By Jordan Hofeditz
The Times-Georgian
A pair of local coaches surpassed expectations this season.
Seth Rogers took his Temple squad to the postseason for the first time since 2005 and set a school-record for wins with six, while Ricky Tolleson turned Bremen’s 1-3 start into a region runner-up finish and a trip to the Class A state quarterfinals, earning the pair Times-Georgian All-Area Co-Coach of the Year accolades.
Bremen’s Ricky Tolleson, left, and Temple’s Seth Rogers were selected as the 2011 Times-Georgian All-Area Co-Coaches of the Year after leading their respective ball clubs to tremendous seasons. Tolleson engineered a major turnaround for the Blue Devils, leading them to the Class A state quarterfinals after a 1-3 start. Rogers led the Tigers to their first winning season in school history and a school-record six wins. The Tigers also reached the postseason for the first time since 2005.
(Christopher Shannon/Times-Georgian)
Appling County native Seth Rogers named 2011 Times-Georgian All-Area Co-Coach of the Year
The Bremen losses, while troubling, forced Tolleson’s team to look at itself and decide what kind of legacy it wanted to leave for the 2011 season.
“I really believe — and this is hard to say and mean it — but those losses probably helped us. We felt like we had a shot in all of them. In Game 3, we made some turnovers that hurt us. I think it made our seniors mature. I think they looked at that tradition board and said, ‘We don’t want to be thought of that way.’ They took a big leadership role. They bought into everything that we did,” said Tolleson, who won his 100th career game at Bremen this season, marking the fastest coach to 100 wins in school history.
For Rogers, he had a group that finally bought into what it meant to be a football team and refused to have another losing season.
“That’s a special group. They made up their mind that they were going to do this differently and really changed the culture of our football team. It really started last year with that senior class we had. The credit goes to all those kids and even the kids that came before them that had to endure some tough years. We’ve always had kids that played hard, but I think ultimately the difference was that we had a group of kids that made up their mind that this was how it was going to be,” Rogers said.
That led to Temple winning some close games and some games it maybe shouldn’t have because it believed and worked together. And getting to see the group grow and culminate with a playoff berth and a school-record wins was a career highlight for Rogers.
“In terms of my career, not only as an assistant but as a head coach, it was probably one of the most enjoyable years, most memorable years. We had a great time — from the coaching staff all the way down to the kids. That’s why you get in it for, the time you spend with the kids and those men in the room with you,” Rogers said. “For us to be able to do what we did was great and it was a great time. We just had a great year.”
As for Tolleson, there was a true sense of accomplishment as he watched his team turn a season around that it could have let get out of control. The only letdown was that the Bremen coach felt his team had a good chance to win its quarterfinal game at Prince Avenue Christian, but that wouldn’t take away from what the 2011 Blue Devils accomplished.
“It was a lot of fun and [there was] a lot of satisfaction on the inside for a coach to have that feeling of coming from where they came from and then going as far as they did. That’s the sad thing — I think we had the better team in Game 13 and just didn’t win. Tremendous year,” Tolleson said. “That group will be remembered for a long time. They can come back and be very proud of what they accomplished and where they came from because they had to earn every inch.
“They were probably predicted to finish towards the bottom of the region. We never were ranked until the end of the year. We wound up being the seventh-ranked team in the state. We’ve had some players that have earned some prestigious awards. Very special group.”
Both coaches were quick to give plenty of credit to the assistants that helped them throughout the season.
“I look at some of these prestigious awards ... I’m a very humble person and a very caring person and without my assistant coaches, [I wouldn’t win them]. If anyone should have been region coach of the year or area coach of the year, it should have been my assistant coaches. I say that with a passion and emotion. They have been with me a long time,” Tolleson said. “I’d be remiss not to mention that group.”
Rogers added, “None of this would have been possible without the coaching staff I was able to put together. Just a group of guys that work hard and spent a lot of time away from their families and have been a real support to me. For us to be able to get back to the postseason with that group of men and that group of kids, it was special.”
Tolleson noted that when his team started Region 6-A play, it turned things up a notch and it all came together as his team traveled to rival Bowdon.
