ITG Next Georgia April/May 2022 Magazine

Valdosta Middle School Football On A Roll

Deyon Bouie:

Where There’s Smoke, There’s Fire Brunswick Head Football Coach Garrett Grady Ready For The Opportunity

Greg Reid Keeps the Dream Alive

APR/MAY 2022

+ Player Profile

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Contributors Publisher Mark Dykes Copy Editors Phil Jones Carissa Zaun Graphics Mandy Rodriguez Cover Photography Brandon Pham

Feature Stories 5

Valdosta Middle School Football On A Roll

8

4 Questions With Brooks County Football Coach Maurice Freeman

12

Greg Reid Keeps the Dream Alive

22

Two Middle Georgia High School Coaches Leaving Programs

Feature Writers Phil Jones

26

Deyon Bouie: Where There’s Smoke, There’s Fire

Advertising/Marketing Mark Dykes mark@itgnext.com

31

Brunswick Head Football Coach Garrett Grady Ready For The Opportunity

34

Shannon Brown: Back From the Brink

Player Profile Photography Eric Vinson Dreaming Wild Photography Brandon Pham

Player Profiles:

ITG Next is published bi-monthly. The contents of this publication may not be reproduced in part or in full without written consent from the publisher.

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Chase Belcher | Lowndes

19

TJ Thomas | Brookwood

20

Jake Gerrard | Veterans

25

Gage Harrelson | Houston County

29

Tyrundia Hayes | Thomasville

26

Rebecca Moody | Valwood

37

Dominic DiTomasso | Lowndes

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Trinity Thomas | Mitchell County

Wesley Burley | Colquitt Christian

VALDOSTA MIDDLE SCHOOL FOOTBALL ON A ROLL

Harrell and Hunter are not alone in their coaching responsibilities. Assisting head coach Dirk Harrell with the sixth grade Alley Cats are:

Written by: Phil Jones Photos Courtesy of Trey Wetherington

What started two seasons ago with the Valdosta sixth grade Alley Cats going undefeated and winning the conference championship for the 2020 season, continued this past season with the seventh grade Wildcats keeping the undefeated streak alive. They too won their conference championship.

Now, the challenge of keeping Valdosta Middle School undefeated will be with the “Tom Cats”, the rising eighth graders.

The coaches that have overseen this streak of 13 straight wins over the last two seasons are longtime wildcat supporter, Dirk Harrell, and Jamaal Hunter, who was a 3-year starting DE for the Wildcats from 2005-2007. Harrell is the coach of the sixth grade Alley Cats, a position he has held since he started the team in 2003, while Hunter is in his third season of coaching the seventh grade team.

It’s never easy for any team to run the table and win every game, especially when you’re talking about the caliber of opponents that the teams have to face week in and week out. That includes the “Big 5 Conference” of area middle school teams from Tift, Colquitt, Lowndes, and Coffee. Valdosta Middle makes number five.

The Alley Cats finished 6-0 in 2020. While last season, that same group, now as seventh graders, finished 7-0. The two coaches talked about the most memorable games in each undefeated season.

“For us, it was the last game of the season at Tift County,” said Harrell. “We were staring at an undefeated season, needing just one more game to finish a perfect season, but we knew this was going to be tough. Tift County had a really solid team, and Tift is a big rival for Valdosta, at any level.”

An injury during the game against Tift made Harrell’s job even more difficult.

“We were leading 14-0 when we had a young man go down with a broken leg, and it was a really bad injury,” said Harrell. “He had to be taken to the hospital, and as the medical folks were putting the young man into the ambulance, our entire team huddled around the player, who was alert

JEROME EVERETT Defensive Coordinator/ LB Coach FLEMING BROOKS RB Coach

and talking, and telling him everything was going to be ok.”

The serious nature of the injury brought up several complications.

“First of all, I was worried about our player,” said Harrell. “I knew he was hurting. But, I was also worried about our team. It’s never easy to see a teammate go down, plus there was about a 30 to 45 minute break in the game, and I was just worried about the mindset of our players. I mean you’re talking about 12 year old kids. But, we restarted the game, and our kids didn’t miss a beat. We scored every time we touched the ball, and wound up winning the game 32-14, and the conference championship.”

Rolling right into the next season as seventh graders, Hunter took over the team, and like Harrell from the season before, he too had a lot of great memories of last season’s undefeated season.

“There were two games I remember as the highlights of the season: The most memorable game was against Coffee Middle in the third game of the season,” said Hunter. “We committed four turnovers in that game, and it was a close game. We went to overtime, and won 24-16. It turned out to be the closest game of the year for us.”

The seventh grade coach also pointed to what he called the most anticipated game of last season.

“We played Colquitt, and both teams were 3-0. Fans for both teams were on social media hyping the game,” Hunter said.

But, the seventh grade Wildcats would flex their muscle and win going away 38-0 to move to 4-0. The Wildcats would go on to defeat North Lowndes Middle in the playoffs 26-8, and then in the championship game, they would face Coffee once again in a rematch.

This time, however, the game was not as close as the regular season matchup. Valdosta won easily 48-0, and in the process would be crowned conference champs. That was 13 in a row.

Now, entering this season as eighth graders, all eyes will be on the same group of kids to see if they can run the table one more time. One big plus for the team is that they will have a familiar face as their head coach since Hunter will move up with the team and will coach eighth grade this season.

Head varsity football coach, Shelton Felton, has moved former eighth grade coach, Clay Brandiger, to director of football operations for the middle school program. Therefore, Hunter and his staff will oversee the eighth grade team this season heading into spring practice on April 18.

