Goalline Ministries hosts annual Breakfast with the Coaches
THOMASVILLE – Goalline Ministries hosted its annual Breakfast with the Coaches event on Tuesday morning at First Baptist Church.
The annual event featured a catered breakfast and a panel with the four local head football coaches. Thomas County Central Head coach Justin Rogers, Brookwood head coach Daryl Jones, Thomasville head coach Jonathan DeLay, and Thomas University head coach Vincent Davis.
Taking a question from the audience, they asked the coaches, “How do they keep their players motivated during the season?”
The annual event featured a catered breakfast and a panel with the four local head football coaches. Thomas County Central Head coach Justin Rogers, Brookwood head coach Daryl Jones, Thomasville head coach Jonathan DeLay, and Thomas University head coach Vincent Davis.
Taking a question from the audience, they asked the coaches, “How do they keep their players motivated during the season?”
The first response was from DeLay, “You want to try and keep them off balance a little bit. Once you get into a groove, there are certain things that you want to do all the time. But especially in the offseason, you want to have something set up for them. One day, we’re lifting in the weight room, and the next they come in and there’s a flag football tournament set up for them or something they are not expecting to create that team building aspect.”
“They need something to fall back on, for us that is our four pillars, which are academic, athletic, character, and spiritual development of our athletes,” Jones said. “When we do that, we put our priorities first. It keeps kids engaged against the grind of the season.”
“Coaching is like parenting,” Rogers responded. “You gotta find opportunities to have fun and joke and cut up, but at the end of the day, you still have to have household standards. There’s a sense of responsibility and things they need to know about. In a football program, you have standards and ways that you do things, and when it comes down to certain things, well it doesn’t matter if you like it or not, it is what it is and we have to do it the way we got to do it and its good for young people to learn that.”
“They need something to fall back on, for us that is our four pillars, which are academic, athletic, character, and spiritual development of our athletes,” Jones said. “When we do that, we put our priorities first. It keeps kids engaged against the grind of the season.”
“Coaching is like parenting,” Rogers responded. “You gotta find opportunities to have fun and joke and cut up, but at the end of the day, you still have to have household standards. There’s a sense of responsibility and things they need to know about. In a football program, you have standards and ways that you do things, and when it comes down to certain things, well it doesn’t matter if you like it or not, it is what it is and we have to do it the way we got to do it and its good for young people to learn that.”
“I’m keeping my guys ready by going through processes, letting them know that this is your team now,” Davis told the crowd. “We can coach, but we can’t play anymore. If you want to continue your life with football, you have to buy into the process. You can believe in God and he’ll handle it from there.”
The next question came from the host of the panel, Kevin Reid, asking the coaches what they are most excited about this season.
Rogers went first, saying, “We got a lot of experience, so I am excited about that. We’re going to have a really good football team, there’s no doubt about that. This senior class has been with me since they were in eighth grade. So this is our first group that we’ve seen come all the way through the program. That’s what is exciting as a coach. To start with, those classes that come in with you and see them mature through it all. We love our senior class and what they’ve done for us. They have the opportunity to be the winningest class in school history, which is a pretty big deal to be able to approach that in four years.
The next question came from the host of the panel, Kevin Reid, asking the coaches what they are most excited about this season.
Rogers went first, saying, “We got a lot of experience, so I am excited about that. We’re going to have a really good football team, there’s no doubt about that. This senior class has been with me since they were in eighth grade. So this is our first group that we’ve seen come all the way through the program. That’s what is exciting as a coach. To start with, those classes that come in with you and see them mature through it all. We love our senior class and what they’ve done for us. They have the opportunity to be the winningest class in school history, which is a pretty big deal to be able to approach that in four years.
“I tell the kids, it’s your program,” Davis said. “You’ve got to buy into what you are doing, trust the process. We’ve got a group of guys that are great, and we’re going to come out and try to win every game. One at a time.”
DeLay felt along the same line as Rogers.
