To all members of the Tift County Blue Devil Nation, at 3 and 7, the 2009 football season certainly didn’t end up as successful as any of us wanted. There were many reasons the season turned out this way. Few returning starters, small senior class, some questionable coaching decisions, bad calls, etc. — for whatever reasons or a combination of all of them it wasn’t a good year.
But let’s not forget that these are our players and coaches. They need our support now more than ever. Coach Jay Walls and his staff work as hard as any staff anywhere to put our players in a position to win. Do they make mistakes? Sure they do, we all do. Our players work year-round to get better, stronger, faster, smarter, etc. Do our players make mistakes? Sure they do, we all do. But these are our players and our coaches – all members of the Blue Devil Nation.
These players and coaches need to know we support them every year, not just when we make the playoffs or go to the dome. Yes, anybody that buys a ticket has the right to like what happens on Friday night or not like it, complain about the coaching, officiating, play of the players — the price of the ticket gives you that right. But let’s all remember these are our players and coaches.
I recently met with Coach Jay Walls to discuss our football program. I came away from the meeting convinced he is a man of high character and morals. He is committed to the Tift County Blue Devils. He is as disappointed in the way the football season turned out as anybody. He and his staff are already working to find ways to turn the program around. But the most impressive part of our meeting was Coach Walls’ true concern and caring for the players. He and his staff were working to find scholarship opportunities for the seniors that may want to continue playing at the next level. He spoke passionately about ensuring that the players knew they were student athletes, not just athletes. Coach Walls convinced me he and his staff are more concerned about the success of the student athletes in life than the final score on Friday night. All this being said, Coach Walls wants the Tift County football program to be great, not just good — just good isn’t good enough. He truly believes with community support, school system support and parent support the Tift County Blue Devils can be great. He and his staff will go the extra mile, work harder, work longer and push the players to be great.
But Coach Walls, his staff and our players can’t do it without us, the Tift County Blue Devil Nation. They need our trust and support. They need Tift County community support, Tift County School system support and Tift County parent support. They need support both with finances and active involvement. They need to see that we support them through Touchdown Club membership, attendance at Touchdown Club meetings and active participation at Touchdown Club / Tift County football-sponsored events.
The question is what kind of member of the Tift County Blue Devil Nation are you going to be? One that jumps on the wagon when things are going good and sits around complaining when they’re not. Or, are you going to be a part of the Blue Devil Nation that puts their shoulder to the wagon and helps push it to greatness. Before you decide, remember these are our Tift County Blue Devil players and coaches. This is our Tift County Blue Devil Nation and it will be as great as we make it. The future of the Blue Devil Nation is in our hands. So now what are you going to do, rise up and help move the Tift County Blue Devil Nation to greatness or sit on the sidelines and jump on after it happens.
Richard Boothe
Proud member of the
Tift County Blue Devil
Nation
