Part 1 - The Words That Stuck: Advice That Shaped Local Coaches
Editor’s Note: Football coaches spend countless hours teaching their players about more than X’s and O’s. But what advice helped shape the coaches themselves?
At the 6th Annual Optim Orthopedics/Prep Sports Report Football Media Day, Prep Sports Report asked area coaches and players one simple question: What is the best mental advice a coach ever gave you?
The answers went beyond football. Some were short. Some were blunt. Some came from coaches they played for years ago. But they all had one thing in common — the words stuck.
In Part I, Nathan Dominitz shares what the coaches had to say. Part II will turn the question over to the players.
Part 1 - The Words That Stuck: Advice That Shaped Local Coaches
Among coaches’ many responsibilities as leaders of their teams is to motivate their players.
Some may respond to a more refined approach, while other players react better to a direct, blunt blow to their psyche.
Take Benedictine coach Danny Britt, who recalled the latter delivered to him as a walk-on football player at Georgia Southern. A defensive back and undersized linebacker, Britt was a freshman on the Eagles’ national championship team in 1990.
Britt recalled recently the advice he received from his defensive coordinator Tommy Spangler one day in the training room after that season.
“He said, ‘Britt, you’re not worth a (expletive deleted). However, if you continue to work like you’re working and do what I tell you to do, you’ll be a pretty good player around here.’
“What he was saying was, ‘You’re not very athletic. You’re not big. You don’t have those natural things. You’re a walk-on. However, if you keep doing what you’re doing, you’ll play here.’ That said everything. OK, I can’t change my height. I can’t change my exact physique and all that stuff. But what I can do is work my behind off and do everything they tell me to do, and it worked out.”
Britt went on to letter all four years, earning a full scholarship after two years and serving as the defensive captain as a senior.
He became a very successful coach with tenures at Calvary Day and now in his 16th season at Benedictine, where he has won four state crowns and guided the Cadets to a runner-up finish in 2025.
Britt and other Savannah-area coaches attended the 6th annual Optim Orthopedics/Prep Sports Report Football Media Day last Saturday at the National Museum of the Mighty Eight Air Force in Pooler.
They were asked by the Prep Sports Report to recall the best mental advice they have received from a coach. Here’s a sample of their answers in Part I. We will hear from the players in an upcoming Part II.
Calvary Day Cavaliers coach Jason Cameron
From left, Jalen Hicks (WR/ATH), coach Jason Cameron, Gabriel Ausfeld (DE/LB) and James Mobley (QB) represent Calvary Day at the 6th Annual Optim Orthopedics/Prep Sports Report Football Media Day.
Cameron: I instill it in our guys every single day that athletes have to have a very short memory. You can’t allow things to get in your head. If you make a mistake – I try to allow our guys to play through mistakes. Mistakes are going to happen. Jalen Hicks doesn’t mean to fumble the football, and James Mobley doesn’t mean to throw an interception. That play is over; it’s on to the next one that fast. We’ll make corrections and things like that. I tell it to my 10-year-old son, “Hey, the play is over and you can’t get it back.” It’s got to be on to the next play just as quickly as that other play just happened.
Liberty County Panthers coach Tony Glazer
From left, Carson Carter (OL), coach Tony Glazer, Nakima Zelkut (DB) and Aaron Brown (WR/RB/ATH) represent Liberty County at the Optim Orthopedics/Prep Sports Report Football Media Day.
Glazer: It’s going to sound very simple, but just the next play. The next play because you go out there. OK, we got a fumble on offense, a fumble on defense, you’ve got to come out and play. You can’t sit there and sulk. In practice, we do a lot of situational football. The ball is on the 10. Offense, you’ve got three plays. Defense, you’re up. We fumble. Defense, you’re up. We’ve got to make a play.
Football is truly a game that’s about the next play. For me as a coach, the mentality is you play for the next play. You can’t change what happened before. You’ve got to keep going forward.
St. Andrew’s School Lions coach Wes Worthington
From left, Thomas Kirk (OL), Jack Kelly (OL), Pat Jackson (QB/S/LB) and coach Wes Worthington represent St. Andrew’s at the Optim Orthopedics/Prep Sports Report Football Media Day.
Worthington: I study guys in this field. I think the best I got was from Nick Saban. I didn’t play for him. What he preached to his players is play the next play. When the last play was the best play you’ve done – an 80-yard touchdown – or whether you did horrible, play the next play. That’s very hard for people to do because you typically dwell on the past, whether it’s good or bad, and we’ve got to reset. Play that next play.
Bryan County Redskins assistant head coach, offensive coordinator, running backs and defensive backs coach Chad Roberts
BRYAN COUNTY: From left, Corey Collier (C/ILB), Jonah Brose (TE/ILB), Jerome Lee (RB/OLB) and coach Chad Roberts represent Bryan County at the Optim Orthopedics/Prep Sports Report Football Media Day.
Roberts: Something that I use for my players that my coaches use was that downtime between the pregame meal and when the kids get up and start getting dressed and getting taped; during that time, play the game in your mind. It’s third down-and-eight; what are you going to do? What’s going to happen? That’s kind of a baseball thing, too. There are runners at first-and-third, two outs, ball hit to you, what are you going to do with it? That’s something I tell them. Play the game in your head before we get out there. That’s something that helped me, and I think helps guys, helps them relax, calm down, gives their minds something to focus on during that little downtime where a lot of times you could be nervous or anxious.”
Bradwell Institute Tigers assistant head coach and offensive coordinator Alex Modicue
BRADWELL INSTITUTE: From left, Markelle Fields (LB), coach Alex Modicue, Mark Griffin (DB) and Tyson Spears (WR) represent Bradwell Institute at the Optim Orthopedics/Prep Sports Report Football Media Day.
