This week’s ITG Next Georgia “4 Questions with the Coach” guest is Milton head football coach Ben Reaves. Coach Reaves is preparing for his second season leading the Eagles after a very successful debut in 2022. Following several seasons as an assistant on staffs throughout Georgia – including five as the Milton offensive coordinator under former head coach Adam Clack – Reaves was rewarded with the Eagles’ head job.
His first season leading the Milton program saw the Eagles finish 10-4 and come within a game of returning to the GHSA Class 7A state title game, which they had reached the previous season. While they didn’t get back to the championship, it was clear that Reaves has the Milton football program headed in the right direction.
How have things been for the team this offseason? Let’s check in with the man himself to find out.
Q. Coach Reaves, this is our first time visiting with you since you were our 4 Questions with the Coach guest before last season, soon after the announcement that you had been selected as the new Milton head football coach. I had asked you then about the transition of assistant coach to head coach, and you said that being familiar with the players and surroundings made the transition a bit easier – not that the job is easy by any stretch. Now that you have had a year to reflect on, did that prove to be true?
A. It proved to be very true. Last year was not only a magical first year for me as head coach, but a statement year for our program. We had so much success at Milton the previous five years, from most wins of any 7A program, the five-year region championship win streak, the 2021 state champion runner-up finish, and of course the 2018 state championship.
Last year everything we had built was put to the test. Insert into the program a new head coach, two new coordinators, two new schemes, five new varsity assistants, a new region, and only returning seven out of 22 starters from the previous year’s team. Despite all those obstacles, with a lot of hard work and dedication, we had the same amount of success we have always had. I can only believe that most of that is attributed to the players, the surroundings, and the transition I stepped into as we previously spoke about.
Q. Let’s talk about this spring. I’m always interested to know what specific areas coaches want to work on with their team, and what areas you want to get better at with such a limited amount of time. What were your goals for your team, and did you feel like you accomplished those things?
A. Our main goal this spring was simple and direct: We wanted to begin spring not in a “Day 1 mindset,” like we did last season, but we wanted to start where we raised the bar and set the baseline to after last year’s semifinal run. We weren’t going to take the field as a new team trying to figure out who we are, we wanted to take the field as a team returning double-digit starters in key positions and get to work on what we must do to elevate that ceiling we reached last year, even higher this season.
It was honestly one of the best spring practices I’ve been associated with. The energy was good, the competition was good, the brotherhood began to form, and at the end we topped it all off by playing a well-executed and clean spring game against a strong Cass team.
Q. Coach Reaves, a look at the 2023 Milton football schedule sees a couple of changes, although the majority of opponents from a year ago will be back this year. Last year included a couple of tough out-of-state powerhouses to start the season, and while you and your Eagles won’t be facing Lipscomb and Christian Brothers, you will still have a tough Western (Florida) team to face off against in the Broward County High School Football National Showcase in South Florida. (ITG Next will have a preview of this game, along with the other teams that are part of this event.) Talk about that game against Western, as well as the schedule as a whole.
A. Every year we want to front-load our schedule and play the best the state and nation has to offer, to find out where our weaknesses are before region play and playoffs begin, which is where it matters the most. We may never go 10-0 because of that philosophy – we will always strive to, but if we don’t, our team understands the importance of those games, win or lose, as they relate to our ultimate goal of winning another state Championship.
Last year we started 0-2, and the team and even myself was being questioned by everyone around us, but in our next team meeting I told them the difference between 0-2 and 2-0 right now is scheduling. I emphasized that I’ll take our 0-2 lessons and growth over an easy 2-0 schedule without those lessons and growth eight days a week.
This year will be no different as we will open up against a tough and athletic Collins Hill High School team, and then as you mentioned our next test will be Western High School. They’re a national program with a history of winning and a lot of high-level players. For one, we’re looking forward to the experience of the trip, the experience of being a part of one of the best-run national showcases in the country, and to all of the team bonding that will occur.
The game is a bonus and we’re looking forward to taking the field with such a high-level program to see where we are as a team and where we stack up with one of the best. When we return, there is no time for rest as we’ll face off against Roswell, Alpharetta, and North Cobb. All three are rivalries in their own way, and all three games will test every part of our team before we get into region play, where we will be challenged weekly as well.
Q. Let’s end our 4 questions by asking about your Milton football team’s personnel. Coach Reaves, every team is the same, with really good players graduating, and some good ones returning. You have some really good Class of 2025 guys returning for the next couple of years, including tight end Ryan Ghea and quarterback Luke Nickel, but you also have some younger guys making headlines like rising freshman linebacker Blaze Battaglia. Who else can we expect to see making a big impact this season?
A. The program as a whole from the 2024 class all the way through the 2027 class is filled with great football players and great high-character kids we are all very excited about. Just speaking solely about some of our returning starters, we have a lot of fire power coming back offensively with our trigger man, Luke Nickel, and the unit of weapons around him in Debron Gatling, Marc Essley, and Ryan Ghea.
Defensively we are returning Dylan Lewis in the secondary – he is a nationally sought-after name – followed by Jacorey Stewart and Jack Lawson on the perimeter. Up front on both sides collectively we’re returning Riley Rushing, Garrett Heinecke, Drew Cohen, and Terence Spencer Jr., who will all be cornerstones on their side of the football. This spring we’ve also had several new faces we are very excited about step into roles, and many of them will become national household names as well.
