South Effingham looks to assistant football coach Pat Collins for offensive edge
GUYTON — South Effingham football wants to be deceptive on offense next season, maybe to the point of not labeling its new attack.
But a new addition to the Mustangs coaching staff — Pat Collins, who will work with the running backs — brings some new ideas of moving the football.
Collins has an expertise in the wing-T offense, implementing some of its concepts while recently turning around football programs at Southeast Bulloch and Bulloch Academy.
“People say you’re wing-T and they have an idea of what that is, but we’re very diverse in what we’re going to do,” Collins said. “We will feature a lot of formations. We’ll figure out what our kids can do to be most successful and then do those things. It’s a process. Right now, we’re in the infancy.”
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Ultimately, head coach Nathan Clark and offensive coordinator Alan Spurling make SEHS’ strategic calls. Before becoming a head coach, Clark was a successful offensive coordinator running a spread attack at Lee County when the Trojans won a GHSA Class 6A state championship in 2018.
Clark came to Guyton in 2019 and, with quarterback Taylor Jackson and a skillful group of playmakers engineering the spread, the Mustangs averaged more than 35 points a game.
But SEHS hasn’t had the same success since. The team was shut out twice and averaged less than 15 points a game last season. The Mustangs’ greatest offensive threat, the region’s offensive player of the year in running back Cameron Edwards, has graduated.
So Clark and his coaching staff have huddled for a 2022 plan. At a recent practice, he spoke in general terms.
“We’re out trying to get better in everything we’re doing,” Clark said.
That includes picking the brain of Collins, a 34-year coaching veteran (19 years as a head coach) who has worked with highly successful head coaches Robert Davis (three state titles at Warner Robins) and Luther Welsh (three state titles at Thomson).
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Both Davis and Welsh ran the wing-T — a system offense that highlights a tailback behind the quarterback along with another running back (called the wingback) lined up just outside the tight end.
The alignment can lead to quick-hitting inside runs behind power-blocking schemes. Defenses, looking to stop the run, are often lulled into man-to-man pass coverage, creating potential big-play opportunities through the air.
“I was mentored by two Hall of Fame guys and I learned the process,” Collins said. “All I’ve ever tried to do is study really successful people and learn from them. You never get too old to learn from people and take the things that helped them be successful and implement those things.”
Collins graduated from Georgia Southern in 1990. While in college, Collins began his coaching career helping Statesboro High coach Steve Brooks with the middle school program.
The next year, Collins landed a job teaching math and coaching under Charles Webb at Statesboro High.
Collins earned his first head coaching job at Southeast Bulloch in 1995. He’s been a head coach at SEB, Claxton, Portal, Screven County, then a second time at SEB (2010-16) and finally at Bulloch Academy.
Often taking on rebuilding programs, Collins has a 98-101-1 record as head coach.
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“Obviously, coach Collins is an extremely experienced coach,” Clark said. “I was intrigued by his background and experience as a head coach. And once I started talking to him, I realized what a good person he is.”
'Made a drastic change'
Collins used the wing-T offense to lead SEB to a 5-0 mark and first place in Region 1-AAA Division B play in 2014. At Bulloch Academy, he had 9-3 and 7-4 seasons and his teams averaged about 35 points a game.
“He’s come in in the matter of three months and made a drastic change,” SEHS junior quarterback Kaden De Genaro said. “We all joke around as players and call him a perfectionist, but everything about him is perfect.
“He’s making us all better. We’re all clicking at the same speed. We’re running drills at game speed. It’s molding the right attitude we need to be a successful program.”
Collins, who is also the Mustangs' assistant head football coach, will teach math at the high school.
“I hope to help young people reach their full potential, whether it’s in the classroom as a teacher or out here on the field,” Collins said. “I’m hoping some of the experiences I’ve had can be used out here to help a kid be successful.”
This article originally appeared on Savannah Morning News: South Effingham High School football hires assistant coach Pat Collins
