have to think that I have to pull somebody from on staff at this time. What do I know? All I'm saying is that this time of year, that decision bringing somebody in from outside who won't know the kids or what they've been doing or what they can do is going to be very difficult to get them prepared and ready to go for the first ball game. Yeah, that's got to be that's got to be a chore. There's no doubt about it. Hey, look at 830. We're going to be. We'll have our excuse me, 845, we'll have our leadership segment and then at nine o'clock starting our second hour we head over to Gainesville, Georgia and talk with head coach for Gainesville High School. Josh Knib was going to be on with us. Yeah, it's going to be kind of fun, you know, we're continuing our legend series and talking to Josh. He said, Coach, I don't feel like I'm a legend. I said, well, you're old enough now to be a legend. Awesome. So, you know, Josh has done a tremendous job over in Gainesville and we're excited to talk to him, let him reflect a little bit on his past and talk a little bit about his future. You know, Josh is just one of those guys is, you know, what you see is what you get. Every time you see him, he's going to be the same way every single time. It's always the same message and, you know, that type of consistency in your, in your life, first of all, leads toward people understanding and wanting to follow you because they know what they're getting. Same thing with him and his coaching. It's always the same. It's the same type thing. Every time they go out there, they go out there, they do a certain thing. They do it a certain way and there's a standard. He lives by the standard he coaches by, which really is what, to me, is what made, has made Josh the coach that he is, you know, of course he was in a great place at Hoover, but you still got to go in there and do your job and he did it and he did it well for, for quite a while. So, I think Josh is one of those premier coaches in our country and I'm just really proud for all the work we've seen him do over the years. You know, you make a great point because I do believe he's one of the top high school coaches in this country. I don't mean just the state of the sound of the east and he's over there in Georgia where you better play some ball. I'll tell you right there, you better play some really tough football and they win 10 games every year he's been there and, you know, he didn't, he didn't, he didn't inherit a rose garden at Gainesville. They had been down, but that is a storied program in the state of Georgia and Josh has rekindled that fire and boy, I just noticed they just hired the baseball coach who's the win in his baseball coach in Georgia history, brought him in from part of you. I look forward to asking Josh about that because I wonder how many football players are playing baseball. Josh is like coach, it doesn't matter, we just hired the best baseball coach that we could find to come into our program and mentor our kids. That community of Gainesville's got a guy just to be loving him. Yeah, Josh is a guy, he's got that infectious personality. He really does and he's a man, he knows the game. He gets it and he's all about those kids. All about growing those kids and growing the game and then, you know, and I know people get tired of hearing this sometimes, but man, he does the Lord's work. I mean, he is all about doing the Lord's work. He is. We're excited to get him on this morning. Hey, getting away a little bit from high school, turning a little bit to college, which we don't talk a lot about college. But if you're an Alabama fan, you got to love what just happened at Alabama, naming that field after Nick Saban field. You know, dog, Goni, I love the way they're doing coach Saban and I got a chance to watch a whole lot of the SEC network this week and watch the entire SEC deal that was going on out in Dallas and. Did you see when he was on with a fan bomb? Yeah, I saw everything and I taped it. So I tell you the one that got fan bumbles like Giffon. Yes, he did. I don't know what you're good at. I don't know what you're good at. I said you got me fired. You got me fired at USC. You called me Molly Cyrus. Said I was going down the drain like Molly Cyrus and then he said he, boy, he didn't see the words. He's playing pretty good now. I enjoy listening to him. I do. But I'm really pleased with how their honoring coach Saban in a way that just to me is really good and I think it's what I think it's the right thing to do. They have the two greatest coaches in my opinion, probably two of the greatest that ever coached the game, being honored at that stadium. I think it's a great honor for coach and I didn't get to hear much of the other stuff this week, but I've heard that he really did a good job on TV and it was really to be expected, right? He was like somebody who said, you know, right off the bat, he was already, he had his notes. He was up to date. He knew exactly what he was talking about. That's just him. You know, that's just the way he's going to do things. He's always going to be prepared, but I enjoyed some of his, he got some digs in at some people, which I thought was really good, but it was a lot of fun to listen. But I'm really, really happy for coach. I think it's very deserving. You know, I don't think people realize how hard it is for him to be sitting there and trying to examine all the football programs in the Southeastern Conference while they're just heaping praise on him. I mean, every coach that came to that podium and starting with Kirby, who was first and then all the way through, you know, he had his chair turned around listening to him and they're just giving him accolades or giving accolades to him for all he's done for this conference. But let me tell you, it's like Tracy said, you know, I know they're bragging on him and they're saying all the right things to him. But is there anybody in the world that's happier that Nick Saban's out of coaching than all of those coaches? Exactly. That's right. That's exactly right. Well, we'll talk more about that coming up, but you, you're returning back from Montgomery Yeah, the big week time. It was a great time seeing old friends and coaches and, and young ones, that's the funniest thing about it. You know, we were sitting at the dinner table and me and a coach Trotter and our wrestling coach, Coach Hall, we're eating dinner, Coach Hall goes, he goes, asked me, he says coach, how many years is this going to be for you? And I went, this will be 42 and he goes, even coaching longer, I've been alive. And I was like, well, I've been real fortunate for that. You know, but the thing about it is, is you go there long enough. You see, the old guys that we saw forever and ever coming through that were young with us when we came through is less and less and less of them. And there's more of those young guys coming in, which is the way of things and it was great. It was great to see old friends and share some thoughts and ideas, but it's a great time. I really enjoyed going up there for that little trip every year. Well, maybe you could break a little bit more down for us and never come back. I can. How about that? All right, we'll take a quick time out when we come back and more of the Top's Attractors Prep Sports Report. Welcome back to the Top's Attractor Prep Sports Report brought to you by Alpha Insurance, this segment presented by Green and Phillips Attorneys in Law. Now back to the show. I'm not saying a word, I'm not because you said last week that all of these songs we claimed are for you, well, they are. It's because it's all about you, oh, he's talking about you, oh my gosh. Listen to the words, it's good. Do we have some else we can talk about? Yeah, we do. Okay. I'll just check it. Okay. Well, let me do my job real quick. Okay. Then we'll let you girls get back to talking. Hey, welcome back to the Top's Attractors Prep Sports Report, coming to you live from the Easter Shore Toyota and Hyundai Genesis Room. Glad to have you here with us, a lot to get into. But Rick, before we get into some coach talk, if you will, we had some bad news this week. Yeah, we did. I had a message from Steve Smith, Mark, you're very familiar with Steve, played those guys at Piedmont and won a great job, Steve did at Piedmont, and of course now he is at West Brook Christian and his defensive coordinator at Piedmont and at West Brook Christian passed away this week, James Blanchard. And that was one of Steve's dearest and nearest friends and just wanted to say, you know, when you get a coach that's been loyal to another coach like those two have been to each other, it's a special, special bond. And you know, our prayers go out to the Blanchard family and I can guarantee you this, the guys at West Brook Christian are going to certainly miss James and I know Steve's going to miss him. But it's like I told Steve, I said, you know, we lose them every day, Steve, but they're in a much better place than we are in today's world. And I know that's hard to visualize and understand, but it is. And then, Bayside lost one of their tremendous coaches in the past, Lisa Freya, was PJ played for Coach Vic up at Daphne High School and all good things. PJ just a tremendous young man and his mom, Lisa, man, what a wonderful, wonderful