TRION, Ga. — It was in the middle of summer, and Sean Patrick was clearly already fed up with his football team.
On day two of a padded camp at Northwest Whitfield, the Trion coach watched as his Bulldogs went through the motions, looking nothing like the team that won a region championship and 10 games in 2023. Finally, after finishing up a period with a flurry of mistakes, Patrick lit into his team, telling the players to get off the field and reevaluate their commitment.
What angered the veteran coach more than anything that day was a lack of leadership among his players. A team that had graduated the most successful senior class in program history had a huge void in that intangible area and just a few weeks to hopefully get it straightened out.
Five weeks — and five wins — into the regular season, and those worries are long gone. That leader Patrick so badly needed was there the whole time.
Senior quarterback Kade Smith is a rare four-year starter at the position, but until this season he played a complementary role in offenses that had, his first three seasons, featured all-state running backs Rob Brown, Logan Eller and Toby Maddux.