TREY WETHERINGTON Special Teams Coach BRENT LEHMAN OL Coach JUSTIN CRENSHAW Receivers Coach DAVID BARRY DB Coach Assisting Head Coach Jamaal Hunter with the seventh Grade Wildcats are: KEVIN PRATHER Offensive Coordinator KENDRICK BERRY Defensive Coordinator GARY MOORE Defensive Assistant MYRESE COBB Offensive Coordinator Can the eighth Grade Tom Cats keep the streak going? We’ll be sure to give you an update.

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4 Questions With Brooks County Football Coach Maurice Freeman Written by: Phil Jones Photography by: Micki K Photography

ITG Next spoke to Brooks County head football coach Maurice Freeman on the state championship win and the future of the Trojans.

Q. Coach, congratulations on the state championship. Talk about the fun of sharing the championship with the fans. How much fun has that been?

A. Well I wanted the entire Brooks County to really get the state championship feeling. So I took the trophy around and took pictures with it to show my appreciation to all Brooks County Trojans.

I am just as proud of my community as they are of the Trojans.

Q. Coach, this championship took a lot of hard work to get to where you and your team wound up. When was it during the season that you realized you may have the team to win it all?

A. Phil, we felt during the 2021 summer that this team was special. All teams at Brooks since 2008 have had a lot of talent, but this team has something that the others may have been missing.

We were in better shape, stayed away from major injuries and we have a big play offense in the air and on the ground. To top all of that off, we had a fast defense and an unselfish group of special teams players.

Q. You deservedly received several Coach Of The Year awards for a great season, and the job you’ve done over your career is truly amazing. Now, It was just announced that there would be a Georgia High School Football Hall of Fame which you were selected to be a part of. What can you tell us about the Hall of Fame, and what role will you play?

A. This particular Hall of Fame (HOF) will start out by choosing great high school players. My role is to be a board member and assist with rounding up as many great players from the south as possible. It is an honor to be on the HOF board.

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Q. So, the 2022 season will be here before you know it. What will this year’s team look like as far as returning starters and replacing key members of the team that not only contributed to last year’s state championship, but were a part of leading the team to the last three title games?

A.Well, we will be missing some big play players on offense so that makes it really tough to say the Trojans can repeat. Losing six big time players on offense is gonna be tough. It does help that our QB will be a senior and a leader. He will have to carry the team until Chris Cole Jr. understands the Trojan way to play football, but Brooks County is a scrappy team so we will take some guys off of offense and they may have to play on both sides of the ball.

Defensively, we return nine players that are still in a bad mood so we are excited about that. Special teams kickers will all be back so that will certainly help.

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Greg Reid Keeps the Dream Alive Written by: Phil Jones

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The story of Lowndes High and FSU great Greg Reid began in rural South Georgia, in the small community of Clyattville, which sits on the Georgia Florida State line. It was here where arguably the best football player, if not overall athlete to ever come out of Lowndes County, began showing off his incredible talents, even at a young age.

Margie Hill taught hundreds of kids during her seven years as a physical education teacher, and watched them all as they ran around on the playground at Clyattville Elementary.

However, one youngster stood out from all the others from day one: Greg Reid.

“Greg was so quick and fast, in every thing we let the kids play, he always stood out,” said Hill. “When we would split up the kids and

have captains choose the teams, he was always the #1 pick for any sport; kickball, soccer, and yes, football. He had the best hand/eye coordination; the quickest feet…you could tell even back then that he was going to be a special athlete.”

And, it all started on the playground at Clyattville Elementary, under the watchful eye of Mrs. Hill.

From there, Greg would continue to impress, still at a young age, when playing football at the Boys and Girls Club of Valdosta.

Greg’s mother, Diane, and father, Greg Sr, coached Greg’s teams for five years, and Diane remembered the pure passion that her son showed back then.

“Greg always had a football in his hand, and you could tell that he was going to be elite,” said Diane.

She recalled the old “Punt, Pass, and Kick” competitions that schools would allow their students to take part in, where kids would see who could punt, pass, and kick the football the farthest.

“Greg was winning those competitions, even at three years old,” said Hill. “We all knew he was destined to do something really big with football, and he did.”

Speaking of his parents, Greg said that despite a lot of the stories that have focused on the struggles and legal issues that he went through, his dad was good to Greg and his younger brother, Rayford, when they were growing up.

“My father was really good to us when we were coming up. He provided for us, and gave us everything we needed,” Reid said. “There’s been a lot of bad stuff report-

ed about my father, but my dad was a good man. He would always spend time with me and my brother when we were growing up, and he taught us a lot about the game of football.”

Reid did admit that he wished his dad could have been able watch him play more.

“My dad missed a lot of my glory days when I was playing in high school, and that’s something that I wish would have been different,” Reid said.

But, with those things now just a memory, Reid said that he and his dad enjoy a great relationship, and see and speak to each other quite often.

“We are good,” Reid said.

It turns out that like his son, Greg Sr. was also a pretty good player in his day.

“My dad played basketball and football at Hamilton County, Florida, and he was really good,” said Reid. “He was #22, played linebacker, and could hit,” But, Greg admitted that his mom, Diane, was quite the athlete, too.

“She played basketball in high school, and she was good,” Reid said.

Family is an important part of Greg’s life. He has a son, Ayden, who is nine and lives in Atlanta with his mother.

The accolades continued through middle school and then into high school, which was where Reid really began to make a name for himself as a do-it-all

player for the Lowndes High Vikings. His head coach at Lowndes, Randy McPherson, who coached hundreds of players during his lengthy coaching career at Lowndes, many of them elite talent, said that Reid may have very well been the most talented he’d ever coached.

“He ranks right up there with the best-if not the best,” McPherson said.