lady. She was a great, great high school and college athlete at Syracuse and then came down here and coached at Bayside and she set the tone for a lot of things that are happening at Bayside even today. So we just sent our Cynthia out to the Blanchard family and the Freya family and know that their families are hurting and we pray for them during this very difficult time. Coach, it's one other I'd like to add to the list. This morning, there's a good, good friend of mine passed away this week, long time coach at Brinjeman Russell High School, John Elliott. And John and I coached together when we were there, but he and his beautiful wife, Marla and daughter Rachel, just tremendous people. We became very good friends and boy, I enjoyed my time with John, John from up in Winston County at Double Springs, I believe is where he's from, but John passed this week and just wanted to give a shout out to his family and let them know that we are praying for them and keeping them in our thoughts and prayers over the next several days, making sure that they understand that there's an outpouring of love from PSR to them. Amen. Yup, tough time for them, keeping me in thoughts and prayers for sure. Alright, let's turn and talk a little bit about, we mentioned a few moments ago, 97 coaching changes in the state of Alabama and there's still two vacancies. You talked about the one at Viger, D-A-R also has that vacancy and Rick, there's no way we can go through the whole list of them, we're not going to try to even attempt to do that. But are there a couple of these others that stand out to you, that kind of grabbed you pretty quick? Yeah, you know, Jeff Foshi's dad was a long time coach up at Stan Hopelmore, did a tremendous job there, Jeff of course played football at Alabama for Coach Stalin's and he followed his dad as a matter of fact, his head coach at Stan Hopelmore and he took the job at the Tonga Academy and the Tonga Academy, if they're not in the AHSAA right now, but I think they're the next one to get in. And so it's good to see Jeff back in coaching, of course here in Mobile, Steve Norman step down, now he's on the Biloxi staff over in Biloxi and look forward to good things from Steve again, but Juan Johnson, a coach that had really no ties to Mobile, they brought him in from Hewitt Trustful and or was it Clay Chalkville? I can't remember where he was from, but I think it was Hewitt, Mark, because I kind of tied him into some of your people. Then Andrew Davis is over at Baldwin County, replacing Scott Riles, who went to Kalira. You know, when you look at these coaches, Mark, I don't ever remember us having 97 to change at this time of year and Carol of Ozark did something that I really think may move them forward. You know, we got a lot of these young coaches that are into all the dynamics, the things that are changing in high school sports, just like they're changing in college sports. And Carol is in a tough area down there now, I'm telling you, they play tough football down in that area. I don't think they have to play Dofan in enterprise anymore, because I think they've dropped down a couple of times. They're in 5A. Yeah. So, but they went over and got Andalusia's offensive coordinator, Matt Malone. And boy, I'm telling you, he is a good, good young football coach. And I think he may do some things that will turn Carol around, that's an exciting high. It's a really, the one that I think is going to make the most noise in the state of Alabama is at Carver High School in Montgomery. Carver went out and hired Bobby Carr. Now, Bobby last year was an offensive coordinator at Alberta for Nathan McDaniel. But Bobby Carr has, boy, he's got a long list of accolades, he won bunches of state championships in the Alabama Independent School Association, the A-I-S-A, at Edgewood Academy. And then he popped around a couple of different places. But when Carver and Sidney Lanier merged, Bobby Carr jumped on that job. And I'm telling you, Randy, you know a little bit about that now. He's one of the winningest coaches in the AHS, A-I-S-A, I think 250 wins, 52 losses, 10 state championships. Yeah. It's pretty impressive. That's a pretty good resume. Well, it is a good resume. And people will say, when you say that, when we say that, and I've said that, they say, well, who was he playing? Well, it doesn't matter if you play in 10 blind mice. You win that many football games, you're doing something right, correct? And so, I will tell you this now, A-I-S-A is a little bit lenient when it comes to recruiting. Yes. Probably have to be. I know they probably do, but I can tell you that that ain't going to fly at Carver. It's not going to fly because don't think that every A-I is not watching that situation. And of course, I say that, we're 50 miles from somebody that's been recruiting fire out of people. So, you know, maybe they'll, we'll stop all of that. That's where we are. And we got a lot of other good coaches that have moved around, and we'll talk more about them a little later on. I do want to mention one coach that you're pretty familiar with, Barry Gibson has been inducted into the Moss Point Hall of Fame. That'll happen on September the 19th, too, Will. And I know Randy Burgen will be there. I will be there. He might be the absolute ceremony. Well, actually, they were going to have presenters. And Barry had asked me to present him, and then they made a change. And they said, actually, that they weren't going to have presenters this year because last year they had a couple of them that just went on and on and on, so they're going to shorten it up a little bit and do it themselves. But yeah, we're proud of Barry. I'm going to say this. I don't know why he's not in the Spanish Fort Torros Hall of Fame. I'm going to tell you why. You know, we feel the same way about Barry Gibson. But he laid the foundation, but he didn't win enough. That's just the thing. Yeah. He just didn't. And that's the bottom line. And Mark, that's the way it is in today's work. Yeah. It's if people don't see through the whole thing. No. They don't see the big picture. They don't see anything indeed. That's right. He did. That stadium. He designed that stadium. That thing was a lot of work going on when he got there. And he did a great job there. And we're not saying at all that he's not deserving of it, I'm just saying that, you know, you got to, today's in Hall of Fame, you got to win, you got to win ball game. That's right. That's the only thing. That's it. That's the only thing. Nothing else matters. Doesn't matter. You know, I know coaches that have designed and laid out the plans and spent hundreds of hours on a particular field house that happens to be in Fairhill, Alabama, but they didn't win enough games. It's way live here today. Yeah. You got to win. Hey, all right. We'll take another time out when we come back. We'll talk about some half-leats of the year. Coach, you got those four, so no, we'll talk about that much more coming up right here on the Tops and Tractors Prep Sports Report. Welcome back to the Tops and Tractor Prep Sports Report. The Pops Market communication lines are open at 251-343-0106. Here's your host, Randy Bergen with Coach Rick Cleveland and Coach Mark Leseter. We'll talk about the Pops and Tractor Prep Sports Report. We'll talk about the Pops and Tractor Prep Sports Report. We'll talk about the Pops and Tractor Prep Sports Report. We'll talk about the Pops and Tractor Prep Sports Report. We'll talk about the Pops and Tractor Prep Sports Report. We'll talk about the Pops and Tractor Prep Sports Report. We'll talk about the Pops and Tractor Prep Sports Report. We'll talk about the Pops and Tractor Prep Sports Report. We'll talk about the Pops and Tractor Prep Sports Report. We'll talk about the Pops and Tractor Prep Sports Report. We'll talk about the Pops and Tractor Prep Sports Report. We'll talk about the Pops and Tractor Prep Sports Report. We'll talk about the Pops and Tractor Prep Sports Report. We'll talk about the Pops and Tractor Prep Sports Report. We certainly welcome you back to the Pops and Tractor Prep Sports Report. Coach, we've got a very special guest coming up in just a moment, Coach. David Faulkner, but before we get into that, we want to thank some of our great sponsors and, boy, I'll tell you what, Chris Garris is one of them, isn't he? Yeah, and Premier Collision is, boy, they're just knocking it out of the park as I was over visiting Chris and Kim and Tyler and the folks this week. And, you know, one of the things that they do is they do everything they can to sport high school sports programs, different schools all around Baldwin and Mobile County. But if you have fender bender, you have any kind of problems with your automobile, as Mark, Randy, and I all three know, you want to go to Premier Collision, it's over at 1177 Sledge Drive in Mobile. You can reach them at 251-478-4500, and that's not the number. I can't get the right number. I'll try to--I'll try to--you'll just put it in your head there. That's right, but those guys are just fantastic. I get so excited to be in there with them because they're just--all they're doing is helping people. And sometimes people are in a tough situation and Chris does everything he can to help him give them a call as soon as you can at 2. 