Our guest for this week’s Georgia “4 Questions with the Coach” feature is Lee County head football coach Dean Fabrizio, who led the Trojans to back-to-back state titles in 2017 and 2018, and is getting ready to kick off his 15th season as the program’s head man. Fabrizio is credited with bringing the Lee County football program back from the brink when he took over in 2008, and turning it into one of the state’s top football programs in any classification. Lee County has one of the nation’s top-rated weight room facilities, in addition to their stellar on-field program.
We caught up with Coach Fabrizio to ask him about three of the four losses Lee County suffered last year, which were maybe as tough as he had experienced in any season since arriving in Leesburg. We also talk about his success, spring practice, which is right around the corner, and of course, having one of the state’s top running backs as part of his offensive backfield.
Q. Coach Fabrizio, thanks so much for talking with us, as always. Looking back at last year’s season at Lee County, you had another really good year, as the 8-4 record shows. It’s awfully hard to win right games in Georgia’s Class 6A, especially in Region 1-6A. But three of the four losses were games that, looking back, could have gone your way, and could have made for a completely different season. Can you reflect on the losses to Colquitt County, Northside Warner Robins, and Thomas County Central, all games in which your team led?
A. Well, we had an awfully young team last year and a couple of games when the ball just didn’t bounce our way. When you play a schedule as tough as ours, with the great players and coaching we go against, you have to be at your very best week in and week out to do well. My hat’s off to our opponents last year.
Q. OK, enough looking back. Let’s look ahead to the upcoming spring football practice. With very limited time to really do much of anything, how do you approach the 10 days of practice, and what do you hope to accomplish with your team?
A. Spring practice is great for identifying personnel. Our players have been working hard in the weight room all off-season. When you are dealing with 14, 15,16, 17, 18-year-old kids, the difference in a year can be drastic. They come back bigger, stronger and more confident. We use spring to teach the basics, work on fundamentals, and identify our personnel.
Q. I want to ask you about running back Ousmane Kromah. We’ve been watching this young man develop ever since you told us about him as a middle school standout. He was our ITG Next Offensive Player of the Year once again this past season, and he is such a durable and productive running back who seems to have great vision, a trait of the really great backs. Would you say that’s one of his many talents that makes him such a great player?
A. Ousmane was just rated the top RB recruit in the country for the 2025 class. For a big kid, he can stop on a dime. He has excellent vision and is just so strong and hard to bring down. The best thing is that as great of an athlete as he is, he is an even better person. Great student, very humble teammate. His brother Mistafa played in our 2017 and 2018 championship teams, so he has been coming around since elementary school.
Q. You endured a quarterback change during the season last year, but I think it’s safe to assume that, at least for now, the job is Weston Bryan’s. He assumed the position last season and did an amazing job. Coach Fabrizio, tell us about him, as well as the entire Lee County team and the outlook for 2023.
A. Weston took over for us at quarterback midway through his sophomore season and performed admirably for us. He’s had a great off-season. He was a 215-pound region and sectional wrestling champion and finish second in state. He’s now a starter on the baseball team. We’re expecting big things out of him and Ousmane, both rising juniors, this season. We have several other starters returning on offense, including fullback Damani Cantrell and OL Kyle Green, Angel Fausto, and Erich Fisher. Sophomore OL Jace Molden and Dylan Richardson also saw significant playing time.
We have a lot of experience back on offense, and defensively we return a host of starters and others who saw significant playing time. Up front, Jayden Cory, Nemo McCloid, Leroy Jackson and Dylan Long all started games for us last season. Our top four linebackers return in Jase Angry, Alex Munro, Temeriz Williams, and Justyn Tanksley. The secondary will also be deep and experienced with returning starters Cory McDowell, Devin Collier, Tion Garmon, Jacori White, and Lesiah Jackson.