“I think just starting out in the region, having that two-point loss [at Darlington] ... I think it set the tempo of how physical we were going to have to be, how tough we were going to have to be. It gave us that boost. It was a two-point loss to the defending region champion. That just set the tempo. We then get two or three wins behind us and then going down to Bowdon. In that environment, in their place. Somebody had to win that and somebody had to lose that ball game, but the fans that were there, they saw a tremendous football game,” Tolleson said.
Rogers finally started to see the turnaround he has been looking for in his tenure at Temple, and now he hopes it can continue for seasons to come.
“It will be a big loss losing some of those kids. But as I’ve talked about before, there’s a difference between having a good year and having a program. The next guy in has to pick up the slack. That will be our rallying cry. We’ve got a lot of work to do to get back,” Rogers said.
“Just the leadership and the work ethic. I think sometimes before we had to pull it out of kids and now they were policing each other and that’s what you want. You want them to push each other. With that group, they were not going to allow each other to not do what they were supposed to. They brought out the best in each other. Ultimately, that’s what you want. It was just a great group that worked and I think it’s rubbed off on our young kids.”
Temple had the dubious task of taking on four-time defending Class AA state champion Buford in the first round. While other opponents would have been more desirable, Rogers couldn’t have asked for a better experience to help his team grow.
“It didn’t matter who we drew. We were going to go play. I still feel like our kids played hard. Physically, it was tough. But I felt like it was a step for our program, I think it’s going to make us better. I think seeing that, ‘Hey, we can block guys like Buford and we can tackle guys like Buford. We can score on those guys.’ We don’t play them again and those younger guys that played for us this year see that they can play with those guys,” Rogers said.
And it all culminated in a moment taken with a senior as his Tigers were preparing for the playoff game.
“Probably the best experience I had was we’re taping the kids and getting them ready and I walked out. One of my seniors was sitting on the bench there probably 30 or 40 minutes before we went to warm up. Zach Franks has been there with us for a long time and I sat there with him. He said, ‘Coach, how awesome is this?’ That’s what it’s about. I’m honored to be able to coach those kids and be at Temple High School,” Rogers said.
Tolleson reaffirmed an adage he has seen come true for a long time as a head coach.
“No matter what you think or what you believe, if they really put their heart and soul in it and they have a chance and opportunity, it can be done. That’s the reason we have that philosophy. We don’t give up in any game. We prepare to the best of our ability and go out each day and try and do our best. That’s what I’ve seen in my 35 years of coaching is hard work will beat talent. That’s what we’ve lived off of,” Tolleson said. “Heart and chemistry are more important.”
“I really believe — and this is hard to say and mean it — but those losses probably helped us. We felt like we had a shot in all of them. In Game 3, we made some turnovers that hurt us. I think it made our seniors mature. I think they looked at that tradition board and said, ‘We don’t want to be thought of that way.’ They took a big leadership role. They bought into everything that we did,” said Tolleson, who won his 100th career game at Bremen this season, marking the fastest coach to 100 wins in school history.
For Rogers, he had a group that finally bought into what it meant to be a football team and refused to have another losing season.
“That’s a special group. They made up their mind that they were going to do this differently and really changed the culture of our football team. It really started last year with that senior class we had. The credit goes to all those kids and even the kids that came before them that had to endure some tough years. We’ve always had kids that played hard, but I think ultimately the difference was that we had a group of kids that made up their mind that this was how it was going to be,” Rogers said.
That led to Temple winning some close games and some games it maybe shouldn’t have because it believed and worked together. And getting to see the group grow and culminate with a playoff berth and a school-record wins was a career highlight for Rogers.
“In terms of my career, not only as an assistant but as a head coach, it was probably one of the most enjoyable years, most memorable years. We had a great time — from the coaching staff all the way down to the kids. That’s why you get in it for, the time you spend with the kids and those men in the room with you,” Rogers said. “For us to be able to do what we did was great and it was a great time. We just had a great year.”