251-478-4500. There you go. There you go. Right that time. Randy, thank you, Randy. Coming through in the clip. I appreciate that. You got so many numbers going, you know, you can't keep them all, but they got a new one over at 101 on Schoenzer Road, their second Premier Collision. If you get a chance, give them a call. They'll take care of you, just like family. Unscripted. Very unscripted right there, Coach. Just from the heart. No doubt. All right. All right. Let's go back to our Pops Midtown communication line. Welcome to Good Friend of Arts. Coach David Faulkner on the line with us. Coach, how you doing, pal? I'm doing great. How are you? How are you? We're a good coach, and of course David has brought to us as many times as we can catch him by will to, and we really appreciate will to and everything that those guys do. David, tell us about the summer. I know Mark accuses you of being the innovative offensive guru, one of the most innovative one. He's ever been around. So tell us about 7 on 7, and all that you guys have been through this summer. Well, first of all, I appreciate those kind of words from Mark, but I'm like any other coach. I see what other coaches they're doing, and it's working, and I try to steal it. So, if we were all geniuses and gurus, we probably wouldn't be ball coaches, but, you know. Well, no, we've had a productive summer. I've been real pleased with our team this summer and how hard they've worked, and progress we've made. I mean, you guys have been through it a hundred, hundreds of times. You start in January trying to figure out what this team's going to look like, and how you're going to piece it together, and what your identity of your team is, and then as you get into late summer, you're trying to put the finishing touches on that heading into the fall, and you never 100%, you know, know, but I think it's always a work in progress. But, man, we've been all over the place. We've played 7 on 7s in Foley and Hoover. We've had some of these OTAs against other teams, and we've got a couple more coming up next week, just trying to prepare our guys, but it's been very productive. You performed well in these things all summer, so we're kind of excited what this fall is going to look like for us. David, tell us a little bit about -- I know you all had spring, so you will start if I'm not mistaken. It's two weeks from Monday, is that correct? Yes, obviously, it will be, I guess, what you would call your fall camp phase before you get in to your game the week of the 23rd. I was just trying to think about, you know, we -- a lot of schools have gone to the thing now where they don't do spring, and they get an extra week in the fall to start, and then there's some to do spring, and then they start at the regular Old Town, which is the first Monday of August. How do you see that -- how has that kind of impacted high school sports around or high school football around our area that you can see? Well, I think that's something that each and every school and coach has to take on the individual basis based on -- you know, a lot of that, I think, is what is your availability of your players in the spring, based on how many you have that or two sport players, and how deep they make it in the playoffs, and then versus me, I'm -- I'm going to try to do a spring training as much as I can, and I'm never going to try to look for a way to not do the spring. I'm just kind of, I guess, an older coach, and I believe in spring training, and I think those 10 days that you get to have their impact and you get to develop and kind of figure out what your chess pieces are and what your team looks like, and then it gives you kind of an idea heading into the summer, okay, these are our strengths, and these are the things we need to continue to work on for us, in my personal opinion. I think those 10 days are more valuable than just the five you gained being able to start a week earlier. That's a pretty good point, because 10 minus 5 is 5, and I hadn't even thought of it that way, but you do, you get -- you cheat yourself when you lose those five days, that's exactly right, David. David, I want you to talk a little bit about the structure of the booster clubs in high school today, and I think they're a lot different than when I remember them. Talk a little bit about all the things that they do to help you as a football coach. Well, I mean, I know at McGill Tooling, and this is probably the case that a lot of private schools, it's hard to even exist without your booster club. They are the fundraising on them up our program, and probably 80% of our budget comes through the booster club. I don't have an exact number on that, that's just an approximation, but if it wasn't for our booster club and the parents and the people that are in that organization that worked so hard for us to help us raise money and fund our program, you couldn't even exist. I think that, you know, transportation and food and then buying the things that the kids need to be successful, that's expensive and things are only getting more and more expensive and, you know, the structure of our booster club and the way that it set up is, you know, just without a doubt, make it possible for us to even operate. Well, I know that especially the three schools on Old Shell Road depend a great deal on those mamas and daddies and supporters of our athletic programs because I'm telling you, in today's world, it's, boy, you're fighting an uphill battle, just trying to survive as far as funding your program and getting everything done. I don't know how these, some of these schools out in these county systems exist, David. I really don't. That's not something we want to talk about today, but it's just, to me, it's getting tougher and tougher equipment. Have you sent out, do you send your helmets off, do you still do that? Yeah, we've got to do that every year. Well, I think by law, you got to do it every two years, but we do. We send out off every year. Yeah, but we send out off every year. I think it's just that, you know, that ability to say, hey, we're putting our kids in the best situation possible. We know their equipment safe and we know that we're doing everything we can to protect our players, you know, for what, you know, the physical demands of the sport. And I think it's just a, you know, a little piece of mind of knowing, hey, but what I'm putting on this child is in great operating, you know, order and that's not my opinion. That's the professionals that we send it to and they send it back to us ready to go. Hey, we've got about 45 seconds left in this segment, tell us now a little bit about just briefly opening game. Who is it? Where is it at? And what do you feel? Well, we, uh, we open up with Daphne over there in Daphne to be a road game force. And I think that is, uh, uh, quite a challenge for us, but I've always been one that, you know, about that you need to play a quality opponent week one to get a, to get an honest evaluation of where you are as a football team and our Daphne is definitely going to be that coach King and his staff do a great job. They have talented players. They've always had a good program over there at Daphne and, uh, I think for us, uh, we're, we're excited about the challenge and I think it's a great way to, uh, start the, start the year with a quality opponent. And it also makes your spring training and your off season work, it gives them something to really work hard for us. A great goal. I think to play a team of Daphne's caliber for a team like McGill and it's great for Daphne to play a team like McGill is going to be so well coached. Well it definitely, uh, creates a sense of urgency in your program, knowing that you, you got to be ready to go from day one. And I think it has helped us in a preparation this summer. We'll be talking to you pretty soon again, David, we'll be about ready to kick it off. So look into it and present, uh, yep. Yeah, it goes by, it goes by fast and it's getting on as quick and as always, I appreciate what, what do you guys do for our sport and highlighting our players and coaches and all the positivity that it, that it shines on, on our sport. We appreciate you, buddy, we wish you the best of luck. Yes, sir. Thank y'all. All right. There you go. Coach David Fauner hit football coach for McGill to one yellow jackets, he's starting out with Daphne, pretty good, pretty good, that's going to be a pretty good ball game. Yeah, that'll be a good, Bob. Be a good test for both of you. Yeah, it will be a good test and we present, we, we really appreciate will to present David Fauner to us. Absolutely. All right, let's take a final time out in this hour when we come back, Rick, you will have our leadership segment and, uh, as we roll on right here on the Thompson Tractors Press Sports Report. Welcome back to the Thompson Tractor Prep Sports Report. PSR is live every Saturday from 8 until 10 a.m., now back to the show. Go ahead, JoJo. See that is your song. That is a song for him. Don't say anything, Rick. Keep it right there. You guys are too tough. Oh my goodness. Hey, first I was coming and going. This is the Thompson Tractors Prep Sports Report and it is time for our leadership segment. Coach, it is all you, my man. You know, we've been talking about leadership for a long time