Modicue: Falling down isn’t falling down unless you cry when you fall. I tell the kids that all the time. If you make a mistake, get back up. Flush it and get back to the next play. You can make a bad play and get back on second down. If you pout on it, if you sit on it, you can’t be any good afterward.
Savannah Country Day coach Joey Blackmore
From left, coach Joey Blackmore, Wells Headley (TE/DE), Devin Cherwick (QB/S) and Thomas Holland (RB/OLB) represent Savannah Country Day at the Optim Orthopedics/Prep Sports Report Football Media Day
Blackmore: It is going to be the most cliché thing of all time; however, there’s so much merit and value to it. As a defensive back, my position coach was Chris Klieman, who ended up being the head football coach at North Dakota State (four NCAA Division I FCS championships) and head football coach at Kansas State and won a Big 12 title game (in 2022). It was always a 1-0 mentality. You are going to win plays. You’re going to lose plays. Period. You have to be able to ‘next play, next play, next play.’ So mentally, I try to instill that with them. No. 1, instill belief that they can do whatever the task is. They’re going to win, and they’re going to lose. They’ve got to be able to let it go.
South Effingham Mustangs coach Loren Purvis
From left, Maddox Vasquez (S,RB), Danny Murtha (FS,QB), Khyran White (RB/LB) and coach Loren Purvis represent South Effingham at the Optim Orthopedics/Prep Sports Report Football Media Day.
Purvis: I tell these kids this all day long, multiple times. The guy that told me this is (the late) Richard Bell. He was one of my coaching mentors. He was the defensive coordinator when I worked my first three years coaching. He used to always say this: “Never let something without a heartbeat whip ya.” You can lose to another man; that happens. But don’t let the situation beat you. Don’t let the weather beat you. Don’t come out there when it’s hot and feel defeated just because you’re tired and it’s hot. That ain’t got a heartbeat. I tell these kids (that) we could lose to another team, and I’ll take that. We didn’t do something right; we didn’t prepare right, but never come out here already defeated by something that didn’t have a heartbeat.
Richmond Hill Wildcats coach Matt LeZotte
RICHMOND HILL: From left, Eli Grant (WR/DB), coach Matt LeZotte, Gunner Mobley (QB) and Trey Brown (DL) represent Richmond Hill at the Optim Orthopedics/Prep Sports Report Football Media Day.
LeZotte: You hear a primary theme about life: it moves on. If we’re not growing these guys and trying to develop the soft skills that are going to make them successful in life. Successes, failures, wins, and losses, it doesn’t matter. We’re going to keep moving forward and keep pushing. The sun will rise tomorrow. What are you going to do with that opportunity?
Bethesda Academy Blazers coach Antwain Turner
From left, Ian Flats (DT/OT), Jordan Turner (QB), coach Antwain Turner and Taylor Young (MLB/TE) represent Bethesda Academy at the Optim Orthopedics/Prep Sports Report Football Media Day.
Turner: Coach Steven Wilks has been very instrumental in my development as a player and also as a coach, watching him at all of the schools where he’s coached, and with the (NFL’s) Carolina Panthers and Arizona Cardinals. He said something to our team that I normally use with our team that stuck with me. When it’s all said and done, what are you going to be known for? That’s something that really stuck with me. That means, how are you leaving your legacy in this game? What are you doing? How are you approaching it? What type of impact are you making on people as you leave? For me, what type of impact am I making as a coach to the lives of these kids, to the life of the program? Am I influencing anyone? Even as it pertains to being a man, what type of impact are you making when it’s all said and done? When you walk away, what are people thinking about you? What type of person are you? It stuck with me. When it’s all said and done, when the smoke clears, when the scoreboard says 0-0, what will you be known for when you walk away from this game?
Benedictine Cadets coach Danny Britt
BENEDICTINE: From left, Omari Burse (QB), Eron Mallard (WR), Stanley Smart (RB), Gavin Smith (DT) and coach Danny Britt represent Benedictine at the Optim Orthopedics/Prep Sports Report Football Media Day.
Britt: When my (football player) career ended, and we finished the season. Unfortunately at Georgia Southern, we didn’t make the playoffs that year, which is unheard of. I was walking off the field, teared up, and going to hug (defensive coordinator Tommy Spangler). He said, “Stop. I don’t want to see any tears. I’m not going to hug you right now because I want you to be proud of everything that you’ve done. Since the day you stepped on this campus, you’ve given everything you possibly could give to this program to make it the best it could be. Be proud and move on. If you’ve done everything that you could do, that’s all you can do, and don’t let it linger.”
Other Teams at Optim Orthopedics/Prep Sports Report Football Media Day
Effingham County High School
From left, Jordan Dillon (OL), Jmere “Doe” Davis (RB/S/CB/Slot), Josh “Yellowstone” Edwards (OL), Jernard Albright (OLB) and coach John Ford represent Effingham County at the Optim Orthopedics/Prep Sports Report Football Media Day
Savannah Christian Preparatory School
From left, William Bucey (WR), R.J. Daniels (DE), Ivan Richardson (LB) and coach Baker Woodward represent Savannah Christian at the Optim Orthopedics/Prep Sports Report Football Media Day.
Photos courtesy Optim Orthopedics and The Prep Sports Report
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Prep Sports Report Football Coverage Presented by Optim Orthopedics
Optim Orthopedics wants you in the game.
Keeping Savannah-area athletes healthy and ready for gameday all season long.
Team physicians include Dr. Don Aaron (Bryan County), Dr. David Sedory (Benedictine, Bradwell Institute, Liberty County), Dr. David Palmer (Calvary Day, Richmond Hill, South Effingham), and Dr. Thomas Alexander (Savannah Country Day, St. Vincent’s Academy).
