To understand Gary Mintier’s journey to his first head coaching job at McIntosh County Academy you may need to pull up Google Maps. Though Mintier has been coaching in the state of Georgia his football glory days actually started in New Jersey.
“I grew up in Carlstadt, New Jersey, a small town that shares its public high school with East Rutherford where MetLife Stadium (home of the NFL’s New York Giants) is located,” Mintier said. “I played defensive back for St. Mary High School in Rutherford, New Jersey for Mike Sheridan. I also played baseball for three years. Football in New Jersey is different; they have more practice restrictions, and it’s not as fast. The setup is similar to Single-A in Georgia where private and public schools compete during regular season for power points and then play separate for playoffs.”
The Garden State didn’t hold Mintier long. He ended up at the University of Alabama, but ended up graduating from Jacksonville State University. One thing that Mintier certainly retained from his time in Tuscaloosa was the natty stylings of Crimson Tide coaches like Paul “Bear” Bryant and Gene Stallings. It’s not hard to find Mintier on the Buccaneers’ sideline in his starched white dress shirt and MCA red and gold rep stripe, a nod to the old school coaches.
“During college I volunteered at Ohatchee High school in Alabama. But my first paid position was at my old high school (St. Mary). In 2002 we lost in the state championship game; coldest game I’ve ever been involved in,” Mintier said.
MCA is in one of the toughest AA regions in the state, sharing a region with resurgent power Benedictine who finished as a state semifinalist last season. Graduation hit the Bucs pretty hard, but Mintier’s “determined” Bucs should be able to stay on course.
“We are just going to work real hard and make sure our team is prepared for the game we play that week,” Mintier said. “If we continue to improve and work, we will have a chance to do some good things this season. We need to play a fast physical style of football and attack our opponent on every play. We have good athletes and they can cause some problems for a lot of teams. We just can’t make mistakes and beat ourselves.”
Mintier has built strong experience as a defensive coordinator that will certain help him make the transition to his first head coaching position in Darien.
“If the players come to work every day and push to be better than the day before, we will be successful,” Mintier said. “I don’t think the transition from offense to defense is that big. I run a 3-5-3 because it’s tough to get a lot of defensive linemen and it’s very easy to adjust for the players. It really frees them up to play fast, but my favorite scheme is a 4-3 cover 2.” 
Mintier knows what he is going to have to do to create the past success of MCA. School days begin at 6:00 AM and end around 8:00 PM. On game nights he doesn’t see home until midnight. On Saturdays, while others may be getting ready to watch college football, Mintier is breaking down film and setting the next week’s practice schedule. On Sunday the Bucs football staff starts at noon and goes until they finish. More than willing to put in the hours it takes, Mintier also must continue to develop talent through a feeder program.
“We are doing a coach’s clinic with our recreation coaches and we also do a kids camp to help with fundamentals,” Mintier said. “I was lucky to get Jody Stone to come and run my middle school program – he was a head varsity coach at Atkinson County and a coordinator for many years. We are also trying to get as many former players as possible to come in and mentor our boys. We want them involved in the program they built.”
Since MCA is an AA program, the Bucs obviously share athletes with other programs but many athletes tend to specialize in one sport.
“I think we are seeing a lot more fatigue injuries because they are not resting their bodies by doing other activities,” Mintier said. “I think when you focus on your grades, have fun playing sports, and working hard, everything else seems to take care of itself.”
When Mintier does find time away from the field he enjoys spending time working out and playing golf and spending time with his family.
Mintier has been married to his wife, Candice, for four years. A native of Racepond, Georgia, she graduated from Ware County High School and is in marketing for SERVPRO out of Brunswick. The couple has a two-year-old son, Gary Tripp Mintier. Mintier also has a son, Austyn Cole, who is 12 and lives in Piedmont, Alabama.
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McIntosh County Academy
Written by John Wood
Photography by Jeffrey Griffith