on here, not a long time. I mean, in the last year, we've started this and I think one of the things that I've learned and I think a lot of people learn is there's a lot's and lots of great leaders in our midst and they go about it in different ways and they're able to, they're able to lead their legion of followers in the way that is successful for them. But a good mini album, I'm sure they have noble motives but they still struggle because they have forgotten the first step in the process of leading others and that step involves leading yourself exceptionally well. As a leader, you are a model of successful behavior for the people you lead. They're far more likely to do what you do than they are to do what you say. You can tell them to have a positive attitude but if your attitude is less than stellar, then theirs will be too. You can tell them that punctuality is important but if you show up whenever you want, then you can expect much the same out of your people. And please, don't tell me that you've earned the right to show up whenever you want to. Don't tell me you've worked for that special privilege that you've given yourself. That's not what great leaders do. And as a leader, what you have earned is the right to model successful behavior. You've earned the right to think, to speak and act in the identical manner that you expect your people to think, speak and act. And here's the reality of leadership that many people miss. If your people have a bad attitude, the first place to look for the source of that bad attitude is in the mirror, I'm going to repeat that because I'm around a lot of people that are leaders and I'm blessed to have some people that are really good leaders in my life. And I want to repeat what I just said. Here's the reality of leadership that many people miss. If your people have a bad attitude in your workplace, I don't care if it's in a coaching room, if it's in a business room, if it's in an attorney's room, if it's in a doctor's office. If your people have a bad attitude, the first place to look for the source of that bad attitude is in the mirror. It all starts with you. Your people will often reflect the attitudes they see in you. You can't go around kidding yourself into thinking you can hide it from them. The only person you're fooling is yourself. If you can't control your emotions, if you can't control your attitude, if you can't control your actions, if you can't control your feelings, if you can't control your thoughts and your interactions with people then don't expect anyone who follows you to control any of those things either. Leadership is not about telling people what to do or how to behave. It's about showing them. If you have aspirations to lead others, you must first lead yourself exceptionally well. Forgetting that or convincing yourself that you can skip that step will cause you and the people you're trying to lead, nothing but trouble. Your people will not follow in fact. They cannot make the emotional attachment required to actually follow. You will fall into the trap of trying to manage them and then the real problems begin. Don't do that to your people or to yourself. Learn to lead yourself and you'll find leading others to be one of the most rewarding experiences of your life. Wow, that's powerful stuff, Rick. You're right. I hear you talk about leadership and looking in the mirror and that's where it all begins and anything to me that we do. If you're going to be the leader of your family, if you're going to be the leader of your organization at school, if you're just a person who works with a group of people that not in a leadership role, there is always some form of leadership we're all in at some way, shape, or form. Just if we're like a part of the gang, it's out there building the house and everybody's out there and all I'm doing is driving the hammer. So if I can't do the best I can in what I'm doing, then the other guys around me may not do it either. You know, and I've thought about this a lot, when you're a head football coach or you're an athletic director and you've got a coaches meeting, you've got a called coaches meeting and you walk in there 10 minutes late, what are you telling all your coaches? What are you saying? Are you saying, "Well, next time I'm just going to be 10 minutes late." No, it's not what you need to say. You need to say, "I'm going to be 10 minutes early." My leader's not going to be here. I'm going to be here on time. You know, I've worked for a lot of really good coaches and I do not know one that wasn't in that meeting at least five to 10 minutes before that meeting was supposed to start. And then you watch things on TV or something and you got, and I know it's probably based on something that really happened in life. I got a meeting and you got people sitting there and 10 minutes after the meeting is supposed to start to walk in with a big folder and sorry I'm late guys, I had to brush my teeth or something. You know, I don't know what it was, but you know, if you're going to lead, you've got to lead by example, not by words. And that's what people follow. People follow your lead, not your verbal exchanges. I don't know. A lot of this stuff I wish I'd have known when I was young. I do. I'm talking about I wish I'd have been with somebody or had the ability to learn this stuff about leadership because it'll change your life for the better. If you follow the example, I'm so thankful for Nathan Cox and what those guys are doing. So, because this is getting out to the leaders in so many different areas of life. Not only coaches, but business men, doctors, lawyers, man, I think it's powerful. Good stuff. No doubt. No doubt. All right. We'll take the time out. When we come back top of the hour, we're going to have Josh Nimlin from Gainesville, Georgia. He's going to be on with us right after this. Coming to you live, The Thompson Tractor Prep Sports Report. Presented by Alpha. Here's your host, Randy Bergett with Coach Rick Cleveland and Coach Mark Leseter. And we welcome you into the second hour of The Thompson Tractor's Prep Sports Report as we're coming to you live from the Easter Shore, Toyota, and Hyundai Studios located right here in South Alabama. Glad to have you on board with us. I am Randy Bergett along with Coach Rick Cleveland, Coach Mark Laster. And guys, our legend series continues and Rick, boy, we got a good one today. Well, there's no doubt about that, Randy. You know, I was talking to Josh last night and he said, "Coach legend." Well, that's the status he's attained now, and that's even though he's still coaching, and I think Josh will be coaching until God moves him somewhere else. And first, let's welcome Josh Nimlin in the PSR. Josh, good morning and thank you for taking time out to visit with us, pal. Good morning, fellas. Hey, man, it's nothing like getting a talk to you guys, man. Well, let me say this, I go back to when this guy was a little bitty boy chasing foul balls at a softball tournament, Billy Livens had a softball team that Josh and Tad were chasing foul balls and his daddy John was playing and his daddy John was a heck of an athlete and a heck of a football coach and administrator for many years. But this is a guy that I have the utmost respect for. Josh, we know you're in games for Georgia. We want to talk a little bit about what all happened in Alabama because it's just nothing but a success story starting really at Mediview Christian. I guess he was an assistant with his dad and then he went to Jacksonville State and was on that staff as a strength and conditioning guy. But I want you to bring us up to date on games for before we get into all of that because I think people in Alabama need to know and want to know the success that you've already accumulated right there in that wonderful community and games for Georgia. Well, I appreciate that, man. I mean, Alabama is special to me, always will be special to me and me. Of course, when you spend 50 years of your life and probably 48 or 49, because we did spend one year in Georgia, but growing up, understanding high school football from a perspective in the state of Alabama and then coaching a place like Hoover for 14 years, it's always going to be a special place, but it's always been a ministry for me and I just felt like God was trying to send me because I think sometimes there's a difference between listening to your soul and listening to the spirit. And so I feel like when you listen to the soul, it'll keep you in the common spot, traveling a road that's been traveled by most. And I'm not one of those guys and I just feel like God has always blessed me with, you know, not to do it different because it's just doing it different. But, you know, go down your own road, be who God's made you to be and what he's called you to be. And so, you know, I felt like there was an opportunity that, you know, I was able to retire from Alabama and I never really ever thought about retiring. So I come over here to Gainesville and, you know, facility here, I mean, I can't tell you they're better than some V1 colleges. I mean, we have a 100 yard indoor facility. I mean, we've got a state of the art weight room, we've got team meeting room, we've got an unbelievable locker room for our players, coaches, offices, we're doing a $4 million