Our ITG Next Georgia “4 Questions With the Coach” guest is veteran Georgia high school football coach Franklin Stephens, who was recently named the new head coach at Burke County after longtime head coach Eric Parker retired. This marks the return of Coach Stephens to his alma mater, where he played and graduated from in 1991 before going on to play football at nearby Georgia Southern University.
Stephens has enjoyed success throughout his career, leading two different teams to a total of three state championship games and winning two of those three title matchups. He led the Tucker Tigers to two state championships, capturing the GHSA Class 4A title in 2008 and 2011. Stephens also led the Lamar County Trojans to the Class 2A state title game in 2013; Lamar lost to Lovett in that contest and finished as the state runner-up. Stephens also coached at Ware County, and his most recent coaching stop was at McEachern, where he spent the past four seasons.
Now Stephens has returned home to coach at the program he once played for. Let’s find out what he has in store for the Bears this season, and how things have been so far since he arrived as the new Burke County football coach.
Q. Coach Stephens, it’s great to catch up with you once again! Congratulations on being named as the new head football coach at Burke County. How does it feel returning to the place where you had such a great high school football career?
A. It has been a great experience at this point in my career. When I was younger, I never considered returning home as the head football coach. I left Burke County over 20 years ago and during that period a lot has changed here, but some things are still the same. Football is still important, it’s a community sport and the people want to win. So on Friday nights you will have great support, and around town people are constantly inquiring about “What’s going on with the Bears?”
Q. I’ll get back to the Burke County football job in a second, but I want to ask you about your career. You’ve had success at the other schools you have coached at, which have all been in different markets, from small-market Lamar County to Metro Atlanta’s Tucker to Class 7A McEachern. Does it take a different approach with each team, or is it the same, no matter what the size of the school is?
A. As a coach you have a foundation of beliefs and systems in which you believe in and hang your hat on. You may alter or tailor these beliefs and systems based on the situation. I have been fortunate that at all those places football was important to the community of people, and we had great administration. As always, when looking back at those places you would love to have been able to do some things differently. I do believe a lot of your decisions will be made off of the climate of the situation, as well as what you are willing to accept.
Q. Burke County has probably had more football success than people realize, with almost two decades of consecutive playoff appearances, plus a state championship in 2011. Is this one of the things that attracted you to the job?
A. Actually the success through the years Burke County has accomplished had nothing to do with my decision making. One of the first things I took into consideration was the opportunity to get back closer to my mom. The next thing was probably as a former Bear, I was getting an opportunity to lead the program which I played in as a teenager. Back when I was in high school it was something special to be a Bear. I was getting an opportunity to be part of a community where football is important, the interlock BC means something to people, and high school football is still somewhat pure.
Q. Catch us up on how things have been so far. How was spring practice, and what can you tell us about your 2023 Burke County football team as far as your expectations with this group based on what you’ve seen so far?
A. Well, fortunately, I got an opportunity to come in during February, which has allowed me the opportunity to watch and get to know kids. It’s given me a chance to observe coaches and work into the middle school. I have had a chance to do a lot of catching up with people I have known a long time but haven’t been in contact with for over a period of time.
After finishing with spring practice, we have a chance to be very competitive barring injuries at the wrong time. We will be somewhat thin on personnel, with a lot of guys playing both sides of the ball. Nevertheless, Coach Parker and the former staff did a great job of developing toughness and discipline throughout the years, as well as creating a winning culture. Therefore, this year we would like to build on that culture just a little bit and add our own legacy. These seniors have never won the region in football, so it starts there.