The coach recalled how Greg was not only one of the most talented players he’d ever seen, but he had another quality that set him apart from the others.

“Greg was fearless-absolutely fearless,” said McPherson.

“He never called for a fair catch during the entire time he played at Lowndes.”

He also recalled just how gifted Reid was.

“His right leg was no different than his left leg,” said McPherson.

“He could push off with as much strength in his right leg as the other leg, and that made him unstoppable, especially in the open field. No one had any chance to tackle him once he was in the open field.”

Despite the great natural ability that Reid was obviously blessed with, the rising star never took advantage of it.

“As good as Greg was, he still worked hard at making himself better,” McPherson said.

“That included outworking everyone in the weight room, which has

always been the #1 trait of the really good ones that ever played for me.”

Another coach at Lowndes recalled Greg.

“I’ve been a part of six state championships, and saw some really good defensive players and kick returners,” said Randy Hill, longtime Lowndes assistant and former defensive coordinator. “But Greg was the best-by far, in both of those areas …

Greg was a really good tackler, and as a defensive-minded Coach, I liked the guys that could wrap up and bring guys to the ground, and that’s something Greg did better than anyone.”

Reid was a force during his time as a member of the Lowndes High Viking football team. He never came off the field, playing offense, defense, and on special teams; wherever and however the team needed him, Reid was the man. He could do it all, and he just about did. Reid finished up with 4,564 all purpose yards, with 49 total TD’s and 24 interceptions.

He once recovered a fumble on defense and returned it 102 yards for a TD, out running all 11 of the opponents the length of the field for the score.

That was one of many remarkable plays that made Reid one of the very best high school football players in Georgia. He received numerous honors following his senior season, including the ‘Georgia Play-

“My father was really good to us when we were coming up. He provided for us, and gave us everything we needed.

There’s been a lot of bad stuff reported about my father, but my dad was a good man. He would always spend time with me and my brother when we were growing up, and he taught us a lot about the game of football.”

— Greg Reid

er of the Year, by the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, as well as the class 5A ‘Georgia Player of the Decade.’

That raw football talent was what everyone that either coached or just watched Reid play the game knew would set Reid apart from the rest. Everyone was noticing, including just about every college recruiter in the country, and for good reason.

Reid initially committed to The University of Florida during his senior season at Lowndes.

“I remember he was running around doing the gator chomp every time he would make a play,” said McPherson.

“He just woke up one day and decided it was Florida State where he wanted to play.”

But, before Reid could play college football, there were the grades. If the standout at Lowndes was going to play football at FSU, or anywhere for that matter, his grades would need to improve. That was when one of Reid’s teachers stepped up and saved the day.

“Greg was doing just enough to get by, like every other student athlete” said Andrea Bridges, who was Reid’s En-

glish teacher during his senior season.

The “just good enough to get by” at Lowndes wasn’t nearly good enough for Reid to get admitted to Florida State University.

Bridges, along with help from fellow teachers, began to tutor Reid, especially with those subjects he needed to pass the ACT. Prior to having Reid in her class, Bridges really didn’t know him, other than what she had heard about his accomplishments on Friday nights.

“Like everyone, I knew he played football and that he was really good, but that was all I knew about Greg before he became a student of mine,” Bridges said.

But, all that mattered now was that he was a student who had aspirations of going to college, and he would need help to get there. Bridges admitted that they had a long way to go.

“We really rolled up our sleeves and got to work,” said Bridges.

Spending time with Reid helped build a relationship between teacher and pupil, and Bridges could see that Greg was committed to putting in the work and doing what he needed ITG Next | 13

“Greg got to know us and trust us, and we came to know him. We really developed a great relationship with him. It was a very trusting relationship.”

— Andrea Bridges

to do to pass the ACT. She also noticed that there was one big obstacle that made things a little tougher on Reid.

His mother Diane’s job at the local Lowes’s distribution center required her to be there at 5 a.m. each morning, leaving Greg and his brother to fend for themselves and get to school on their

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own. Already faced with so many challenges with Reid’s studies, Bridges decided to step up and see if she could make things easier.

“I asked Greg if he wanted to move in with me and my family,” said Bridges. “Of course, I met with Greg’s mother Diane, and she was ok with it.”

She also spoke with

Lowndes superintendent Wes Taylor, to make sure that everything was above board. She also spoke with her husband and kids to make sure they were ok with another person moving into their home.

“I just wanted to make sure there were no grey areas,” said Bridges. “You’re talking about

a student moving in with his teacher, which of course, is not the norm … My family and our superintendent were ok with it.”

With everyone in agreement, Reid moved in with the Bridges family, which allowed him to not only ride to school with Bridges, but allowed him time to study after school hours once they arrived home.

“There were a lot of evening and nights spent at the kitchen table studying, and Greg really devoted himself to the work,” Bridges said.

Bridges said that she and her family went from knowing Reid the football player to developing a great relationship with him.

“Greg got to know us and trust us, and we came to know him,” Bridges said. “We really developed a great relationship

with him. It was a very trusting relationship.”

Armed with daily studying, some days for hours, Reid was ready to take his ACT. Bridges picked him up after he had taken the test, and even though Reid would not immediately receive the test results, he knew he had done it.

“He got in the car, and told me,’I did it. I passed it,’ ” Bridges said.

Reid would say goodbye to the Bridges family, and his Lowndes teammates, and would head off to FSU, hoping that he had indeed done enough too pass the ACT. He would still not yet know his test results, and that worried Bridges.

“There was a possibility that Greg would get to FSU, unpack, and then, if for some reason he had not passed, he would be coming right back home,” Bridges said.

“I was on pins and needles.”

