The Pickens Dragons’ football team will have a new face roaming the sidelines in 2012, as the school has brought in Chris Parker to be the new head coach. Coach Parker was kind enough to take some time out of his busy schedule to answer some of the questions that the Dragon faithful have been really wanting to know about the football program’s direction and the new man leading it.

You agreed to take over the Dragons’ football program after spending four seasons at Chapel Hill High School in Douglasville. What factors led to this decision?

“I feel like it’s a good opportunity and it’s a good place to live. I’ve got a family and that’s important to me. I feel like it’s a good challenge and a good opportunity for our team as well. [We have] one high school in the whole county and everybody’s supportive. I enjoyed my time at Chapel Hill. It was a good job, but I felt like this was a place where we could really be successful and I look forward to working towards it.”

Your four years as Panthers head coach saw a team that did not have a very rich history in winning achieve several notable feats, including being named the Top Turnaround Program in the state of Georgia by the Atlanta Journal-Constitution in 2008. What lessons that you learned from your time at Chapel Hill will help you in revitalizing Dragons football?

“It’s nice that we have done that before and to know that it can be done as a coaching staff, but it doesn’t mean it’s going to be any easier to do that again. It just means that we have experience in doing that and that what we’ve learned is that the players really win the games. The players bought in that year, did the little things right, and really immediately took to what we were asking them to do. So far since I’ve been here at Pickens it seems very similar [with the] players buying in, so if you get everybody bought in and supportive—from the parents to the booster club to the administration and fans and students and cheerleaders and the band—and everybody getting on the same page [then] it’s easier to make a quick turnaround like that, but it’s not going to be easy by any stretch.”

The Pickens’ fan base is in unfamiliar territory in the head coaching change, as the last time a change was made was back in 2002. What schemes should the fans expect on the offensive and defensive sides of the ball?

“We really run a multiple offense and defense. It will definitely be different from year to year. We adapt to what our guys can do. We got base things that we do, but we can run things in the [shotgun formation] or under center. We can throw the ball [and] we can run the ball; it really depends on what we feel like our guys can do, but they should expect to see a disciplined group of guys out there executing plays. We’re going to run a lot of stuff from the spread-type formations and run the ball out of that and throw it out of that and try to take what the defense will give us. On defense we run base out of the 3-4, but we play so many good offenses that we will have to adjust it week-to-week on what we can see and do and what our guys can do well. The main thing is [the fans] should expect to see some people that are doing the best that they can do and being disciplined and working hard and doing the little things right to give ourselves a chance to win on Friday night.”

Is the coaching staff already set for next season or are there still changes to come?

“We’re still looking to do some things different on the coaching staff so it’s not completely set yet. Most of the guys on the [previous] staff will still be here and sound to be a very knowledgeable group of guys, [and] I’ve enjoyed working with them since I’ve been here. [The coaching staff] is still kind of a work-in-progress with the way teaching jobs come and go. We don’t really know for sure yet, but there will be a couple of new coaches.”

What would you like to say to your future players in regards to what they can expect from having you as their head coach?

“They can expect a guy [that’s] going to work hard. We [as a coaching staff] are going to be organized and disciplined, and we expect the same from them. We hold them to a high standard, and we’re going to hold ourselves to a high standard; they can expect us to stand to the front of that line of high standards. Hopefully everyone in our community will hold themselves to that high standard too.”

The Dragons were 1-9 last season, but appear to return a ton of talent in 2012. What are your goals for your first season as head coach?

“We just want to be successful in the season as a whole. I guess the best way to put it would be if we’re playing in a tenth game that matters—if we win we’re in the playoffs or if we win we’re the region champs or something like that—then that would be a good start. It’s hard to put a number of wins on a season and say ‘Well if we win this many games that would be good’ because you don’t always control how the ball bounces. We should expect to be competitive in every game and give ourselves a chance to win every week. We expect to be right there in the mix fighting for a spot to get in the playoffs at the end of the season. If we get in the playoffs, we expect to try and win in the playoffs, so we just want to take it one step at a time and give ourselves a chance to be successful. It’s hard to say how many wins would be a good season, but I know that every Friday night we should be competitive.”