Valdosta Coach Also Shares Outlook on 2023 Wildcats Offense and Defense
We recently spoke with Valdosta head football coach Shelton Felton about his team’s 2023 season opener against Massillon and how it came together. We also spoke about the defense, the potential for an improved offense, and the overall outlook for the 2023 season.
ITG Next: Coach Felton, everyone is talking about the big game between your Valdosta Wildcats and the Massillon Tigers to open the 2023 season. I spoke with members of both teams’ booster clubs last week, but I want to get the inside scoop from you on how the game came together.
Felton: I was at a coaches convention when me and their head coach were just joking around about how we should play each other. The next thing I know, Matt Hankins [from NE Ohio Big School HSFB] reached out to me and told me he was organizing this event called “NE Ohio vs. America.”
I told him then that I would love the opportunity to play in the event, but that we were in a contract with a team for the season opener. So, we stayed in touch with each other. Then it took a little bit of lady luck. The coach for the team in Miami that we were supposed to play next year called me to say his team would not be able to travel out of state. So that kind of opened the door for the opportunity. Everyone in Valdosta and Massillon has been wanting to play this game, so I thought why not make it come true?
ITG Next: Coach Felton, it sounds like everything came together to make this Valdosta vs. Massillon game happen.
Felton: Yes, once we got the approval from the GHSA, that allowed us to get a contract with Massillon, and we are thrilled to play them. Plus, it’s so hard to find games, so we were glad things worked out.
ITG Next: Coach, will Massillon come to Valdosta next year with a home-and-home agreement?
Felton: Well, that’s something we want to talk about, but right now there’s a lot of talk about reclassification for next year, and that could affect us as far as the number of games we have, so a home-and-home agreement with them is something still to be determined.
ITG Next: There’s a lot of excitement about the Cats with a lot of talent returning. Can you talk about the team you will have in 2023?
Felton: First of all, I think our offense will be more explosive this year. We had a lot of older kids on our offense last year, but they didn’t have a lot of experience. People don’t realize that last year was Todd Robinson’s first season starting at quarterback since the seventh grade. He is a rising junior, so he’ll continue to grow and get better. We’ll have everybody back on the offensive line except for one starter, which helps our running game. We have most of our defense coming back this season. I think this defense is the best I’ve coached since the 2015 season when I was at Colquitt.
I also want to mention that I have the best booster club president in Marci Ragin. Everyone remembers what happened around here when a lot of people jumped off the ship. Marci came in and has helped put this thing back together.