Bridges recalled the day the brown envelope came.

“I knew what it was,” said Bridges. “I knew it was his test results.”

She looked at the package, momentarily scared of what was on the piece of paper inside. What if all the hard work had not been enough, she thought.

With that, she opened up the test results.

“I let out the loudest scream,” said Bridges.

He had passed. The hard work had paid off.

Reid had done it. The kid from Clyattville had made it. Everything he had dreamed of on that playground as part of Mrs. Hill’s PE class had come true. He was officially an FSU freshman.

It was now time for Reid to get to work and show everyone what he could do on the football

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field, and it wouldn’t take long for everyone in the country to see what all of the fuss was about. They were about to see the quickness, the finesse, and the physicality that made Reid an absolute weapon.

September 7, 2009, was a Monday night, nationally-televised game against the Miami Hurricanes, a major rival of the Seminoles and conference opponent.

It was both his college football debut, and his first game at Doak Campbell Stadium in front of 80,000 fans.

Greg did exactly what he had done every game he played in. He had three solo tackles, an interception, and three exciting punt returns, including a 51yard return that rocked the ‘Noles home stadium. The punt returns totaled 101 yards, giving him an average of right at 34 yards per return in game one. That would continue through the rest of the season, landing Reid as the top punt returner in college foot-

ball for the 2009 season, with an average of 18.4 yards per kick return.

The next year, Reid’s sophomore season, he was named the Chick-Fil-A Bowl defensive MVP for his performance against South Carolina in the bowl game, held at the Georgia Dome. Out of all the highlights in his career, Reid is most remembered for his crushing tackle on the Gamecocks, Marcus Lattimore, in that game. It momentarily knocked out the South Carolina RB, and was considered a clean, textbook-style tackle.

Reid would have yet another solid season in 2011, his junior season, playing in 11 of the 13 games that year, giving him a total of 38 game appearances a Seminole.

Unfortunately, his season would come to an end with his dismissal from FSU for repeated violation of team rules. Reid’s Seminole career was over.

Reid’s run at Florida State was over, and while many media reports

about his time there seemed to show an out of control football player, those in senior administrative and support roles with the team who got to know him during his time there talk about a very different person.

FSU Team Chaplain Clint Purvis is one of them. Purvis has been the team chaplain for the Florida State football team since the early days of Bobby Bowden and has seen hundreds of Seminole players come through the program, but ask him about Greg Reid, and he recalls a particular moment that still stands out to him.

“I remember the very first time Greg came in for a recruiting trip,” Purvis said. “He was with his Mom, Diane, who I got to know, too. A lot of time, when the players get together, and in their element, they get a little rowdy, and tend to hang together, and just leave their parents to fend for themselves, but not Greg. Greg stayed with his mom, and tended to her every need, and was such a gentleman …

You don’t see that with a lot of the young players coming in. That doesn’t make them bad people, but they’re just immature and want to make sure they can hang with their peers.”

Reid’s actions made a lasting impression on Purvis.

“But, Greg was different, and I have never forgot that day,” Purvis said.

“It left quite an impression on me, and it still does, because Greg was the focal point that day. He was truly THE guy at FSU with that incoming freshman class, and it would have been easy for him to get caught up with the other guys, but he didn’t.”

Concerning the issues that occurred with Greg at Florida State,

and how that cost him his last season of eligibility, Purvis said this.

“Some people make mistakes with their heart, and others make mistakes with their head,” said Purvis. “If there are bad intentions within someone’s heart, they have a hard time changing. With Greg, he made a few mistakes with his head, but not his heart.

He never made that mistake again, and that shows you the type of person Greg was and is.

Greg’s heart is as pure as any player I’ve ever mentored here at FSU… Greg also never missed a chapel-that I remember.”

He also points out how close Jimbo Fisher, the FSU head coach at the time, was with Reid.

“Coach Fisher loved Greg like he was a son, and they had that father-son relationship as much as a coach-player relationship,” Purvis said. “It just killed Jimbo to have to release Greg from the team, but his hands were tied-he had no choice.”

Bob LaCivita, the FSU Director of Player Personnel from 20072019, remembered Reid as “a lover of the game of football.”

“I don’t think I’ve ever seen a player capable of making such a difference in a game as Greg Reid did,” said LcCivita. “Greg was the perfect mix of finesse and physical, and he enjoyed playing the game of football as much as any athlete I’ve ever been around here at Florida State.”

Reid returned to Valdosta in 2012. He was determined to show that he still was a force and walked on at Valdosta State University. His career there at the D-2 school would last all of one play.

On a live punt return, Reid suffered a significant knee injury. Just like that, Reid’s attempt at a comeback with his hometown university was over after just one play.

Following knee surgery in Tallahassee, Reid declared for the NFL draft, and began rehabbing the knee with a personal trainer in South Florida. During the workouts, Reid says he felt something snap.

“I felt it, and I knew it wasn’t good,” Reid said.

But, despite the unknown injury and determined to follow his lifelong dream of playing in the NFL, he decided

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to head to Indianapolis and try to tough it out, in hopes that he can work through whatever it is.

But, after a thorough screening by several on site doctors at the combine, Reid was officially told what he already knew in his heart. He had suffered yet another ACL tear in the same knee.

“That was tough,” Reid said.

Reid returned home, and found comfort in familiar surroundings.

“I went back to the Bridges family,” Reid said.

“They took really good care of me, like always.”

Reid sucked it up and returned to South Florida to once again rehab

and train. After getting his knee healthy enough, Reid attended a pro day at Tallahassee, where he attracted the attention of the St Louis Rams. The Rams coach at the time, Jeff Fisher, liked what he saw, and the club signed Reid in March of 2014.

