GMC Prep gridiron program seeing some growth

Matthew Brown, The Union-Recorder, Milledgeville, Ga.
·2 min read

May 18—Thirty football players! At a Class 7A school, that might be the senior class.

But that kind of number caught the attention of Lee Coleman, head football coach for Georgia Military College Prep School. Spring football practice for the Bulldogs wrapped up this week, and 33 — for the school that will be in Division II of Class A starting in the fall — was the turnout Coleman reported last week.

"So far, I've seen a bunch of young guys come out, some new players, old players, some guys from this past year who were freshmen who have gotten better," said Coleman, who was also coaching state track and field qualifiers in addition to football. "We hadn't even touched a football yet. That's a positive sign for us.

"Our objective (in spring) was to work on fundamentals and see who's tough. To see which freshmen can contribute. I know who my starters are. I have 24 players returning from a 29-player team. When I look out here, I have 33 players, so we're doing something right."

Coleman and the Bulldogs did a lot of things right in 2021 going 10-0 in the regular season and giving up just over six points a game in those wins. But GMC Prep could only must eight of its own in the first playoff game, a 20-8 loss to Manchester.

"We go both sides," said Coleman about managing his numbers. "Thirty-three is the most I've ever had. Never seen 30 guys on one team. This is a first for me in the spring. It's exciting to see because we can build upon that."

And that's with one Bulldog not being a part of spring football because he was a GHSA A-Public track and field qualifier, rising senior Caleb Bush. In 2021, Bush had 300 total yards and five touchdowns on offense, but that's because he was behind Trey Woods and Jessie Washington. Woods was a senior with 324 receiving yards and Washington had nearly 1,000 rushing yards and eight touchdowns as a sophomore. Washington was also a part of the GMC Prep baseball team that advanced to the state second round.

Coleman also lost Alex French V, Corey Brookins and Evan Brantley in the 2022 senior class.

Woods also played outside linebacker and signed with Robert Morris.

"He's a huge loss," said Coleman. "With him, my other outside linebacker, Brookins, and Brantley (defensive end) and (French at cornerback), those guys combined for 200 tackles. That's why this spring, we need to figure out how to replace those guys."

As part of the "fine tuning" and conditioning during the summer, GMC Prep will take part in 7-on-7 competitions.

"Taking our program to the next level," said Coleman.