Step by step

Off the back of a threewin season, its fewest since 2007, the Jonesboro Golden Hurricane are under different leadership.

It’s not new. First-year Coach Tyler George was with the team last season as defensive coordinator. But it’s undoubtedly different.

Jonesboro is 1-4 overall and 1-2 in the 7A-Central in his first season.

The process of turning Jonesboro back into a contender, this time in the state’s top classification and one of its toughest conferences, will not be easy — or quick.

“We’re just trying to build it from the foundation up,” George said. “I’m really just talking about our culture, getting it to what I believe and how I want it. And that takes time. It’s hard on the kids at times as well because it’s different, you know, and I tell people all the time, yeah, we do have talent, but again, we have kids who really haven’t had to be in the spotlight and be playmakers.”

For the Golden Hurricane’s seniors, there is no next season. That group will be done come December whether Jonesboro wins or loses its remaining five regular season games. But George is challenging that group to make the most of what time they have left.

“I tell our guys all the time, I’m always going to be honest, you know? Whether it’s good or it’s bad, I’m gonna be honest with them,” He said. “I told our seniors on Monday, I said, ‘Listen fellas. You have a choice. You can either make the best of the rest of this year, or you can call it quits. That choice is only you personally as an individual.’ Our sophomores and juniors, they won’t have a choice once the season’s over. We get the offseason with them and things will be ran the way that I want them run. But those seniors, they do have a choice.

“The good thing is, I’ve been around. I have those relationships with a lot of our seniors. They believe in me and in what we’re doing and really, they want to be the staple for whenever they do come back and say, ‘Yeah, we started that. We had a big part in the success that they’re having now.’ And that comes with pride.”