Unfortunately, Reid was cut and decided to try the Arena League.

In 2015, he excelled in his first season with the Jacksonville Sharks, snatching 12 interceptions in less than a full season of games, and was named Arena League Rookie of The Year. Hoping that he had found a resurgence, Reid was hoping this was his path back to the NFL.

He had just completed a successful season with Jacksonville and was entering the 2016 Arena league season. However, once again, bad luck had found Greg. He suffered his third ACL tear.

“That was the worst,” Reid said. “I had never had any serious injuries, and here was my third serious knee injury.”

If Reid still hoped to play football-at any level-that would mean picking himself up, yet again, and going through rehab, a process he was all too familiar with at this point.

In 2018, Reid had had it. He’d gone through three major knee injuries and the long and

grueling rehabilitations, including the most recent one, but he was not ready to give up.

“I called my agent, and told him I’m ready to play again, but I didn’t want to go back to the Arena League,” Reid said.

That left Reid with one option: The Canadian Football League, and he agreed.

A tryout was arranged with the Montreal Alouettes, and in 2018, Reid signed with the team. He initially spent time on the scout team and was able to work his way onto the main roster, and into a starting role, where he has remained. Reid

made his presence known right away, and in his first full season in 2019, he was named a CFL All-Star. He has just completed his third season with Montreal, making 134 tackles with six interceptions in just over the two full seasons he has played (his first season, in 2018, Reid played in just three games).

It may not be the NFL, but it is pro football, and it’s where Greg Reid has finally found peace and his football home.

ITG Next | 19

MIDDLE GEORGIA PLAYER OF THE MONTH

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Two Middle Georgia High School Coaches Leaving Programs Written by: Phil Jones

Fans of high school football in Middle Georgia were caught off guard by separate announcements from two successful high school football coaches that they were leaving their respective programs.

Crisp County head football coach Miguel Patrick is leaving after just one season at the helm of Crisp’s football program. He came to Crisp County from Cedar Grove High School, where he led the Saints to the 2019 state championship.

Patrick will join Ohio State’s football staff as a defensive quality control coach.

Crisp County immediately announced that former assistant coach Lawrence Smith had been promoted to the position of head football coach.

The other announcement comes from longtime ELCA head coach Jonathan Gess, who will be taking the head coaching job at Hebron Christian. Gess told ITG Next Georgia in a phone interview about his decision to leave ELCA and take over the Lions football program.

“I really wasn’t looking to leave ELCA," said Gess. "I’ve been there for 15 years, and we did great things there. But the Head of School at Hebron Christian called me, and we met, and he shared his vision for what he thought we can do there with the football program.”

Gess elaborated on his reasoning.

“We came to ELCA 15 years ago and built a great program, so why can’t we go to Hebron Christian and build it, too?” Gess said.

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ITG Next | 25

DEYON BOUIE:

Where There's Smoke, There's Fire Written by: Phil Jones

Deyon Bouie has just completed his high school football career and is set to graduate later this year. He leaves behind a legacy of football supremacy at Bainbridge High School and will be remembered as one of the most talented and exciting players to ever wear the Bearcat uniform.

He was a rarity for not only Bainbridge, but any high school football program, earning a starting spot on the varsity squad as a ninth-grader in the 2018 season.

That led to Bouie becoming a four-year starter at Bainbridge and playing a big part in the Bearcats' state championship in 2018.

He registered 31 tackles (30 solo), had 18 passes defended, and finished with six interceptions, including two of those returned for a touchdown. He also was credited with 12 passes broken up. On offense, the phenom freshman finished with a modest nine receptions for 210 yards and a touchdown.

Bouie was born in Bainbridge, Georgia, in 2001, and has called the port city home ever since. He has split time during his childhood and early teen years 26 | itgnext.com

living with his mother, Maria Bouie; his aunt, Angela Bouie; and his grandmother, Shelley Bouie. He said he is close with his entire family.

“I’m really close to my family, and I try to talk to them as much as I can,” he said.

That includes daily calls with his grandmother and mom, who is in the Army and lives in Atlanta. He said he also tries to talk to his dad at least once a month.

Bouie said that early on he was more drawn to basketball than football.

“I was getting hurt playing football, just minor stuff, but I was really wanting to play basketball only,” said Bouie.

That was when one of his coaches noticed his football talents and convinced him not to give up.

“Coach Patrick Clark was my seventh-grade coach and would not let me quit football,” said Bouie. “He told me to stick with it, so I did.”

Clark wasn’t the only one who noticed how talented young Bouie was on the football field.

His current high school head football coach, Jeff Littleton, picked up on Bouie’s knack for the game back then too.

“I first saw Deyon playing for our middle school Photography by: Dezmond Kimbrough

SCAN TO WATCH

team as a seventh-grader,” said Littleton. “Deyon really stood out. He was bigger and faster than everyone else.”

Littleton also recalled that when Bouie reached the seventh grade, certain people were trying to convince him to play basketball only.

“They were trying to turn him into a basketball-only type of player,” Littleton said.

But, like coach Clark in the seventh grade, Littleton told Bouie that he could do whatever he thought was best, but that he felt he had a great future as a football player.

“Deyon was and still is one of the best football players and allaround athletes I’ve ever seen,” said Littleton.

Other locals were taking note of the young Bainbridge native and his over-the-top abilities.

When former Bainbridge football standout Rohan Gaines returned home from college, his father, Maurice Gaines, (who happened to be the Decatur County School System Chief of Police), told his son about the local rising star.

“My father told me that there was a very special young man that I needed to keep an eye out on. He was talking about Deyon,” said Gaines. “He said that this young man was going to be a special player, and he was right.”

