I just want to take moment to say thank you. Thank you to a guy who has coached football for a long time
in the great state of Georgia, has had a lot of big wins, and has done things the right way.

I am talking about Coach T. McFerrin who has just decided to hang up his whistle after 38 seasons as a head
coach....38 years of coaching kids, teaching kids, influencing kids, and building young men along the way.
Not to mention winning 340 games and two state championships. He is the only coach to lead five different
schools to the state semifinals.

Coach T. built programs at eight different high schools. His state titles came at Elbert County and this year
as the head coach of the Jefferson Dragons.

Maybe that is what makes riding off into the sunset a little easier right now. The Dragons played one whale of
a game in winning the Class AA state title this year over previously unbeaten and top ranked Calhoun. The Dragons
put on a football clinic and did it the old fashioned way, earning it in the trenches, and with solid blocking
and tackling.

After the Dragons big win, Coach T told me he piled everyone on the bus and headed straight to Jefferson High
School for a pizza party and to watch some movies. He wanted to make sure all his players had a safe night
of celebration after winning the state championship.

My collegue Gil Tyree is always talking about a Mount Rushmore of this and that in the sports world. A Mount
Rushmore of great major league baseball players or pro golfers. Well, when they build a Mount Rushmore for
great high school football coaches in the state of Georgia, T. McFerrin will be up there proudly carved
into the mountainside for future generations to see and appreciate.

Thank you Coach T. Not just for the wins and the championships.....but for all the young people you helped
guide along, on the gridirion of success.