MACON — Tyrone Shorter fits the description of a Type A personality.
From cutting the grass on the Noxubee County High School football field, to marking the numbers on the field for a home game, to preparing the right mixture of Gatorade and water, Shorter has grown accustomed to doing things his way. His thinking fits that of many Type A people who believe if they do it, the task will be done the way they want it.
Shorter hasn’t lost his penchant for cutting the grass and marking the game field in his five seasons as head football coach at Noxubee County High. But Shorter had learned a lot as defensive coordinator under former coach M.C. Miller, so he knew when he took over in May 2010 that he would have to figure out how to delegate authority if he was going to keep the Tigers as a contender in Class 4A of the Mississippi High School Activities Association.
Shorter showed this season he has found a championship balance that suits his personality and capitalizes on the strengths of his coaching staff. Along the way, Shorter made sure to share the credit with his coaches and to make sure they received plenty of praise for all of the hard work that went into leading the football program to its third state championship.
“It is not about Tyrone Shorter. It is about this program,” Shorter said. “I tell our kids this all of the time: There are a lot of people who were before you who paved the way for us to be successful and got this tradition started. It is our job to keep this tradition going. It is not about us. I tell the kids all of the time it is not about you. It is about your uncles and cousins and the guys that paved the way and started the tradition and success.”
That mentality played a key role in Noxubee County’s 48-27 victory against St. Stanislaus in the MHSAA Class 4A state title game Dec. 6 at Mississippi State’s Davis Wade Stadium. For his efforts, Shorter is The Dispatch’s Prep Football Coach of the Year.
As a high school football player at Port Gibson, Shorter said Noxubee County was “at the bottom of high school football in the state of Mississippi.” Years later as coach of that program, Shorter said he stresses to his players a team can’t remain at a high level if it has selfish players who are more concerned about “me” than the team. That’s why he was quick to credit coaches like defensive coordinator George Richardson or offensive coordinator James Patterson or Ed Square or Heyward Ashford following victories. All of those coaches earned praise from Shorter after Noxubee County’s win against St. Stanislaus. The Tigers held the Rock-a-Chaws to a season-low for points in the game and used a potent passing game led by junior quarterback Timorrius Conner to win their second state title in three years. The program won its first state crown in 2008 when Shorter was an assistant coach on Miller’s staff.
Once Shorter took over as coach, he continued to mix a disciplined approach with a family mind-set that is designed to get the players to reach their potential. He has motivated all of his players and challenged others — like Conner — by telling him the Tigers would only go as far as he could take them. Conner responded by throwing for 3,009 yards and 35 touchdowns and only nine interceptions.
Shorter said earlier in the season Patterson and the offensive coaches deserve a lot of credit for the development of Conner, who threw four touchdowns and 12 interceptions as a sophomore.
“I always said once I became a head coach that it is not about me,” Shorter said. “The head coach is going to get all of the credit and the accolades anyway, but it is the guys behind the scenes that do all of the work. I praise these guys. They are underpaid, and we put a lot of hours in and time spent in at the fieldhouse away from our families, so every opportunity I get I just want to give them all of the credit.”
In addition to delegating authority and to crediting his coaches for everything they do behind the scenes, Shorter feels he has become a better decision-maker in games. He said he relies on his coaches to help him make choices because he never has used a my-way-or-the-highway approach. He feels that style of coaching goes against the team philosophy he and his coaches try to instill .
To prove his point, Shorter talked about the 2012 season in which Noxubee County went 16-0 and relied heavily on senior running back Darrell Robinson. Shorter said he heard numerous instances in which fans encouraged the Tigers to throw the ball more, including some who wondered why Robinson was getting so many touches.
But Shorter didn’t allow the outside influences to affect the team chemistry. He was up front all season when he said the offensive line and the defense were the strengths of that team and that the coaches were going to do their best to capitalize on both of those factors and win the field position battle whenever possible.
“It’s about us as a staff,” Shorter said. “It is not about Tyrone Shorter. It’s about this coaching staff. I give these guys the utmost respect in the world. I don’t think I have grown as a coach. I think that is the way I have always been. If you talk to them, they will tell you I have been the same way since day one.”
This season, that message helped Noxubee County overcome a season-opening 51-19 loss to Class 6A Starkville on Aug. 22. The performance was disappointing in that a defense that prides itself on its stinginess gave up so many points and missed so many tackles.
A 33-19 loss to West Point four weeks later provided another test. The Green Wave scored 19 unanswered points in the second half to win the rivalry game. The defeat left Noxubee County at 3-2 with a final non-conference game against Charleston remaining and two weeks before the Class 4A, Region 4 opener at Kosciusko.
But through all of the setbacks and injuries, Shorter and his staff stayed focused on their game plan. They had confidence the offense would find its rhythm and the defense would help keep the team in games. Both units ultimately played just like expected and helped the Tigers close the season on an 11-game winning streak that secured the program’s third state title.
Shorter’s ability to keep the program at a high level after Miller left to become football coach at Louisville High is reflected in the numbers. Noxubee County’s 62-11 record in Shorter’s five seasons as head coach is the best in the Greater Golden Triangle area. Starkville is 51-17 and West Point is 49-19 in that same span.
South Panola, which won the Class 6A state championship this season, is 65-8 in the past five seasons.
“I was a part of the first state championship, and I cherish that one a lot,” Shorter said. “When we first started, I can remember one year when we won four games. To be a part of that first state championship, it made me hungrier as a coach to keep this going. We have had some great football teams. I thought we had some teams that should have won a long time ago, but we didn’t catch the breaks.
“I like the direction the program is going. My job when I took it over, it was already on top. It was already one of the elite programs in the state. My thing as a coach, I can’t be the one to let it go down. I had some big shoes to fill when coach Miller was here. The first year I took over we led them to the North State championship, and I don’t think anybody saw that coming. The first thing I knew I had to do was to get a great staff. Coach Miller took some guys with him when he left. I know the work ethic I have and I surrounded myself with coaches who have the same mentality and work ethic that I have. There wasn’t any doubt I could keep this program going. To say the last five years it is one of the top-five programs in the state of Mississippi, I give all of the credit to the kids and coaches. It is awesome to have one of the top programs in the state of Mississippi.
“As long as I am here at Noxubee County and as long as I have a great coaching staff around me — because I know I can’t do it myself — we are always going to be successful.”
With 13 or 14 starters set to return in 2015, Shorter said there is a lot of optimism surrounding the program. He also is excited about the younger players who will follow in the footsteps of the upperclassmen. Regardless of class, he will stay the course and continue to follow the same plan. He wants the Tigers to continue to play swarming defense and to have as balanced an offense as possible. He knows there will be other offensive linemen who will signal the train’s departure and other skill position players to sling the football or to be the workhorse on the ground, but he hopes the example and he and his coaches set continues to reflect the value of the team concept.
“That is what we always talk about: Family,” Shorter said. “All of our coaches talk about there is no I in team. We don’t care who gets the touchdowns or who gets the sacks. At the end of the day when we hold that gold ball up (for winning a state title), everybody holds that gold ball up.
“We don’t have any selfish guys on this football team. All of the guys bought into that. On offense, we had seven or eight guys score touchdowns. We spread it around so much. It doesn’t matter. On this team, it didn’t matter who scored as long as we won.”
Follow Dispatch sports editor Adam Minichino on Twitter @ctsportseditor
Adam Minichino is the former Sports Editor for The Commercial Dispatch.
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