That was the first meeting between the former and future Bearcat greats, and while neither knew it at the time, that would be the beginning of a special relationship that would ultimately affect and alter each of their future paths.

Gaines was now a standout defensive back at Arkansas, where he would be named to the Freshman All-American Team in his first year as

a Razorback. He would also go on to play professionally for the Los Angeles Rams after signing on as a free agent in 2016.

Soon afterwards, his playing career ended, and Gaines knew he wanted to pursue a coaching career. That prompted a return to his hometown and a job as an assistant on Littleton’s staff. It was then that he would reconnect with Bouie, and, according to Gaines, the middle-school-aged, “snotty-nose kid” that he knew back in Bouie’s seventh-grade season was a different young man now.

“His talent was just off the charts, and his knowledge of the game was crazy,” said Gaines.

The 2018 season was a great start for both Gaines as a coach and Bouie’s first season as a high school starter.

The team won the state championship, and all was grand in Bearcat land.

The following season would not produce another state title, but a 7-4 record and trip to the playoffs wasn’t that bad.

The 2020 season would see Bainbridge win the region with a perfect record and make a run at another championship. But, for Bouie, an injury in the offseason kept him out of action for his entire junior year. The injury set Bouie back not only physically, but mentally.

Gaines said he began to notice that Bouie had become “misguided” and was making some bad decisions. Gaines acknowledged that it was at this time that the relationship between himself and the star player had become much more of a mentoring relationship than just simply a play-

Photo submitted by: Maria Bouie

er-coach relationship.

“I could just tell he needed a mentor, for both on and off the field, and I was glad to fill that role,” said Gaines.

He said that Bouie began texting him almost every night around 9 or 10. That’s when the coach and Bouie’s mother began having discussions about Bouie possibly moving in with the coach, and that’s what the player wanted as well.

“Deyon came to me and asked if he could move in with me, and I told him to come on,” said Gaines.

That would come with some hard rules, however.

“I told him that if he was going to live with me, there would be rules, such as being in every night by a certain time,” Gaines said.

This allowed the bond between player and coach to grow stronger by the day, with Gaines pushing Bouie harder than the other players.

“I see how special Deyon can be, and I want to prepare him to be a college football player and maybe more,” said Gaines.

That led to Gaines being there with Bouie through the recruiting process, which worked out well for both of them. After a recruiting trip to Texas A&M, both

Gaines and Bouie met with Aggies head coach Jimbo Fisher and another former Bainbridge standout, Nick Williams.

Williams is a defensive analyst for Fisher and the Aggies, and after Gaines had accompanied Bouie on the visit, the Aggies came calling for them both.

“I received a call from Nick [Williams], telling me that Texas A&M wanted me to join their staff,” Gaines said.

But, as Gaines quickly pointed out: “That did not mean that Deyon and I were a package deal. I told Deyon that he needed to do what was best for him. That was his decision to do what he needed to do.”

It turned out that Bouie would be headed to Texas A&M, too. After initially verbally committing to The University of Georgia, the four-star standout switched his allegiance to the Aggies. Despite what some may think, Gaines and Bouie’s live-in situation will not continue at College Station.

“Deyon’s going to live in the dorm with the other players, and I have my own place,” said Gaines.

Of course, if Bouie needs any help, he knows his friend, mentor, and coach is just a text away.

“I’ll always be here for him,” Gaines said.

ITG Next | 27

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Brunswick Head Football Coach Garrett Grady Ready for the Opportunity Written by: Phil Jones

Garrett Grady earned this.

Grady was named head football coach of The Brunswick Pirates earlier this year after serving 12 years of his life as an assistant coach with different teams.

When you consider that the 34 year-old Grady served as an assistant coach for over a third of his life, including three of those years in an unpaid graduate assistant position, you can definitely say he earned it.

Southeast Georgia has been where Grady grew up playing football, beginning as a youth growing up in Blackshear. He continued playing during his high school years where he played both defensive and offensive lineman for the Pierce County Bears from 2002 through 2005, shuffling between guard and tackle on the O-line and defensive tackle on the D-line.

Following his graduation from the Bears, Grady played at Valdosta State University, where he played offensive line on the 2007 national championship team.

While he was at VSU, he decided to try to start coaching. He became a graduate assistant for three years: two years working with his familiar OL positions, and then when he was promoted

to RB Coach in 2012. He was fortunate enough to win his second national championship ring with the Blazers, this time as a coach.

Convinced that coaching was something he wanted to stick with, he accepted an offer to go to Western Kentucky, where he would begin as a graduate assistant but would have the opportunity to work with a Division 1 school and with a couple of big name coaches.

Bobby Petrino was the Hill Toppers head coach, and Neil Calloway, one of the most respected line coaches in all of football, would be who Grady would work under and continue to learn with. However, on the drive up to the blue grass state, Garrett received a call from Calloway, and the news wasn’t what Garrett was hoping to hear.

“Coach Calloway told me that Petrino had already found someone else,” said Grady. “I was above Atlanta, so I just turned around and came back to Blackshear.”

Not knowing what his next move was going to be, Grady received a call from an administrator at Pierce County High, Principal Dara Bennett (who is now the Pierce County school district Superintendent). Pierce County High was one of the places Grady had

applied upon leaving Valdosta State.

“I went in and interviewed, and she took me to meet Coach Pender” he said.

Grady had known of Sean Pender, from when Grady played at Pierce and Pender was the head coach at Brantley “He had an opening for a RB coaching position, and that’s what I had coached during my last year at VSU, so it worked out perfectly,” said Grady.

So, in 2013, Grady joined the staff at Pierce County, which started a four year career as an assistant with the Bears.