“This group is special to me; a lot of them have been playing since freshman year,” he said. “They’ve been playing for four years. When I got to Thomasville, they were fourth graders, so to watch them grow up has been fun. This is also the first time in my career that we’ve retained the same staff. Nobody came in, nobody came out. We have a phenomenal staff that works so well together, and it definitely shows when you get out there with the kids.”
Much like Davis, Jones is excited to see how the year unfolds.
“I am excited to see this experiment unfold and see what God brings,” he told the crowd. “In all my years of coaching, this is the first time we are going to be committed to the holistic development of our players. Our responsibility as coaches is to develop our athletes spiritually and from a character standpoint, so when they look back 30 years from now, they are going to say I learned so much in their program, I learned about how to take on adversity and to rely on God when things got tough. I’m not underscoring the importance of winning, but I do believe that what is most important to us is what happens to these young men that we teach and coach after they complete their career as a high school football player.”
When asked what people could expect from their first game, Rogers said, “We’re playing Monroe, so we should come out and play well; that’s our goal. We hope to be able to play a bunch of kids and get a lot of them involved in this first game. I hope you see a lot of work that’s been put in and that it shows.”
“This week we have Brooks, and as you know, that is not an easy way to start the season,” DeLay said. “They played for a state championship last year; you love opening up with that game when you get them at home. It’s a really good football team and a great test for us. We are really trying to approach this game with a state championship mentality because that’s our goal for the season. We’ve got to be on our P’s and Q’s and start fast and go make plays.”
Brookwood will see Westfield in their first week.
“Chad Campbell from Peach County is the new head ball coach there, and he runs it like a South Georgia football program,” Jones said. “You can tell the kids are disciplined, play hard, and finish out plays. It’s really hard in our region; we’ve pretty much got the SEC of GIAA ball. We have Deerfield-Windsor and Valwood, who played for the state championship last year.”
“Our first game is against Bluefield University in West Virginia,” Davis said. “It is interesting because I coached with the head coach there and the offensive coordinator. So I know how they think. So, I am hoping to come out with a victory.”
The final question asked to the coaches was which game on their schedule is the most difficult.
“The one you better play well in is the most emotional one,” Rogers said. “Our region is tough. If you look at who is ranked, you see us (Thomas County Central), Lee, Houston County, and Coffee. You have three of the top 10 and two of the top five just in our region. So when we hit region play in week six against Lee at home, those games are big time. Five of the head coaches in our region have won state championships, so everybody is going to be well-coached. They know what it takes to go to the big game and win it. The good news is that when you hit the playoffs, you are not going to see anyone who is going to scare you more than what you have already seen in the region.”
“To be honest with you, all 11 games,” Davis said. “Some of the teams have new coaching staff, some teams have coaches that I have already coached against. I look at seven games that I believe we can win. But when we face Campbellsville in week four and towards the end of the season, it will be tough. We play Keiser, who has been to the national championship the last three years, we have Southeastern and St. Thomas, who have been successful as well, at Campbellsville, their head coach was my quarterback when I coached there, so that will be a fun one.”
“Our team is focused on Brooks County right now,” DeLay answered. “If you were to ask me next week, I would tell you it would be our opponent that week. But that’s where all our focus needs to be. There are really good games on our schedule, and we all know that going in. But I want our kids to go one at a time. It’s about being 1-0 at the end of each week. I know that is coach speak, but I truly believe when you are dealing with 14-18-year-olds, you cannot let them get ahead of themselves. Stay in the moment every single week, and we have 10 opponents on our schedule. But right now, today is Tuesday, and we have Brooks County on Friday, and that is where our heads are at.”
Jones responded similarly to DeLay, “Every game is the most important one. We are just trying to get through to our next game. If we can just do enough to get to the next game and make our way into the playoffs, we feel like we can compete with most teams.”
Central, Thomasville, and Brookwood all kick off their seasons this Friday at home. Thomas opens their season on the road at Bluefield on August 30th.
DeLay felt along the same line as Rogers.
“This group is special to me; a lot of them have been playing since freshman year,” he said. “They’ve been playing for four years. When I got to Thomasville, they were fourth graders, so to watch them grow up has been fun. This is also the first time in my career that we’ve retained the same staff. Nobody came in, nobody came out. We have a phenomenal staff that works so well together, and it definitely shows when you get out there with the kids.”