renovation on our stadium right now. And so, you know, we've got an unbelievable deal that we've been doing here and people here always tell people you want to be where people want to win and people take win seriously. But also, you know, give us an opportunity to mentor our players as men. And so, my first year, we went to the finals and we won the region, we went 10, I went to the finals, played Langston Hughes and probably played a little better for 56 seconds, 58 seconds. We win that game and come back last year and, you know, we end up, you know, winning the region again, going undefeated again and we get to the third round and within the fourth drive of the, you know, offensive series. We lost our quarterback in our running back and we still just lost 20 to 17 out of touchdown call back. So, really had an opportunity to get back there to have a chance to win it last year, what we didn't. And so, you know, we're 26 and two the last two years and, you know, I'm blessed. I think the greatest thing about here is this community, you know, I mean, these people love their football, but they love their people. They're going to take care of their own, you know, our kids, you know, we have a little bit different, different demographic, but like our kids, you know, they just, they don't come from much sometimes and, you know, we got a lot of kids that come from one parent homes and, you know, we're trying to provide, you know, not only the resources, but provide the discipline and the leadership and the guidance and the mentorship that they need for a connection there that they can build because, you know, we just want them to be all some fathers and all some husbands one day. And so, you know, this group coming back, I mean, we've got some talented guys coming back. So, we'll have an opportunity, but, you know, it's just like anything else you go as your leaders go and I think our leadership's got to continue to get better. Coach, this is Mark. I just wanted to, first of all, it's great to hear your voice, pal. It really is. We missed you around here. But I wanted to ask something that I've always wondered a little bit about. You growing up, as you grew up, how did your youth, your life at home and at school, as you grew up, how did that permeate into who you became and the coach you became later? Can you kind of give us an idea how that took transpire? Well, I just think growing up and watching my dad coach for 30 plus years, but, you know, in the summer, I mean, you didn't have, I mean, my dad still, I mean, me and my brother did the grass cutting and, you know, we did the painting in the, you know, the hallways and the bathrooms in the summer. I mean, we were, we were manual way, but I've been some child labor laws back then, buddy. We probably got a, I mean, and we worked for, you know, we worked for small wages, too, but hey, we knew when that truck came around at lunch, hey, we were fired up by get to go out and eat for lunch because we hardly ever got to do that. But just, you know, and then when we had time, like me and my brother, just always playing. I mean, sports has always been a big part of who we are. I mean, you know, back then, you didn't have ESPN and cable TV, so when a game came on and you got to watch you studied it, I remember we had an Atari and we just didn't stay inside very much. But when we played Atari, we kept stats. You know, we were like the announcers, you know, we were Keith Jackson, we were calling it all out. So I think that's the thing that kids miss today is the little bitty things that made the sport so special. You know, we played Nerf basketball in the room and you wore warmups because you had to start lineups and take your warmups off, you know, when we played baseball, you know, we got flour out of my mom's flour pot because we had to have a batter's box. You don't have a batter's box, you can't play baseball, you know. And so I think that's the thing, just the little bitty things that I think are the things that make sports so special. And then just watching my dad work, you know, watching my dad coach guys and be able to coach every facet of the game, whether it was offense, defense or special teams, you know, it was, it was when the helmets came in from reconditioning and you were so excited because of that and spirit packs came in and, you know, going out and practicing with the older guys and doing agility drills with them and, you know, I just, you know, it's just who I wanted to be. I mean, I, yeah, I would love to play pro football, but, but I didn't, that wasn't something I was going to chase that dream the rest of my life. Just when somebody said, Hey, I don't think it's going to work out. Okay. Well, I want to coach. I mean, this is what I want to do. I mean, like, I didn't say I wanted to be a fireman. I didn't say I wanted to be a lawyer, a policeman, you know, a businessman. I mean, from day one, I said, Hey, look, I can't play an approach. I want to coach and I've loved every minute of it. Now do I have some anxiety and stress and do I deal with stuff that, you know, sometimes you think, man, just the world, you're on top of the world and then all of a sudden, the world's on top of you. But, you know, it's just like it says in Psalms, you know, God pulls us out of the depths. So I just put, try to put my faith to trust in him. He's put me in something that, man, I think him every day for having the parents that I had, but also being able to be in this occupation in sports. Yeah, we're visiting with Coach Josh Nible in our legendary series and we're going to take a time out here in just a second, but Rick, I couldn't use, you saw me, we're just giggling. We're all just giggling because we can reflect back on everything he just said about growing. That's what I think these kids do miss today is being outside, doing the little things, listening to the radio while you're playing football against your brother. I mean, you know, it's just those little things. Yeah. This is the most competitive family that you will ever see. I promise you that. And that starts with your dad, Josh. You know that better than I do. It is. I'm talking about. We play. Oh, yeah. Well, we used to play it. So here's what's funny, Rick. So this is going to really tell my age now. So the other night, my daughter and my son, my son's show is on my staff now. This coaching running backs for me and he's kind of like our O.C. with our freshman futures team and Harper's home from college. And so the church asked us to play church league softball. Well, you know, I travel around and play professional softball for a while, but I mean, I was back in 2002 and so the kids are like, come on, dad, play, and I was like, no, I'm not going to play. I mean, like, you don't understand. Why not? I was like, because I ain't hit any. I'm not going to play. I think I went two for six and my daughter went seven for seven. So I ain't never going to hear the end of it. All right, hey, we're going to continue this conversation with Coach Nivelant. Don't go anywhere. You don't want to miss this. It's the Thompson Tractors Prep Sports Report. Welcome back to the Thompson Tractor Prep Sports Report. Call or text the Prep Sports Report at 251-343-0106 on the Pops Market Communication Lines. Now back to the show. And we certainly want to be back to the Thompson Tractors Prep Sports Report. Coming to you live from the East Shore, Toyota, and Hyundai, Genesis Room, Randy Bergen, Coach Rigg, Cleveland, Coach Martin Laster. Our legend series continues and boy, we haven't fun with Coach Josh Nivelant. The head football coach for the Red Elephants of Gainesville. Coach, thank you for hanging tight with us and excited about this segment as well, Rick. I know we got a lot to get into. Well, we do. And you know, Josh, you started your head coaching job, I think, in about the year 2000 at Aniana. And people don't know this down here about Aniana. They love high school sports. I'm telling you, they love, love, love their football at Aniana. Talk a little bit about you taking that job. That was, you were a young Cathy and pal. Yeah, boy, I was young. I thought I had all the answers. Yeah, I learned real quick. No, you know, I think the neat thing about it was, I thought I wanted to be a college coach. I really, really did. You know, when I finished playing in Alabama, you know, I had an opportunity, I could have say it in GA, but you know what, my dad, here's the other thing about coaches. You know, like you don't coach players that you play with because there's not a respect there. Like, I just don't feel like, you know, so I always saw coaching as a respect deal because I always respected my coaches. I didn't say I had to like every one of them, but I respected them. All right. Well, for me, I thought I wanted to coach college. So I coached with Daddy at Medellum Christian in Selma, Alabama for a semester. You know, I do a PE curriculum, I'm helping to have with baseball, coaches of basketball, and I'm a defense coordinator of football, I've had the office coordinator on offense, and Daddy's the head coach. And a guy I played with Southern Miss my freshman year came through with it, Jacksonville State. And I go there to become a restricted earnings coach, then become the head strength coach, and then pick