“The first two years as RB coach, then the last two as OL coach as well as the offensive coordinator,” said Grady.

In 2017, Garrett Grady followed Coach Pender’s move to Brunswick, where Pender was hired as the Pirates head coach, and Grady took over as Brunswick’s OL coach/offensive coordinator. Grady would continue to serve as the loyal assistant, a role he had become quite accustomed to.

He was promoted to assistant head coach in 2019, which prepared him for his next role. That would come in 2021, when Pender stepped down to take the head coaching position at North Hall High School.

Grady was then pro-

moted to the position of head football coach of the Brunswick Pirates.

“I thought I had a pretty good chance of getting the job,” said Grady. “I had been the assistant head coach here for the last three years, and I had developed a great relationship with the administration here, our athletic director, the teachers, and the kids. We had a great season here last season, and I just want to keep that going.”

Grady will inherit a program that finished 11-1 overall last season, including a region championship with a perfect 6-0 record. They have advanced to the second round of the state playoffs the last two years. Grady says he is excited about the talent he will have to work with this season.

“We have 28 rising seniors, and the majority of them were starters or at least major contributors as juniors last year,” Grady said.

What type of scheme will Grady employ on both offense and defense, now that he’s the guy calling the shots?

“We won’t change a lot from how we’ve been doing things,” said Grady. “This offense is all about getting our playmakers the ball and putting them in space so they can do their thing.”

That will start with 6-foot-4-inch junior lefty QB Jarrod Elkins. Defensively, the Pirates will continue to line up in the 3-4, with all three down linemen returning this season in junior River Creel, along with seniors Kashawn Thomas and Jordan Jimmmerson.

Grady says the future is bright with “a lot of really good younger guys coming up.”

The Garrett Grady era at Brunswick kicks off on August 19th at home against Andrew Jackson High from Jacksonville.

ITG Next | 31

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Shannon Brown: Back From the Brink Written by: Phil Jones Photography by: Micki K Photography and Brandon Pham

Shannon Brown has a story to tell. It’s the story of how one of the most highly-recruited players to ever play for the Cook High Hornets, came out of the state of Georgia, fell short of his football dreams, picked himself back up, and with lessons learned, turned it around. It’s the story of his journey, and the many people and places he encountered along the way.

Brown was a standout two-way player for the Cook High Hornets from 2008 to 2011, playing both running back and linebacker. In his very first year of high school football, his freshman season, Brown led the team with nearly 1,200 yards rushing and racked up over 100 tackles. He earned first team All-Region honors and played a big part in the Hornets success during that 2007 season, which included a 10-4 record and a trip to the semi finals, held at the Georgia Dome.

Brown would continue to shine during the remainder of his career at Cook, especially 34 | itgnext.com

in his senior season of 2010. Cook started the season by knocking off the highly ranked 7A Colquitt County Packers by a 15-9 final score.

Head coach Ken Cofer remembers how his 2A team entered the game against the bigger and favored Packers at their home stadium and walked away with an improbable win.

“I remember our guys giving it all they had, especially Shannon,” said Cofer.

“Shannon was at the point of overheating, so we gave him ice packs. I remember he looked up at me, and said, ‘Coach, that is the hardest I’ve ever played-anywhere.’”

It was that passion combined with his pure God-given talent that made Brown one of the most sought after recruits coming out of high school that season.

Brown had many offers to consider, with his list narrowed to The University of Alabama, Georgia, and the University of Miami. In the end, it was coach Nick Saban and the Crimson Tide

that Brown decided on.

But, Brown’s dream of playing big time college football would not start in Tuscaloosa in front of 100,000 screaming ‘Bama fans. That would have to wait.

Due to a couple of years of low grades from his first two years of high school, his transcript was flagged at Alabama, meaning Brown would have to go the JUCO route, which meant starting off his college career at East Mississippi Community College. If it sounds familiar, that’s because East Mississippi Community College was the school primarily featured in the Netflix documentary, “Last Chance U.” It’s where student athletes,like Brown, go

to get their academics in order before they can move on to their original school of choice, and that’s exactly what Brown did.

He studied hard, did well in his classes, and made the grades. But, there was another problem: Brown was homesick.

“I wanted to be closer to home,” said Brown.

He had been born and raised in Adel and had never really ventured too far beyond the county line of Cook.

So, here he was, farther from home than he had ever been. Whether it was the fact that it wasn’t the bright lights of SEC football or just that he missed home, Brown wanted to go home. He told his coach, Buddy

Stephens, that he wanted to go back home. The coach gave Brown a prophetic warning: “if you leave here, it will be the worst decision you ever make.” Looking back, it may have been.

Brown left East Mississippi Community College and transferred to Georgia Military College. This allowed Brown to be back in Georgia and closer to home. He also seemed to have found a football home, at least early on.

In his first game with the JuCo Bulldogs, Brown set a school record from his linebacker spot, with 17 solo tackles, 21 total tackles, and a sack.

But, soon afterwards, a shoulder injury would start a backwards slide

for Brown. He missed practice time, which led to missed classes. What had been a great start in his second chance was now fading away. His brief run at Georgia Military College was over.

“I was kicked out of school,” said Brown.

Unfortunately, that wasn’t his only problem. He now had East Mississippi Community College demanding the tuition for the short time he spent there. The problems were compounding.

“That's when my problems really started to add up, and it became too much,” said Brown.

Brown decided to go back home to Adel and start over.

Back in Adel, Brown leaned on one of the many pillars of support who were there trying to help him along the way.

“I reached out to Danny and Teresza Emrich, and they were there to help me so much,” said Brown.

With the help of the Emrichs, Brown began attending church with the family, and decided to get baptized.

