ITG-SEGA / September 2016
Faith is an absolute requirement in the coaching profession. Any given Friday night coaches have built a game plan, but they have to have faith that their teams can execute that game plan. Those touchdowns aren’t lighting up on the board until that execution comes, and the end result – plagued by penalties, false starts, dropped passes, and fumbles – can only be seen by the faithful.
That same belief in the unseen allows a coach to refocus after an unusually bad season. In 2014, Camden County, the Atlanta Journal Constitution’s 2000 AAAAA Team of the Decade, finished 5-5, missing the Wildcats’ annual playoff run since what seemed like the Reagan Administration. As the former assistant head coach of the Wildcats, Derek Chastain spoke about that season at the First Annual SEGA In the Game Media Day.
“When you finish 5-5 at Camden County, people are surprised,” Chastain said. “We know we have expectations to be a good team every year. To know that we have the history to compete at the highest level, I can promise you we understand about those expectations.” Camden County helped make that promise true going 9-0 in the regular season before losing to eventual Region 1-AAAAAA and state champs Colquitt County. The Wildcats finished 10-2 overall.
“We tried to teach our kids that just because you’re at Camden doesn’t mean you are going to be good,” Chastain said. “You still have to embrace the process of what made Camden successful in the first place.”
Derek Chastain was born in the tall pines of Thomasville, but moved to Madison and went to Athens Christian School where he played football, basketball, and baseball. Once he finished high school, he got a degree from the University of Georgia. His experience as an athlete and playing under impactful coaches at Athens Christian helped solidify his life calling.
“One of my high school coaches, Richard Allen, taught me that you could make an impact on many lives as a high school coach,” Chastain said. “He asked me when I started coaching to not let wins be the focal point of my career goals.”
Chastain never shirks from expectations of excellence; he embraces them. Lessons he learned sharing a sideline with such coaching luminaries as former Camden County head coach and current Grayson head coach Jeff Herron and current Camden County head coach Welton Coffey.
The head coaching pipeline that Camden has created has been one of the strongest in the state of Georgia, and Chastain became the most recent product of that pipeline, landing the Wayne County head job.
“I interviewed on a Wednesday; my wife and I met with other officials on Monday; and (I) was hired on Tuesday, June 14,” Chastain said. “You are trying to keep it under control and not crash and burn until you can get to the bottom and slow things down a little bit. I don’t expect that will come until at least December, if that. I wouldn’t call the hiring process a debacle for Wayne County because I truly believe it happened at the time God had planned for it to happen for myself. Wayne County was right where the Lord wanted me, and I believe with all my heart that this is the Lord’s will for my life. I had kind of grown frustrated with searching for that right opportunity that every assistant wants at some point in their career. I literally had just prayed the night before, surrendering my desire to be a head coach to the Lord and trusted in Him to either keep me in Camden and raise my family or move right where he wanted me. The next day I received a call from Mr. Bo Adams, Principal at Wayne County about the job. It was confirmation that this is right where God wanted me to be as a head coach. It is not going to be easy, but He didn’t promise that it would be easy. He promised that He would be with me wherever He leads me.”
Landing a head coaching job is an accomplishment in itself, but coming into a program under the clock is tough, not knowing the kids or even the staff. It’s hard to put tape with players’ names across their helmets when it’s not even July.
“It’s always hard on players to have to learn and trust a new coach coming in,” Chastain said. “They were anxious to get a coach in here because they want direction and leadership. The best thing that happened here is that the staff that was here did not stop working. They didn’t let the kids relax and wait until a coach had been named. They just kept working. I have NOT inherited a staff; I have been blessed with a very quality staff that was already here under the previous head coach.” He also got to hire three coaches in June, which is tough to do anywhere, but he had to choose the right coaches for the positions that fit the program.
“There is great support from the community and administration here in Wayne County,” Chastain said. “The administration understands that athletics can help improve the climate of the school as well as enhance student achievement in the classroom. The support from the Wayne County community is second to none. They love Wayne County football and have high expectations here.”
While the game has changed a lot since he was in high school – at 205-pounds he was the biggest player on his team – the life lessons that he learned from Allen and the others he has worked with have rang as true and crystal clear as a bell.
“Don’t get caught up in chasing titles,” Chastain said. “Just work the field that God has given you, and your opportunity will come.”
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