For nearly a decade, Ricky Ross has had the best excuse possible for getting out of a honey-do list in late fall. Seven times in nine football seasons running – five as defensive coordinator with Georgia powerhouse Calhoun and this year and last as head coach at Marion County – Ross has coached in a state championship game.
Working into December – long after most other high school football coaches are keeping themselves busy only with offseason workout plans and their teams’ equipment has been gathering dust after more than a month of inactivity – doesn’t leave much time for the hustle and bustle of holiday shopping or fixing leaky faucets around the house.
“The goal every year is to play as many games as you can,” Ross said. “Not only does that mean you’re having success this year, but you’re getting the younger kids a lot more practice reps and experience for the next season, and hopefully that will build the program to expect to win every year.”
That’s a lesson Ross learned as a player and later as an assistant coach for Bill Thorn at Landmark Christian in Fairburn, Ga. He took the same lesson while working under Calhoun coach Hal Lamb. Each mentor has compiled an incredible résumé of success, and both helped mold Ross’s strenuous workout plan that includes lifting weights early in the morning of game days.
Last year’s Marion underclassmen got an extra five weeks of practice along the way to reaching the Class 2A title game. While the Warriors came up short against Peabody, another half a season of workouts and practice reps prepared the nucleus of this year’s team for another run to the final.
“It’s something I saw for myself at Calhoun, just how success filters down to younger players so the expectations remain the same,” said Ross, whose former team is the only other remaining state championship contender in the area.
Calhoun plays at Blessed Trinity tonight in Roswell, and Ross admitted he’ll take time to check in on the Yellow Jackets.
“I always check their scores after our games. I’ve still got tons of friends there and always want them to have success,” Ross said. “Coaching here reminds me of Calhoun because both have great community support and it doesn’t take long to know how much the football programs mean to people in both places.”
Although he has tweaked his mentors’ methods somewhat, Ross’s results have been a welcome return to success for Jasper’s proud community, and that includes legendary former Warriors coach Ken Colquette, who guided the program to three state titles in five years in the early-to-mid 1990s.
Now retired from coaching, Colquette, who should already have had the field named in his honor at Marion, will be among the purple-clad supporters at Tennessee Tech on Saturday, hoping to see his former program end a 20-year championship drought against Trezevant, which played in the 4A title game last year.
“I’ve gone to several practices and about half their games this year, and I see a lot of similarities with our run as far as being disciplined and playing great defense,” Colquette said. “Coach Ross has done a great job. It’s really neat for me to go back and see these kids playing now, knowing I coached most of their daddies or uncles. I had (quarterback Logan) Walters’ daddy Dewayne as my quarterback, but Dewayne was slower than me when he played and his son is a great athlete. Same for (Josh) Henderson. I coached his daddy, and luckily the kid got his athletic ability from his mama.
“I stand along the fence, and as soon as you hear the tractor whistle fire up, you get that feeling from the crowd and it all brings back a lot of memories and emotions for me. It’s just one of those special places for football, and I’d like to see them keep this run going for a while.”
Contact Stephen Hargis at shargis@timesfreepress.com or 423-757-6293. Follow him at @StephenHargis.