Rockmart’s traditions basis of pride, family
Growing up as the son of a Georgia high school football coach, Biff Parson got to see tradition first hand.
It’s one of the reasons why he loves keeping the traditions that make Rockmart High School’s football games and football team special.
But it’s the team’s past that has inspired him and his staff to bring a new tradition to the Yellow Jackets over the last five seasons — a winning tradition.
“I love the traditions they still have of the pep rallies in the park and the Beating of the Bulldog, and in some of those things that we do here,” Parson said. “The old school run-through signs that our cheerleaders do that you don’t see in a lot of places anymore. That’s a cool tradition. Singing our alma mater at the end of the game. That’s a cool tradition.
“Those are things that, you know, I know a lot of people take for granted after a game, win, lose or draw, but they can look back and say, ‘Man, it was cool that we did that.’”
When Parson was a kid he would follow his dad, Ronnie Parson, around as he served as the head coach at Banks County.
“There’s so many memories and joyful moments that I can remember, of just the smell of the gym, the smell of the locker room, the smell of his office, the smell of the field in the morning, the smell of the field after Friday night, him allowing me and my older brother to drive a truck when we were 8 or 10 years old after the game to go pick up pylons and get everything off the field,” Parson said.
“You know, that is why I’m sitting in this chair right now. Those are the traditions, the things that he created within his culture in that program that I still try to do today.”
As a coach, Parson said looking at what a school’s traditions are is a big part of his decision to take a job.
When it came to Rockmart, Parson knew that the Jackets had won a state championship in 1950 and won a national title that year. He learned about the successes they had in the 1950s and through the next three decades.
Then there was a lull in the 1990s and into the 2000s that weren’t as kind to Rockmart football fans.
“The kids that we’re coaching and have coached my last five years here, they grew up knowing what Rockmart was during that time, because that’s what their parents knew and what they knew,” Parson said. “They just didn’t have that success for whatever reason.”
Knowing the successful past that Rockmart had, Parson came in with his coaching staff with a phrase — Set the Standard. It’s been the program’s motto for the last five seasons and the results speak for themselves.
In his five seasons as head coach of the Jackets, Parson has led them to a 52-10 record, four region titles and a state runner-up finish.
“We as a staff are always trying to find ways to create a tradition, create a sense of pride that when you wear a Rockmart helmet, Rockmart jersey, that there’s a bar that you’ve got to sustain and even raise. And that’s why we came in with set the standard, like there’s a standard here, there’s a huge expectation,” Parson said.
“What we’ve done with our seniors is asking what’s your legacy going to be, because here’s what the other seniors have done since we’ve been here.”