Columbus High School named Randal Montgomery its new football coach earlier this month. Montgomery comes to Hazlehurst High School, where he won 43 of 47 games in three seasons and won the 2012 Mississippi High School Activities Association’s Class 3A state championship. Prior to that, Montgomery spent seven seasons as an assistant coach at Velma Jackson High School and Canton High. He will lead the Falcons through spring practice in May and then will look to better last season’s 4-7 finish.
Q: What was the deciding factor in convincing you to take this job?
A: The last few years, I have been coaching in Class 3A at Hazlehurst. We did a lot of great things. I saw the opportunity to move up to the Class 6A rankings. That is basically why I was interested in the job.
Q: Is there any fear taking over a program lacking football tradition?
A: I don’t focus on the past. It really doesn’t concern me what has gone on in the past. The only thing I want to do is get there, work with the kids, and we want the best possible product on the field on Friday nights. We want a team that past players, past students, and past teachers can say I once was a part of that program. They need to have pride in their school and what we are trying to do. What has happened in the past is not an issue. What matters is where we are now and where we go from here.
Q: When you first take over a program, what is the to-do list right away?
A: Before you even start talking about the Xs and Os, I think it is important to come in and set your expectations on and off the field. You tell the kids what you are going to expect in the classroom, in the practice facility, on the practice field. You have to establish your expectations, and you have to have that well defined so they know where you stand.
Q: What are some of those expectations?
A: Day one, our expectation is to compete. We want to compete in the classroom, on the practice field, and on game nights. One thing we will talk about is being a team that competes. We will practice hard and prepare the best we can. If you do things, you give yourselves the best possible opportunity to become a pretty good football team.
Q: What are the plans for spring practice for Columbus?
A: We will do spring practice. I am working on a tentative schedule because I have to fulfill the contract for the school district I am in now. Once we get the details resolved, I will talk to my staff and to the athletic director to put together the best plan possible for us to get the most we can out of spring practice. On the first couple of days of spring practice, we are going to throw everything at them. We will see what they can handle.
Q: When inheriting a new team, do you evaluate players based on their game film from last year or do you not look at any of that and everybody starts new?
A: What happened last year and the year before is no concern of me. We won’t go back and watch any film. I told the kids the first day when we met. It doesn’t matter to me what we did last year. I don’t care if you ran for 4,000 yards last year or threw for 4,000 yards last year, my only concern is about what you do from this day forward.
Q: How close are you to completing a coaching staff?
A: We are evaluating the coaching staff that is there. I have been talking to some other coaches there in that immediate area. There is a lot of interest in coming to Columbus to work, and that is good sign. The possibility does exist for some coaches coming from Hazlehurst. You could basically say the complete staff is to be determined. I would like to put that together in the next month, though, so we can get going.
Q: From a coaching philosophy, what will fans see on Friday nights?
A: We want to hang our hats on getting the ball to guys who can make plays. If you will, we will be type of team that likes to play basketball on grass. We will try to find mismatches and take advantage of them. We want as many offensive snaps as possible. The goal is to end every drive in a kick. The main thing is relentless effort. We want to compete and we want to get our playmakers involved. That is how you have the most success.
Q: When attempting to run a high-tempo offense, will it be an advantage moving to Class 6A from a depth standpoint?
A: From a numbers standpoint, you have the ability to do more things, just because you have more guys who are just playing offense or just playing defense. Football is still football. You still want to do the same basic things you were doing on the 3A level. When you have 3A, you can’t do as much because many players have to learn your offensive scheme and philosophies and then on defense, they have to learn your schemes and philosophies. At 6A, you can be more complex because you can spend more time with your offensive guys and then you can spend more time with your defensive guys.
Q: Based on your earlier remarks, it seems you are big on the relationship
between teachers, coaches, and players?
A: That plays a big part in (being successful). If you are going to be successful, everybody in school has to buy in. It is not a situation where we expect our teachers to give the kids anything, but we also want to work together as a team because it is one common goal. Anybody who coaches will tell you that anytime you have success in football, it seems like your whole school year goes better. Things are better with non-athletes. We want to get everybody involved in the everyday process and then on Friday nights, we want it to be a community-wide event.
Follow Scott Walters on Twitter @dispatchscott.
Scott was sports editor for The Dispatch.
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