Much like Davis, Jones is excited to see how the year unfolds.
“I am excited to see this experiment unfold and see what God brings,” he told the crowd. “In all my years of coaching, this is the first time we are going to be committed to the holistic development of our players. Our responsibility as coaches is to develop our athletes spiritually and from a character standpoint, so when they look back 30 years from now, they are going to say I learned so much in their program, I learned about how to take on adversity and to rely on God when things got tough. I’m not underscoring the importance of winning, but I do believe that what is most important to us is what happens to these young men that we teach and coach after they complete their career as a high school football player.”
When asked what people could expect from their first game, Rogers said, “We’re playing Monroe, so we should come out and play well; that’s our goal. We hope to be able to play a bunch of kids and get a lot of them involved in this first game. I hope you see a lot of work that’s been put in and that it shows.”
“This week we have Brooks, and as you know, that is not an easy way to start the season,” DeLay said. “They played for a state championship last year; you love opening up with that game when you get them at home. It’s a really good football team and a great test for us. We are really trying to approach this game with a state championship mentality because that’s our goal for the season. We’ve got to be on our P’s and Q’s and start fast and go make plays.”
Brookwood will see Westfield in their first week.
“Chad Campbell from Peach County is the new head ball coach there, and he runs it like a South Georgia football program,” Jones said. “You can tell the kids are disciplined, play hard, and finish out plays. It’s really hard in our region; we’ve pretty much got the SEC of GIAA ball. We have Deerfield-Windsor and Valwood, who played for the state championship last year.”
“Our first game is against Bluefield University in West Virginia,” Davis said. “It is interesting because I coached with the head coach there and the offensive coordinator. So I know how they think. So, I am hoping to come out with a victory.”
The final question asked to the coaches was which game on their schedule is the most difficult.
“The one you better play well in is the most emotional one,” Rogers said. “Our region is tough. If you look at who is ranked, you see us (Thomas County Central), Lee, Houston County, and Coffee. You have three of the top 10 and two of the top five just in our region. So when we hit region play in week six against Lee at home, those games are big time. Five of the head coaches in our region have won state championships, so everybody is going to be well-coached. They know what it takes to go to the big game and win it. The good news is that when you hit the playoffs, you are not going to see anyone who is going to scare you more than what you have already seen in the region.”
“To be honest with you, all 11 games,” Davis said. “Some of the teams have new coaching staff, some teams have coaches that I have already coached against. I look at seven games that I believe we can win. But when we face Campbellsville in week four and towards the end of the season, it will be tough. We play Keiser, who has been to the national championship the last three years, we have Southeastern and St. Thomas, who have been successful as well, at Campbellsville, their head coach was my quarterback when I coached there, so that will be a fun one.”
“Our team is focused on Brooks County right now,” DeLay answered. “If you were to ask me next week, I would tell you it would be our opponent that week. But that’s where all our focus needs to be. There are really good games on our schedule, and we all know that going in. But I want our kids to go one at a time. It’s about being 1-0 at the end of each week. I know that is coach speak, but I truly believe when you are dealing with 14-18-year-olds, you cannot let them get ahead of themselves. Stay in the moment every single week, and we have 10 opponents on our schedule. But right now, today is Tuesday, and we have Brooks County on Friday, and that is where our heads are at.”
Jones responded similarly to DeLay, “Every game is the most important one. We are just trying to get through to our next game. If we can just do enough to get to the next game and make our way into the playoffs, we feel like we can compete with most teams.”
Central, Thomasville, and Brookwood all kick off their seasons this Friday at home. Thomas opens their season on the road at Bluefield on August 30th.
Read more at: https://timesenterprise.com/2025/08/12/270156/
Brookwood School
Located in Thomasville, GA, Brookwood School is a private school for grades JK-12. Students benefit from a challenging academic program, fine and performing arts, competitive athletics, and a wide selection of extracurricular activities.