Gordon Central begins spring workouts
Warriors begin taking shape under new head football coach Lenny Gregory
The Lenny Gregory era has begun for the Gordon Central High School football team.
Sure, Gregory took over reins in February on Warrior Pathway when the former highly-successful Collins Hill head coach became the new man in charge of the blue-and-silver.
And since he took over the program, he has been busy. Among the million and one things on his list, he’s been hunting for players, hiring coaches, and reaching out to the surrounding business community as he looks to upgrade the facilities.
And really, bottom line, the product on the field as well.
But what has happened to the team or hasn’t happened for the team in the past couple of years wasn’t on display Wednesday afternoon on the hill beside Ratner Stadium — when the team and new coaches had their first day of spring workouts.
And let’s face it, getting everyone on the field in uniform and the team building underway for the 2023 season is truly the day everyone was waiting for. And that day was Wednesday. We’re not going to sugarcoat it right here — the last two years have been rough for the Gordon Central High School football team.
Very rough.
Like sleeping on jagged rocks rough. Last year, they were outscored 437 to 103 in 10 games and in 2021, they gave up 406 points and scored 130.
But Gregory brings hope. And a new spirit. And a track record of turning programs around.
Since he took the job, the mandate for him seems pretty clear cut to start — just win a football game.
One game, please.
After all, the Warriors haven’t done that since 2020.
But the focus on Wednesday was starting to build this thing.
And it was all business with the coaches on top of everything.
They were inspiring their receivers to trust the hands when passes come their way.
The line coaches were imploring their players to be quicker and believe their eyes with teaching and then more teaching the theme from start to finish at all the different stations set up across the field.
The coaches wanted tempo and players to be crisp in their movement, clear in their decision-making.
The talk is they want to play fast, as Gregory told the Calhoun Rotary Club when he spoke to them at a luncheon about a month ago, but the urgency Wednesday on Day One seemed to
be making sure players understood what they were doing and how and why they were doing it.
And why would everyone be in a rush right now? It’s the first week of May.
But everyday right now is most important for everyone on the roster. After all, there is a reason why coaches say because great players are made in the spring and great teams are made in the fall.
And that’s what they want to be — a great team. A great program.
A team — like say, a Calhoun — that their opponents look at on the schedule and just shake their heads because they know even victory means coming away battered and bruised.
One thing is for sure, the Warriors do have a lot more experience right now than they did this time last year when a slew of Ashworth Middle School eighth grade
first-teamers were on the verge of becoming freshmen starters.
And let’s face it, with freshmen sprinkled throughout the starting lineup and just three seniors on the GCHS roster by season’s end in 2022, their chances for success last year and a turnaround were severely limited.
Once again, we’ll fall back on a coaching line that says for every sophomore in the starting lineup, that means one loss. So if that’s true, what does that say about having at least five or six freshmen in the starting lineup every week?
It’s not a knock on those brave souls, but for any player anywhere, going from Middle School to varsity football in one fell swoop is a quantum leap.
However, the hope is, between now having a year’s experience and under a different set of eyes, the Friday
Nights Lights became big and bright.
So there is a lot of work to do between now and that first game on Friday, August 18 when they take on Armuchee in the 2023 opener. But right now, the focus is on teaching and improving.
They have four more days of spring ball this week and want to make sure they are simply getting better every day.
After this week, the team will have three days of workouts next week before wrapping up spring practice on Thursday, May 18 when they host Utopian Academy for the Performing Arts at Ratner Staidum in their spring game.
There seems to be a new excitement in the air around Ratner and that is a good thing right now for a program that needs a fresh start.
Make no mistake, the Lenny Gregory football era is underway at Gordon Central.