Football always has fascinated Gerald “Tri” Nason III.
Even before he played his first snap, Nason remembers watching football games with his father and trying to figure out formations and strategies.
Nason took that curiosity and willingness with him as he climbed the ranks and played at Starkville Academy and Mississippi State.
Nason hopes that attitude serves him well in his new position: Head football coach at Hebron Christian.
“I knew eventually I wasn”t going to be able to play anymore, so I thought one thing I could do was to be a coach so I could still be around it,” Nason said.
Nason, 24, replaces Greg Watkins, who stepped down after three seasons at the school to become head football coach at Immanuel Christian in Steens.
Nicknamed “Tri” because he is the third Gerald in his family and his parents wanted something different than “Trey,” Nason is in his second year at Hebron Christian. He worked last season with the football team as coach of the special teams and linemen. He also is a Bible and World History teacher at the school.
At 5-foot-11, 225 pounds in his prime, Nason said he realized early on he likely didn”t have the size to play professional football. But that didn”t stop him from soaking up everything related to football. He said his two semesters as a walk-on at Mississippi State playing for former coach Sylvester Croom showed him how complex the game gets after high school.
Nason also said his experience at MSU taught him the importance of planning and making use of every minute. He hopes what he learned from Croom and from Watkins will serve him well in his first job as a head coach.
“When I found out coach Watkins was going I didn”t really expect (to get the job),” said Nason, who earned a degree in History and another in Philosophy and Religion from MSU in 2009. “Obviously I wanted the head coaching job, but I didn”t expect it to be offered to me because of my age.”
Nason said Hebron Christian Headmaster William Cotton told him he thought he had it in him to be head football coach after watching him coach the junior high school boys basketball team.
Cotton will replace Watkins as the school”s varsity girls basketball coach.
Nason, who played left tackle and defensive end at Starkville Academy in addition to playing basketball, golf, and powerlifting, said he will handle the offensive coordinator duties. He said his biggest challenge will be to cover all of the bases to ensure he and his assistant coaches get the most out of their time. He said he has two assistant coaches lined up to help him. He hopes to get at least one more person to work with the team.
Nason said the relationships he has built with the team the past two seasons and working with them in weight training will help make the transition from assistant coach to head coach easier.
“The players here are pretty pumped up about the change,” Nason said. “It isn”t because they”re glad to see coach Watkins leave, but they”re excited about something different.”
Nason said things went well Monday at the team”s first spring practice. He said the team loses a really good senior class but that he anticipates four to five ninth-graders joining the varsity program and making immediate contributions. With 18 to 19 players, he said the Eagles, who went 1-9 last season, won”t play another school in a spring scrimmage. He hopes to increase his numbers by the start of the fall and to show people he is ready for the challenge of being a head coach.
“I am the type of guy that I don”t like to be told I am not able to do something,” Nason said. “I always like a challenge. That is part of the reason I walked on at Mississippi State. Coming from a private school, I didn”t get offered a scholarship and I was told I won”t make it. I guess it is more proving to myself (that I can be a head coach) and seeing if I do have the ability to do this.”
Adam Minichino is the former Sports Editor for The Commercial Dispatch.
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