Protime’s Pigskin Ponderings – What Makes a H.S. Football Team Great?

Tagged under: News, pfn, Protime Predictions

Phil Myers | September 17, 2026

Protime is a gym rat.  He’s been lifting weights since 1970.  He really has a good time hoisting iron.  He and his lifting buddy, Rich, love to do lots of reminiscing about the old days when gyms had no air conditioning.  You had to sweat out your workout in the summertime.  It was just you and the weights.  You gutted it out.  There were no fancy, smancy machines.  There were no treadmills.  There were no videos on how to do certain exercises, just magazines with pictures and descriptions. 

Rich and Protime also love to tell jokes to keep each other from taking themselves too seriously.  Protime says that smiling and laughing keep you loose permitting you to actually concentrate more when pushing yourself to do another rep or a heavier weight.  One of Protime’s favorite jokes is the one he tells about when he was young, he was leery of this one speed bump but he eventually got over it.  And Protime wants everyone to know that he and Rich do not go to class reunions just to see how much better looking they are than everyone else. 

This week Protime is pondering what makes a high school football team great?  Audience participation is welcome.  Protime does not pretend to know everything, although he knows the prognosticating angle pretty well.

Let’s start with the culture and therefore, the program.  Winning begets winning as a wise soothsayer once said.  This culture is usually built by the head coach and his coaching staff, who are well respected by the players, the administration, and the community.  From Middle School down to the midget program players have a deep desire to play varsity football for their high school one day.  The coaching staff is very knowledgeable and their system works.  They not only have the respect of the players, but the coaches are also trusted in their methods.

Strong player leadership is another key to having a great program and team.  Everyone is held to the same standard regardless of talent.  They are also held accountable for their actions on and off the field.  There are consequences for negative conduct.  These coaches do not condone uncontrolled emotions, negative attitudes, and giving anything less than their best effort.  Nick Hyder coached Valdosta High School in Georgia from 1974 to 1994 winning 7 state championships and having a record of 249-36-2 while at Valdosta.  He is legendary, but in his first year he got rid of some trouble makers on the team that were leaders.  The Wildcats ended up 3-7, Hyder’s only losing season.  After that he molded Valdosta into a football juggernaut that had strong player leadership every year.

You must also have the players of course, but these guys have to be focused and disciplined off-season training is almost a must.  With those types of players comes a confident mindset, and confidence, not cockiness, goes a long way to being successful.  Again, the head coach and his staff have to be able to get the most out of these special players and have to be able to convince them to be a part of the team and not individuals who are self-absorbed and complaining when things are not going their way. 

Lastly, there probably is a bit of luck involved each season.  Or is it just having confident players and smart coaches?  In early December of 2000, eventual state champion Erie Cathedral Prep trailed Altoona 7-6 with under 2 minutes remaining.  And Altoona had the ball.  Mike Mischler, Erie’s coach, told his team to let Altoona score, which they did.  Tim Dance, one of Prep’s stars, proceeded to run the kickoff back for a TD.  The 2-point conversion tied the game and sent it into OT.  Cathedral Prep won in double OT and then beat CB West in a classic to win the 4A title. 

Another quick example of ‘luck’ happened in Georgia a couple weeks ago when the current #22 team in the country, Lee County, trailed 32-21 with 2 minutes remaining.  They somehow scored 3 touchdowns in 60 seconds to win 43-32.  In both examples, was it luck, or good coaching, or good players who never gave up?  You pick it.

That’s it for this week.  Protime is already looking forward to next week.