When Troup County Tigers football head coach Tanner Glisson took the job in 2015, he figured that realistically it would take a few years to get the program turned around and ultimately win a region title.
“When Principal Chip Medders hired me, we had coached together before, and so he knew me,” Glisson recalls. “We knew what we were inheriting, so we discussed a one-year, three-year, and five-year plan of building a sustained winning program here. We wanted to do it right.”
Turns out, the new coach was a little ahead of his plan. After arriving at Troup in June of 2015, Glisson didn’t have the benefit of a spring practice or the opportunity to hire a new staff. His first season turned out to be a year of survival and struggle, with his new team finishing with just one win.
“That first year was a whirlwind,” Glisson says.
But the transition season allowed him to put together a staff of assistant coaches who would fit what he was looking for, as well as put together a daily plan of molding the players to his style of football. The payoff was immediate as Glisson’s Tigers finished 8-3 in 2016, and he hasn’t looked back since.
The next season, in 2017, Glisson lead Troup County to a 9-3 finish, then in 2018 the Tigers won 12 games and advanced to the state semifinals. The next two seasons, 2019 and 2020, saw the Tigers finish with consecutive 6-5 records, but that 2020 season was a major step for the future of the Troup football program.
Despite navigating the Covid pandemic like everyone else, the school unveiled a $15.3 million athletic facility, complete with all-new coaches offices, locker rooms, weight room, and a $3 million indoor practice facility.
That season also brought the emergence of a freshman class that included QB Taeo Todd, the outstanding dual threat player that Glisson says “is as good and complete a player I’ve ever had in 24 years of coaching high school football. He is going to break the all-time Troup school rushing record, and he already has rushed and passed for over 1,500 yards in each category.”
Also part of that group – all juniors today – are four-star edge rusher Qua Birdsong, RB/LB Javari Fannin, RB/LB/WR and wildcat QB Logan Sinkfield, and LB TJ Mitchell.
“Those guys all started as freshmen, and along with our three starting seniors, Qua Moss, Tray Blackmon Jr., and CJ Sands, are all part of our success,” Glisson says.
But, Glisson is quick to point out that every player on the Tigers roster has played a big part of what has been a very special season. The Tigers are 9-0 record so far in 2022, and the team has won the first region title for Troup County football in 35 years.
“We are pretty excited about it,” Glisson says proudly. “1997 was the last Troup County team that won the region title here. It’s pretty amazing. This is a region [4-4A] that includes Trinity Christian, Starrs Mill, and Whitewater, all teams that have been top-10 teams this season, so it’s a tough region.”
Regardless of how things turn out the rest of the way this season, the future is bright for Troup County.
“We are a team with just six seniors, and we are loaded with juniors,” Glisson says. “Our offensive line is made up of sophomores and juniors, so they will all be back.”
Things are looking good for new region title holder Troup County – both for the present and the future.