As for Tolleson, there was a true sense of accomplishment as he watched his team turn a season around that it could have let get out of control. The only letdown was that the Bremen coach felt his team had a good chance to win its quarterfinal game at Prince Avenue Christian, but that wouldn’t take away from what the 2011 Blue Devils accomplished.
“It was a lot of fun and [there was] a lot of satisfaction on the inside for a coach to have that feeling of coming from where they came from and then going as far as they did. That’s the sad thing — I think we had the better team in Game 13 and just didn’t win. Tremendous year,” Tolleson said. “That group will be remembered for a long time. They can come back and be very proud of what they accomplished and where they came from because they had to earn every inch.
“They were probably predicted to finish towards the bottom of the region. We never were ranked until the end of the year. We wound up being the seventh-ranked team in the state. We’ve had some players that have earned some prestigious awards. Very special group.”
Both coaches were quick to give plenty of credit to the assistants that helped them throughout the season.
“I look at some of these prestigious awards ... I’m a very humble person and a very caring person and without my assistant coaches, [I wouldn’t win them]. If anyone should have been region coach of the year or area coach of the year, it should have been my assistant coaches. I say that with a passion and emotion. They have been with me a long time,” Tolleson said. “I’d be remiss not to mention that group.”
Rogers added, “None of this would have been possible without the coaching staff I was able to put together. Just a group of guys that work hard and spent a lot of time away from their families and have been a real support to me. For us to be able to get back to the postseason with that group of men and that group of kids, it was special.”
Tolleson noted that when his team started Region 6-A play, it turned things up a notch and it all came together as his team traveled to rival Bowdon.
“I think just starting out in the region, having that two-point loss [at Darlington] ... I think it set the tempo of how physical we were going to have to be, how tough we were going to have to be. It gave us that boost. It was a two-point loss to the defending region champion. That just set the tempo. We then get two or three wins behind us and then going down to Bowdon. In that environment, in their place. Somebody had to win that and somebody had to lose that ball game, but the fans that were there, they saw a tremendous football game,” Tolleson said.
Rogers finally started to see the turnaround he has been looking for in his tenure at Temple, and now he hopes it can continue for seasons to come.
“It will be a big loss losing some of those kids. But as I’ve talked about before, there’s a difference between having a good year and having a program. The next guy in has to pick up the slack. That will be our rallying cry. We’ve got a lot of work to do to get back,” Rogers said.
“Just the leadership and the work ethic. I think sometimes before we had to pull it out of kids and now they were policing each other and that’s what you want. You want them to push each other. With that group, they were not going to allow each other to not do what they were supposed to. They brought out the best in each other. Ultimately, that’s what you want. It was just a great group that worked and I think it’s rubbed off on our young kids.”
Temple had the dubious task of taking on four-time defending Class AA state champion Buford in the first round. While other opponents would have been more desirable, Rogers couldn’t have asked for a better experience to help his team grow.
“It didn’t matter who we drew. We were going to go play. I still feel like our kids played hard. Physically, it was tough. But I felt like it was a step for our program, I think it’s going to make us better. I think seeing that, ‘Hey, we can block guys like Buford and we can tackle guys like Buford. We can score on those guys.’ We don’t play them again and those younger guys that played for us this year see that they can play with those guys,” Rogers said.
And it all culminated in a moment taken with a senior as his Tigers were preparing for the playoff game.
“Probably the best experience I had was we’re taping the kids and getting them ready and I walked out. One of my seniors was sitting on the bench there probably 30 or 40 minutes before we went to warm up. Zach Franks has been there with us for a long time and I sat there with him. He said, ‘Coach, how awesome is this?’ That’s what it’s about. I’m honored to be able to coach those kids and be at Temple High School,” Rogers said.
Tolleson reaffirmed an adage he has seen come true for a long time as a head coach.
“No matter what you think or what you believe, if they really put their heart and soul in it and they have a chance and opportunity, it can be done. That’s the reason we have that philosophy. We don’t give up in any game. We prepare to the best of our ability and go out each day and try and do our best. That’s what I’ve seen in my 35 years of coaching is hard work will beat talent. That’s what we’ve lived off of,” Tolleson said. “Heart and chemistry are more important.”
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