STARKVILLE — Chase Nicholson is a busy man.

The Starkville Academy football coach spends much of his team’s season in his office, on the practice field, or on the game field on Friday night. That doesn’t leave him much time with his wife and 1-year old child, so his players become more than members of the football team for him.

“We knew we had to be a family and we really were a family,” Nicholson said. “I think this was the first time it really resonated with me and with them.”

Nicholson, who took over for Jeff Terrill after the 2014 season, led Starkville Academy to a 10-2 record and a trip to the second round of the Mississippi Association of Independent Schools Class AAA playoffs in his first season as head coach.

For his accomplishment, Nicholson is The Dispatch’s Small Schools co-Coach of the Year with Oak Hill Academy coach Chris Craven.

The importance of family played a key role in the Volunteers’ success. Nicholson said his team realized why the team bonds were so vital to the Volunteers’ success midway through the season. He said the team met before the season in an attempt to establish its core values, but Nicholson admits the players didn’t know what they were.

As the season progressed, Nicholson said the players stumbled upon those values (family, balancing fun and work, and getting better every day).

Nicholson said the Volunteers had to fight like a family and trust like one, too. The family part was easier, but he said striking a balance between fun and work proved to be a little tougher.

“Too much work and it becomes too much of a job,” Nicholson said. “Too much fun and it’s too silly and you’re not going to get anything done. Finding that balance every day was fun to do because the guys came to work and had fun. The coaches came to work and had fun.”

Steady improvement

Nicholson said his mind-set spawned out of getting better every day. He wanted his players to improve on the field, but he also took the opportunity to teach his players life lessons he hopes will help them after they graduate and begin their careers and start families.

“When you grow up as a man, you have to do other things,” Nicholson said. “I was able to relate that to them. If you stop trying to get better as a man, you failed.”

Nicholson admits he was shocked with how well Starkville Academy played this season. He said the Volunteers had realistic goals and realized several of them even though some people outside the program didn’t believe it was possible.

With an experienced coaching staff that includes veteran head coaches Bubba Davis and Tony Stanford and a roster that featured MAIS All-Star game participants Houston Clark, Colt Chrestman, and Carter Wood, Nicholson joked he didn’t do much to help the team win this year.

“I have great coaches and great players,” Nicholson said.

Even though Starkville Academy will suffer key graduation losses, Nicholson wants the Volunteers to remember their core values. He said they will help prevent the team from becoming complacent. And even though Nicholson believes he will be more comfortable next season, he isn’t sure how the 2016 will turn out, so he will make sure he is ready.

“At the end of the day, no matter what I think I know, I still don’t know anything,” Nicholson said. “Every day is different because they’re teenagers and it’s football. Every day is a challenge.”

Follow Dispatch sports writer Ben Wait on Twitter @bcwait

Ben Wait reports on Mississippi State University sports for The Dispatch.