You are about two months into your first season now. Is there anything that you still want to do before the season kicks off to change or to evolve what it means to be a part of this Nash Central football program?

I just want the guys to take more of a leadership role. Leadership is about showing people how to do things, rather than telling them how to do things. Hollering and yelling is not going to motivate a young man to do his best. You pick him up, you put your arms around him, and you say, 'I'm going to show you how to run this drill, I'm going to teach you how to do this.' And when that young man is a senior, he will pass that down. That is the start of tradition.

You worked for years in an office building, invested in the business world, but said you dived into the world of high school teaching and coaching because life in the business world was not fulfilling. That is not the traditional road to becoming a high school football coach.

I talk with my wife all the time, and I tell her that this is funny, how everything I've done in my life has prepared me for this moment. I worked in corporate America and I learned customer service skills, how to relate with different people from all aspects of life. That helps me relate to ... and communicate with the kids, communicate with their parents. Growing up in Bunn, I learned about hard work, determination. Working at Shaw University, I learned about tempo. And I try to incorporate all of that into what we're doing here at Nash Central.

What have the last couple of months been like, working through that transition from an assistant coach to the top spot?

All summer, I worked to prepare the football team for Aug. 1. Now, we are all working to prepare them for (the regular season). For the first time, I've been thinking about staff, equipment, cutting grass, painting fields, all those things you don't normally see from the outside.

Is that what you expected when (Nash Central principal LeRoy) Hartsfield and (athletics director Michael) Mosley offered you the position?

(Laughs) All the administrative work has been the most challenging aspect of this job. But once we get on the field, that's the easiest part of the day.

Is there anything that, at this point, you still want to install on or off the field?

No, nothing really. I want to keep things simple. I don't want to make the job for everyone any harder than it already is. I do want to put in a couple of wrinkles, spend a little more time with (starting quarterback) Justin (Rollins), working with him on his reads and getting him a little more comfortable with me as his coach. That is my main focus now, just tuning up things.