As spring football practice gets underway this month, two of the area’s top prep programs do so with first-year head coaches who were promoted from their respective staffs. Shannon Williams takes over an Ooltewah program which has been to the Class 5A semifinals twice in the last four years, while Matt Land will look to continue Dalton’s dominance in Northwest Georgia.
Both coaches have the benefit of having been on staff, which should help them to solidify depth charts going into the fall. However they both understand there is plenty of pressure packed into their new roles.
“Having been here the last couple of years, at least I have an idea of where to start, but I’m really glad we’re not keeping score just yet,” Williams said. “I know there will be pressure, but we’re concentrating on the little things now because if you do that, the big stuff will take care of itself this fall.”
Grace Academy also made a coaching change since last season, hiring McCallie assistant Bob Ateca and LaFayette hired Tab Gable to take over its program. Central and Meigs County are both expected to name new coaches in the coming days.
Williams had been the Owls’ offensive line coach the last two seasons, and will continue in that capacity this fall. The 33-year old takes over a team loaded with inexperienced talent.
“We’ve got a lot of good young athletes, but they haven’t seen a lot of action and that’s always a concern,” Williams said. “We’re going to use the next couple of weeks to try and get the right people in the right spots and find out who we can count on.”
Land played for legendary Dalton coach Bill Chappell and later worked on his staff. He has been a lay coach at Dalton for 17 years, so he has a grasp of what that community expects. The Catamounts have had 50 straight winning seasons, a Georgia state record that is also believed to be the longest current streak in the nation.