up, you know, running backs and head of football operations. Well, our coach resigned after the third game of the year at Samford. So, you know, I've got eight or nine games left and then I've got to find a job. And I just prayed to God. I thought maybe that was the crossroads in my life that I was supposed to be doing something else. And maybe I was just choosing to do something I wanted to do. But God provided me with an opportunity. I interviewed with three high schools on the island was one of them. I didn't hear anything for 20 days. Me and my wife were praying, she's working at Alpha Insurance as a CSR on the way home from a Christmas deal. We just said, Lord, just give us a sign, tell us what we need to do because we're running out of time. Don't know, but we want to put it all in your hands. The next morning she's at work and I'm holding Shaw who is probably about eight months, nine months old. And about that time I get two phone calls from two schools. One of them was on the island to offer me the job. You know, I didn't know really what I was getting into yet, but I knew I was ready to get into it. And so, you know, they were, I think they were one in nine, three and seven to two years before I got there. And the first year we went five and six. And played Phil Campbell in the house, probably had no business going to do in that. But, you know, we got stroked pretty good. The next group comes back, we go seven and four, make it to the first round, get beat by Colbert County, who now becomes probably a rivalry for us the next four years. And then my third year, which was really the group that I knew was going to have a lot of leadership to it. We went 11 and two and ended up beating West Morgan, who was the number one team in the state in the second round. Across the Colbert County, seven to six in the third round. The next year we go to the finals, beat Colbert County in the semis, go thirteen and two and lose to Pike County. And then we come back, my last year there, go fifteen and oh, and then beat Windfield in the state championship game. And, you know, that place was just, you know, it went from, we didn't have hardly anybody there. I mean, there was some history and tradition there when the mind rustled, those guys played there. The state championship that had been played for in one back in the eighties. And so it was about tapping back into that community. And that's the one thing Gainesville reminds me of is, you know, it's the community, you know, which, and I love my time at Hoover, but it was, it was more of a city. It's hard to get everybody together here. There's one thing going on on Friday night in that high school football. And so that was the same way it was at Aniana. And between Aniana and Hoover, there was a three-year stay at Oxford. And that's another rabid place for high school football. If you've never, you know, and we know from Bill Burgess and Charlie Maniscalco and all of those guys that were there who taught me wishbone football, Josh goes into Oxford, talk briefly about that stint at Oxford. Well, we did, you know, Oxford, you know, it was a deal to where, you know, I mean, I would just be honest with your coaches not about pay, but, you know, it gave me an opportunity to support my family because we were now, had three kids and I doubled my salary. And, you know, it was just kind of a no-brainer. My wife's from Alexandria, Alabama, so we were able to go there and we had some success there. You know, my last year, we've been, you know, we just, you know, then all of a sudden got the opportunity to go to Hoover and, you know, prayed about it. You know, I didn't know if it was exactly what I was supposed to do yet because everybody would be like, well, I didn't feel like, I didn't know if I'd even have an opportunity to do that. But, you know, the thing at Oxford was just they take their football, they love it, you know, and they went through a time where, you know, we were in the highest classification and then we got back to, you know, 5A, you know, in my first year there, you know, we transitioned to 6A and, and then we were in 6A my last year there and my first year, I think we were 5A and Gadsden City had not come together yet. So we were playing them and, you know, my wife's like, we're going to 6A, we're not going to survive. You know, I'm like, look, we're not going to survive without, without, without mentality. So my second year, you know, we really, I mean, we played well and then we went to Vestavia and, I mean, they beat us like 51 to 38, um, at their place and Rick, we don't have a, you know, kick off a turn for a touchdown. We may have a shot to win that game, but then that's when the next year we turned it up a notch and, and our kids believed in what we're doing, the community was believing in what we were doing and, and then we got hit with an ineligible player, um, and you know, we're 10 and 0 and, and we end up being 3 and 7 and really I felt like that group was going to have a chance to make a run at it. And so, uh, but I was proud of my time there and I'll never, never wish to never have that time because I learned a lot. And then I think the greatest thing about it was the adversity that I went through with our players. You know, it taught me a lot, you know, within the profession, um, but also it taught me a lot about community. Well, and, and I'll tell you this about Oxford, the, the great thing for you there was the jump up in salary, but people recognized you statewide after that, that your name became one of those names that people were talking about to go to those premier jobs and rush probes. Well, you know what I do and it wasn't, and you coach, I mean, like, it's not about the next job. I think of one thing I've always tried to do a really good job is, and I preach our players about magnitude, moments of magnitude, which you only have moments of magnitude if you're where your feet are, you know, and so I've always tried to do my feet or give the best version of myself. And then I think when you don't look is when you find, you know, if you see a little, you see a lot, if you see a lot, you see very little. And so I think that's the way I've always approached this and God's blessed me with those opportunities and those connections. So I've felt like everywhere I've ever been, you know, I've been able to touch lives and impact his kingdom. But also at the same time, my life's been touched and I've learned a lot also. Well, I think that's the huge thing about Josh Niblet is you hear him talking about how much he's learned from the situations he's been in. And he's been in some good ones, but he's created a lot of better things for that good situation than what he had when he got there. You know, we got about a minute and a half in this segment, of course, we're bringing them over to the last segment too. But Josh talk about what got, where did the interest come from at Hoover? Where did that begin? Oh, well, as far as the interest of them and me, probably, you know, I mean, heck, I'll be honest with you, man, you know, you could say whatever you want, but, you know, Rush and I created a relationship when I was at Aniana, you know, when I knew Rush and, you know, and then I think Rush had a respect for me as he saw what we were doing and growing in Aniana. You know, Rush was one of the ones that told me way back when I was at Aniana, because you'll be the next coach at Spain Park, you know, you know, I never believed him or whatever. But you know, just because when you're in 3/8, you know, you just, you struggle with seeing yourself going from 3/8 to say, am I going to be in 6/8? And so for me, once I went to Oxford and then we made that run at it, we earned a lot of respect from a lot of people and a lot of higher classifications because now we were the ones in there making a run. There was only two or three teams that were undefeated, we were one of them. And so, you know, I had an interest to where when I was in Aniana, I was an interim pastor at a church in Remlap, Alabama, and one of the guys there, that was within that association. And the church was a part of what we were doing and so that's kind of a connection that I had. Coach, I want you to hang on to that thought. We're going to take a hard time out here. And when we come back, we continue our legend series with Coach, you said a while ago, the legend Josh Niblet. There you go. I will return right after this. Welcome back to the Thompson Tractor Prep Sports Report, brought to you by Alpha Insurance. Now, back to your host Randy Bergen. [Music] The silence is deafening. I want to get an English teacher to send him on, I like that. Hey, welcome back to the Thompson Tractor Prep Sports Report, Randy Bergen, Coach Rick, Cleveland, Coach Mark Laster. Our legend series continues with Coach Josh Niblet. Josh, I'll tell you, this has been outstanding having you on. I want to go back where we left off, and you were talking about you being a pastor there. You had a young man in Aniana, and it was just right there. And really I'm out about it. Yep. Yeah. So, I mean, you know, that wasn't the easiest thing. I actually entered and pastored at two different churches while I was in Aniana, and I didn't do it. In one church, I started out in the off season before the year we wanted