The varsity football program at Thomasville High School is among the proudest and winningest in the state. The team’s trajectory in the past several seasons, however, left much to be desired. The ‘Dogs limped their way to a one-win season in 2015, and things looked bleak – that is until Zach Grage was hired as the team’s new head coach. The experienced former Colquitt County assistant coach made an immediate impact upon his arrival on campus.
The well-traveled coach achieved success on several different coaching staffs and in several different areas of the country before coming to Thomasville. Hailing from the University of Evansville in Indiana, the ‘Dogs current head coach got his first experience on the Purple Aces’ staff. He then got a job at Richmond Hill High School near Savannah and spent three years on staff with the Wildcats before his move to Moultrie. Grage’s time with Colquitt is well-documented: He teamed up with head coach Rush Propst and quarterback Chase Parrish to form the most lethal offense in the state of Georgia, ultimately resulting in a state title.
His success under Propst led to his first head coaching opportunity at Gilmer in Ellijay. A year later he resides in Thomasville, attempting to rebuild one of the most storied programs in Georgia high school football.
“The best thing that could have happened to me was taking the job at Gilmer,” Grage said of his transition from assistant coach to head coach and of the responsibility involved with such a position. “There’s much more involvement than people think. Everything from transportation to eligibility to insurance, you handle all of it, stuff you didn’t even know went on at Colquitt because of the size of the staff. So the best thing for me was taking the Gilmer job because it taught me what to expect.”
The Thomasville head coach was fortunate to have the opportunity to work under championship-winning head coach Rush Propst, and he took away several important things from that experience that he is using during his tenure with the Bulldogs.
“Delegation was something big that I learned from him,” Grage said of Propst. “He does the best job in the state of hiring great assistants. He has to replace coaches because they’re so successful. Everybody is always working in team meetings, in terms of who scripts practice and who breaks down plays. What sets you apart is your willingness to grind, put in work, and also be efficient with it. I’ve been fortunate to find guys at Thomasville who can do all of that.”
Despite the fact that Thomasville is clearly trending in the right direction, as evidenced by the team’s 3-0 start in region play, the Bulldogs have still had to battle through their fair share of adversity. Grage’s group came within seconds of a shocking upset win at home over archrival Thomas County Central, only to lose by two points.
“The Central game is where we sat at midfield and said ‘This is where you go back and ask yourself if you’re doing everything you’re supposed to be doing,’” Grage said. “‘Are you going the extra mile or doing the extra rep?’ Small things just bit us, but we had a great opportunity to win. We played well defensively, but we use that as motivation because we’re so close. We played well, and we’re excited about where things are headed, but we aren’t there yet.”
While Grage’s debut season has seen the ‘Dogs post a 4-3 record through seven games, a significant improvement in a short amount of time since the one-win 2015 season, Thomasville has an even brighter future. Of all skill position players who have carried or caught a pass thus far this season, only Tori Sapp will graduate at the conclusion of the year. That means a significant amount of underclassmen are gaining experience, which is a sign that the rebuild is going well for Grage.
“You really just look at the kids and see if things are clicking,” Grage said of how he measures success. “Football success is great, but the biggest thing I try to judge right now is getting experience. Looking around and seeing the kids change is what you can base that success on.”
An early turning point in that rebuilding process occurred on Oct. 14, when Thomasville routed Early County 44-0. While the Bobcats don’t have the most impressive of records, the team played several quality opponents closely before getting blown out by the ‘Dogs. Instead of being content with the win, though, Thomasville’s new head man, who won’t be happy until his program is back on top of the state, used the game as a teaching point.
“I don’t care who we’re playing, we expect to win every game we go into,” Grage said. “I wish we could play every team with a blank jersey and a blank helmet. It’s not like we’re preparing for one certain opponent on a given week; we’re practicing for everybody the entire year, and we want Sunday through Thursday (practices) to be as hard as possible. The games are just to see how far you’ve come. I don’t want to say we’ve made any specific turn, but we’re headed in the right direction. The kids are becoming way more confident and think they can do it.”
It is often said that the most improvement in any player’s performance at a given level can be seen from year one to year two. Thomasville, which has already shown obvious progress this year, is hoping that this will be the case for the entire team under Grage.
“Our biggest thing during the offseason will be continuity,” Grage said. “Getting the coaches with the kids and hitting the weight room will be big. My job is to keep everybody together. My staff is learning just like the kids. They’re young and exuberant, and they do a great job.”
Despite the improvement in total wins from a season ago to now, Grage believes the ‘Dogs can be better, and he won’t be happy until Thomasville is the best it can possibly be.
“The two words we push are tradition and complacency,” Grage said. “We’re doing our best to bring tradition back, but we can’t hang our hat on simply getting better. We want people to understand that when they come here, they’re playing Thomasville and they’re going to get hit. We also want to do things in a first class manner. When we knock you down, we’ll help you up; we’ll dress the right way and handle winning the right way.”
“When you hear ‘Thomasville,’ we want people to think ‘class’ and that they do things the right way,” Grage said. “I’m a big karma guy, and I believe that if you do things the right way, it’ll come back to you.”
Grage Set On Restoring ‘Pride In The Diamond T’
ITG Web Feature
Written by: Jacob Dennis
Photos by Micki K Photography