“I was ready to put everything behind me,” said Brown. “I wanted a new beginning.”

After spending a month back in Adel, deciding his next move, Brown reached out to his cousin, Thad Williams, who was a teammate from Cook High School and was attending school and playing football at Hutchinson Community College in Butler, Kansas.

So, the Emrich’s helped Brown with the purchase of a plane ticket, and in January 2012, Brown was off to his third school since leaving Cook High School in an attempt to kick start his college football career. However, like

the previous stops, the opportunity at Kansas immediately hit a snag: Before Brown could play one down of football, the head coach called him into his office with more bad news. The coach told him that he had to pay the bill from East Mississippi before he could be ruled eligible to play at Kansas.

As before when the many supporters of Brown came through, this time it was Cofer, who agreed to pay the outstanding tuition due from East Mississippi.

That freed up the former Cook star to begin playing football at Hutchinson, but lady luck was once again not on his side, and just like that, Brown was not in Kansas anymore.

With three collegiate opportunities not working out, Brown needed to find a football home.

He learned of Nassau Community College in Garden City, New York and gave the coaches a call. They told him that they would love to have him and to get there as soon as possible, which Brown does. What the coaches had failed to mention was that there weren’t any dorm rooms, and that players were responsible for their own housing and transportation, which Brown had neither.

The South Georgia 17 year-old found himself in a dire state: He had no place to stay, no way to get around, and it was January in New York state. Once again, Brown was left out in the cold with no football home. He was cold and hungry, but the spirit to play football was still very much alive inside Brownor so he thought.

After calling around, he located Arizona Community College, who told Brown to come on ITG Next | 35

out. So, with yet another invitation, he got on a plane and headed west to Arizona.

It was January 2013, and it appeared that Brown had found a home. He went through Spring practice with his new teammates and does pretty well, but, as Brown puts it, he just isn’t feeling it anymore.

“I could tell that my fire was dwindling,” said Brown.

“I wasn’t feeling like Shannon Brown anymore. I started smoking a lot of weed; it was everywhere.”

That led to Brown being caught smoking pot, which led to his dismissal from the football team. His coach texted him in the middle of the night to tell him to finish his Spring semester and to not come back.

So, just like that, as soon as it started, it was over at Arizona Community College. Brown knew this was probably it, and the reality of it all began to weigh him down big time.

“I was low, low, low,” said Brown.

One last Hail Mary attempt at college football did not materialize, and it was over. A dream of playing football was over, but unfortunately for Brown, his misfortune was not over.n fact, things were about to go from bad to worse.

It was the end of 2013 when Brown returned home to Adel without a job or any plans. Since his dreams of playing football were long gone, he turned to selling drugs. The problem, other than the obvious pitfalls of selling illegal drugs, was that Brown was well known, and everyone knew he was back home. In a small town like Adel, there’s no way to hide it.

Within a couple of 36 | itgnext.com

months of being back home, local law enforcement raided Brown’s home, where they found crack cocaine and marijuana. He was arrested and taken to jail where he was able to post bond until his court date.

Once he was released on bond, Brown returned home, where trouble found him yet again.

His cousin stopped by the house, and an argument broke out. The situation got out of hand.

His cousin pulled out a gun and shot Brown in the hip. Lying in the front yard of the home where college coaches Mark Richt, Nick Saban, Kirby Smart, and many others visited, was the former Cook High football star, Shannon Brown, bleeding profusely from a gunshot wound.

This was not how the script for the young star’s life was supposed to be written, yet he was laid out, bleeding, and awaiting an ambulance. Before an ambulance could arrive some neighbors and a family member took Brown to the local Cook County hospital, which was not equipped to handle the major gunshot wound Brown had received. He had to be life-flighted to the nearest trauma center, which is in Macon.

There, doctors immediately performed emergency surgery and were able to stop Brown from bleeding to death.

Despite being able to save Brown’s life, the doctors told Brown and his family that the young athlete may never walk again.

“I was scared,” said Brown.

The doctors performed another surgery where they implanted an artificial hip and an artificial femur bone.

Once Brown healed enough to attend his

court date in August 2015, Brown had a list of character witnesses who testified on Brown’s behalf. He avoided jail time, since the judge sentenced Brown to 20 years of probation. He considered himself fortunate.

Then, in the spring of 2016, trouble found the former Hornet superstar yet again. Brown was arrested for selling drugs to an undercover agent, which meant jail time.

“I sat in jail for five months on the probation violation,” said Brown.

Those five months were enough for Brown.

They gave him time to clear out his system, and to clear his mind, too.

“I spent a lot of time in that jail thinking about what I had done and that I needed to get right,” he said.

Once he served his time, Brown entered a

drug rehab program, which put him back on the path to recovery. He is still in the program as of today, which has kept him clean from drugs for four years. He is working and hopes to start school soon. With the classes and credit accrued during the past few years of attending different colleges, he is close to completing the requirement for an associate degree. Brown hopes to become a teacher and football coach. He says that he hopes that by sharing his story, it will change the life of a young player or a student who is headed down the wrong path. If that is the case, his experience will not have been in vain.

Today, Brown runs into people everyday who tell him of games they remember him in and how they thought

he was one of the best to ever play football at Cook County High School.

While he is grateful for the memories everyone has of him from his playing days, Brown wants to focus on what he can do now, as a member of the very community that helped him through tough times.

“Everyone remembers me for what I did as a football player, and don’t get me wrong, I’m grateful for that,” said Brown.

“But, I want my community to know and appreciate me for what I’m able to do now.”

Yes, his football career may be over, but Shannon Brown plans on doing a lot more living.

ITG Next | 37

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