all, and in '04, the spring of '04, I began preaching there at the church, and then carried on through the fall also. And so, but, you know, God blessed me tremendously, and got to be a part of a great congregation, and, you know, one of the deacons there, I got to know really, really well, and, you know, when I first met him, he had said, you know, he worked for Hoover City Schools, but I didn't think anything about it, because that didn't have anything to do with me, you know, when I was at Aniana, and so, but we kept the relationship as friends, and, you know, when the opportunity came at Hoover, you know, he had reached out, because they were looking for people that were gonna, you know, they felt like they were gonna try to go after, and, you know, I was a guy he asked if I'd be interested, and I didn't think I'd have a shot at it, I mean, really, to be honest with you, but at the same time, I did legwork to reach out to other people within the community, other people that were, you know, within the Hoover, just to introduce myself, and so, that's kind of how it got going, and that's how I kind of got the opportunity to get in the interview, and I knew if I got a chance to interview, then I was gonna have a chance at it. And so, you interview, you get the job, what did you walk into? Uh, I mean, you know, I think it was a deal to where, you know, I knew that we had to keep winning, I just knew, and maybe I wanted to do it a little bit different, and that's not to say anything about anybody, it's just, that just is who I was, I mean, I've got a way in which we do what we do, we have a standard, just like everybody else has a standard, and I think when I first went in there, you know, the first thing I said was, I'm not here, you know, to replace Rush, Coach Brooks, I mean, what he did there and the legacy that he left behind, you know, will always be remembered, but for me, we got a way that we're gonna do it, and I laid out the standards to our players and then tried to create a bond in a relationship with them, because I think that was the biggest thing is, how could I create a relationship? Everywhere I've ever been, I've always said this, this is not an ego deal, it's just when I first came to Gainesville, when I first went on in and when I first went to Oxford, there's gotta be one voice, there can't be 700 voices talking to the kids, there's gotta be one voice, and then you gotta have the vision, and then you gotta hire the staff that's gonna take the focus on a day to day basis within a moment of magnitude to support the vision, and so for me, when I got there, it was about the vision, here's where we are, here's where we're gonna go, and then here's how we're gonna get there, and then hire the right staff that's gonna support those things and then create a connection with the players so we can gain a trust and a love for each other, and that's what we did. You know, Coach, the question I had for you was something, you know, when I was a young coach, first job I had, you know, was, a couple of jobs was rebuilding programs, you know, that's where, you know, that's the place I wanna go and rebuild a program, and then later on I went to a program, I too followed Rush at Alma Bryant, and that was a different type of deal, it was a whole different set of circumstances, tell us a little bit about that, about building one, and then keeping it go, keeping the other good one going. Well, you know, the one thing about it, everybody always asked that trivial question of how about you, is it harder to stay on top, or is it harder to get there, and for me, I'm just gonna be honest with you, I've had the same mindset with both, I've never done anything different at Gainesville who had missed the playoffs, was five and five, as I did, hey, when I got to Hoover, and you know, they had the little, we had the little bit of deal, but it was, you know, won a state championship within the last two or three years, my same mindset, heart set, mentality, or how, what we're trying to do is no different to where there, if we've been there, we hadn't been there, 'cause what we do is we try to rewrite the script, 'cause every chapter's different, every team's different, I tell people all the time, I haven't lived for 52 years, I've lived one year 52 times, and so, for what I do is, within my profession, when God's blessed me with, every team's different. So something's gotta change, and when you're on top of your game, you gotta change your game. When you're not on top of your game, you gotta change your game. So it's how it fits, with the groups that you have, it's not about the results of the game, 'cause you're trying to learn from that, that's done, and we don't know where we're gonna go, right, we know where we are right now, and that's the only thing we could take care of, so what's happened and what we want to happen can't have anything to do with where we are, and so that's kind of how I try to approach it in every spot that I've ever been. Josh, when you got to Hoover, how long did it take you to get the staff in place that you felt comfortable with? Well, just always think it's important to whether you know whether you're gonna bring somebody back or not or whatever, but you have to sit down and you gotta interview everybody, you owe it to everybody. Every place I've ever been, I'm sat down with every guy that was on the staff before, and because you don't know, I mean, you can go off of, I'm just not a, that's been the hardest thing for me in Georgia, honestly, is because you have to go off what maybe some other people say, based off of you knowing them, before you sit down and interview with them, and so you're trying to create a relationship, so you can gain a trust bond and a care bond for each other, but know them a little bit more, and so, you know, I think the biggest thing was is when I sat down, I knew from an offensive perspective, because I'm still highly involved with our offense, still call our offense, so I knew when I went there, that's what I do. I knew Tad was coming with me, my brother, I knew I had a couple other guys that I wanted to have with me, Kevin Sherr was a defense coordinator at Hoover, and Kevin and I played together in Alabama, so there was a relationship there, Jeremy Perkins was a special team's coordinator, really loved Jeremy what he did, Danny Kimball was in the secondary, I think we hired one guy defensively, D-line wise, and that was Todd Evans, but everybody else stayed, and then the only guy, and it had nothing to do with guys not being good coaches or whatever, it's just, I had a set of guys offensively that I wanted try to be able to bring with me, and the one guy that was left with me was Sean Sutton, you know, the guy that I created a great relationship through that transition with that actually went to last year to be the head coach with Chip Lindsey, because he was the offensive coordinator there, Kevin Rose was there at that time, and you know, it was just, it had nothing to do with any of that, it was just, hey, I had a set of guys that I wanted to try to bring him, but I sat down and talked with everybody, and I think you got to do that with all the staff. Well, so you get all settled in there, and you start winning and winning big, what kind of pressure did you feel in the latter years at Hoover, what kind of pressure did you feel to keep the train on the track? Well, here's the thing, my wife will tell you this, nobody puts more pressure on me than I put on myself, nobody, I mean, nobody, and I ain't scared to lose him, that's why I don't play anybody, anywhere, anytime, I'm not, because I think that's how you push the envelope, because the winner's destination, ultimate destination probably is to lose because he's always going to push the envelope, and for to do what we did at Hoover, you know, my last year there, you know, to be able to kind of get over that hump and to beat Thompson, you know, the last game of the year, but then knowing, hey, we got to play him again, and then we don't beat him, you know, I think you knew every year, kind of what it was going to kind of boil down to, and so, you know, that was something, and I don't mind telling anybody, anybody can say whatever they want, but if you're a competitor, that one competitor, you know, you got to beat, I mean, that's on your mind, because that's the one you know, you got to beat if you want to get there, you know, and so I think we were a lot on their mind before also, because they knew, hey, the road's going to go through either Thompson's going to go through Hoover, and so whoever wins that game is going to be the one that's going to get there, and I think that was probably the biggest thing that, you know, I've always tried to be a guy that we worry about us and what we're doing, but also at the same time, it's like, you know, thinking to yourself, like, you don't want to have anxiety as far as whether you're going to perform or not before performance, you know, I mean, so we got to have great preparation, and I think that's the one thing that kept us consistent there, is our prep, you know, it didn't matter who we were playing, but how we prepped led to our performances on Friday, and that's why we were able to win a lot of games, and I tell people, you know, 14 years we were