Douglas County Tigers building with "togetherness" for 2023 season

With one month to go until the start of the 2023 Georgia High School Association football season, like all teams around the state, the Douglas County Tigers are full steam ahead as the final dead week of the summer is nearly two weeks behind them. And for the Tigers, head coach, Johnny White, says that the team’s unity throughout the summer has played a big role in the team’s preparation for the season.

“The thing that has impressed me the most is their togetherness,” White said as he discussed how well his team has been doing over the summer. “I think that’s going to be very important for them to play as one unit. They’ve always worked, but them coming together and holding each other accountable, I think is the big thing for us so I’m really excited,” White added.

And with a core rising sophomores and juniors that got their fair share of in game reps last season, White believes that experience will be very valuable heading into the season. “A lot of those young guys…understand what it takes to play in big games, understand what it takes to play in the playoffs and also understand the things that we didn’t do well, what we can’t allow to happen this year,” White said adding that he is “looking forward” to the final product the Tigers put on the field this season.

White would go on to discuss how much of his optimism stems from the amount of leadership his players, younger and older, have been displaying over the summer. “I think this is the best leadership group I’ve had,” White, now heading into eighth season as the Tigers’ head coach, said about the group. The Tigers will get their first chance to see where they are when they scrimmage Hillgrove on August 11th and White says as they continue to prepare, they will need to keep locking in on “alignment and assignment,” and stay focused on their motto to “outwork yesterday,”.

“And while White and the Tigers will look to put together another successful season, he shared that while execution on the field is important, overall his relationship with his players is just as, if not more, important, especially those who may have had personal issues to deal with. “Once you build those relationships, you can get more out of them than what’s expected,” White said noting that “my coaches took care of me in that way and I want to be there to do the same for them”. After their August 11th scrimmage, Douglas County will open up the regular season when they face the Stockbridge Tigers on August 19th.