there, you know, nine of those, we played for it, six of them we won, two out of the nine that we should have had seven, we lost by one, and we made it to the semis all 14 years, and so, you know, there was some things that we did well that I felt like our kids believed in also. You did it as well as anybody's ever done it in this state, you sure did, and as we leave here, I want you to, to kind of tell us, I've said all along that the best high school football in the south is in South Georgia, and in certain parts of Florida, and Alabama's still behind, I still believe that, because as far as competition is concerned, there are a number of teams in where you're playing football now that can win a state championship to level you're playing that a greater disagree. Well, you know, I mean, you know, I think you remember back when Alabama was going through reclassification, we just went through reclassification here, so the team that wanted in six eight or wanted in seven eight, you know, last year is now five eight in our region, milky. And so, not only did they not, you know, we went to six classifications now there in five eight there in our region, Roswell the team we played two years ago in the semifinals there in our region, you know, we could, we're, our state has been renovated, so we only have three home games, our first four on the road. I mean, we got Marietta, who's six A, we're going to Moody, who I know has got a great program, got a lot of players that have moved in, and so, you know, then, you know, we got Westlake, you know, in Atlanta, it's a powerhouse here in six A, and then we got Carrollton on the road that's six A, and then play our region. And so, I'm just telling you here, where it is, is like schools on top of schools, players on top of players. You didn't all have to drive more than three minutes to find a really, really good program and some really, really good players who are being coached really, really well. So, I think that's probably the biggest thing in Georgia, but it's been awesome. And I'm enjoying it. But I do miss you guys, man. Coach, I'll tell you, we miss you too, and it's been fun having you on our legend series. We're going to have you back on. We'll be following you through the season. Thanks, again, for taking time to be with us, and good luck this year. Well, thank you guys. God bless you. Look, you guys, man, and I pray God's blessing on you and your family. Thank you, pal. There you go. Thanks, Josh, Niblet, legend series. When we come back, Mark has a camp-grace segment right here as the Thompson Tractor's Prep Sports Report rolls on. This segment of the Thompson Tractor Prep Sports Report brought to you by Camp Grace. Now, back to Coach Rick Cleveland. Camp Grace is located in West Mobile as the summer home of Camp Rappahope, Camp Mash, Camp Smile, and Camp Sugar Falls, as well as the home of Outback Mobile and is shared by many other community organizations throughout the mobile area. Camp Grace is a place where God's love is bestowed freely upon others, the true definition of God's grace. This morning in the Grace, I'm going to start with a scripture from Galatians 6-10, where it says, "Therefore, as we have opportunity, let us do good, do good to all people, especially to those who belong to the family of believers." It's a thing that resonates with me is doing good to people, is trying to be the best person I can be every day, and making sure that I do something to try to edify someone's spirit for that day. Not to tear people down. Our mission on our show is build schools and coaches and players and communities up, not tear them down. That's what our mission is on this show, and it's the same thing in my life. I remember when Rick first told me about that years ago what it meant, and man, it has been something that has been profound in my life for several years. Every day of our life, we don't get up and do the right thing every day. We don't. We just try to do the best we can, and if we don't do the best we can, that's our fault. The only person I can look at is in the mirror. Last weekend, I got to go home and spend some time with my mom and dad, and had dinner with him. We spent the night with him. My middle son, Landon, was up in Birmingham, and he came by, and my brothers came by, and my sister came by. It was a chance to see everybody in my family that I grew up with, and Landon got to be a little bit of a part of that, and you know, Rick, I was talking to my dad, you know, dad and mom were sharing a lot of things about stuff, and we got to talking about the past, and I loved to ask about, you know, our family. And it was, I was amazed when I heard my dad would say, talked about my great grandmother, who I called Bub Bubba. That's what we called her. My daddy named her that. It was his grandmother. Her name was Martha, but dad said she was the sweetest person that he has ever come in contact on this earth. Wow. He said she was always a person who never had anything bad to say about you, never had anything that love for, she said, he said she carried that, he goes, and I've tried, and I haven't done a good job, but I tried to emulate myself after my grandmother. And I got to thinking about that from what I knew, and dad reminded me of a story of when I was a kid, somehow I ended up in Alabama by myself. My mom and dad were in St. Louis, and I was down in my, my, my extended family was moving me around. I was going places. Well, I ended up in a trailer with my great-grandmother, Bub Bubba, and down in Coats Bend, Alabama, not far from the Coosa River. And I remember, I came to her house, and that on a Friday night or whatever it was, and she had supper cooked, and we ate, and then we got through a supper, and we sat there, and she says, she says, "Now, Mark, what do you want for breakfast?" And I said, I said, Bubba, I don't care. She's, you know, I want to make you exactly what you want. I said, "Yes, ma'am, I want buttered biscuits with syrup." I said, "I want it." And she says, "Okay, I want you to know the next morning." And her little bitty trailer, now, Bubba was 80 something years old at the time. She had me buttered biscuits with syrup and a big old glass of milk. I was about 12 or 13 years old, and she made, I mean, I was just in heaven. I was in heaven. We're way out in the country, you know, went outside. It's just, it's a great thing for a boy from St. Louis, Missouri. This is pretty cool. Be outside with the horses and the cows and everything's around you. You got buttered biscuits on the Saturday morning, you know. I'm going fishing on the Kustra River later that day, but Bubba, I'll never forget. She reached, I went, Dad told the story of the United States, said something about her. It reminded me of this trip, and she reached over, and she kissed me, and she says, "Son, I love you. I'll do whatever I can to make you happy." That's awesome. And I went holy. It hit me. I was just sitting there, and I hadn't thought about that moment in years, but that was her. That was her. That was my great-grandma. That was my Bubba. And, man, I'm going to tell you that that was a story that, this Bible verse here in Galatians, talking about doing good to people who are believers, and not believers doing a boat, but she did it to me because I was a great girl. She did it to everybody. When we started sharing stories, my brother said, "You know, she did something like that to me, Mark, when I was at her house." You know, it was just, that's who she was. And I'm so edified, and I'm so thankful that I have a family that remembers and talks about things that carries on traditions that have been in our family for generations like that. It's something that's really important to me. And I just hope and pray that I can do the same thing with my kids and my kids do the same thing. My brothers and my sister and I have a wonderful relationship. We talk every week. All of us talk to each other somehow. My sister, you know, is deaf, and so we all text her. And she is, you know, what a joy she is. You know, what a joy. So just those kind of things, man. I mean, we're getting ready for football season. Everybody's juiced up and ready to go. But at the end of the day, what Josh Nivelet was talking about is the same thing. My Bubba talked about, about being good to other people all the time, all the time. And that's what Josh has done. That's what all the guys who I feel like in my life that I've been around and have done have done that and have carried, carried him a long way. You know, last week, we talked about the people that you surround yourself with. Yes. And I think that in today's world is so so vitally important in every aspect of our life. And I think we should all consciously be aware of those people that we spend our time with because they're either going to build you up or they're going to tear you down. And those people that tear us down, we got to get away from it. And that's, that's exactly what we've got to do. That's right. We got to do it. Randy, you make the show such as your army that Randy, you are as good as it gets doing what you do. And now you got a great show coming up. You don't want to miss that, folks. Remember this, no matter what you do, no matter where you go, he is always with you. See, you're same place, same time, in