Tift head coach Jeff Littleton.

TIFTON — Local high school football coaches were the stars at the Tifton-Tift County Chamber of Commerce Membership Meeting at the Georgia Museum of Agriculture Thursday.

A special tailgate-themed banquet set the atmosphere for Tift County High head coach Jeff Littleton and Tiftarea Academy head coach Erik Soliday.

Soliday, who spoke first, said he was always excited to talk about his squad. Before he began talking about his players, however, he shared a health update on assistant coach Edd Cunningham. Cunningham, who suffered a stroke over the summer, is currently at an Atlanta rehabilitation center and improving.

“We really miss him,” said Soliday. “The kids love him.”

Though a small school, he said 39 players were on the roster, “a great number of kids percentage-wise.” They are building off last year’s elite eight appearance. The Panthers surged late last season and are hopeful of building off that momentum.

Soliday said they were striving to get over the hump of four semifinals appearances in recent seasons to go even further. He admits, “You have to be good to make a playoff run, but you’ve also got to be lucky.”

He said the schedule was tough. “Playing those good football teams will get you ready for the playoffs,” Soliday said.

Soliday praised the roster. “We have some really good kids,” he said. “Good students, fun to be around, fun to coach, fun to teach in school.” He said he’s loved the players he’s had at all of his coaching stops, which span 40 years. “Unique and different in how they respond to things,” he said.

The fun at Tiftarea extends to players he doesn’t coach. Soliday said one of the highlights each Friday home game are the kids tossing around a football in their own game.

“The best football game is behind the bleachers,” he said, adding it is a true family environment.

Tiftarea built its program in another way this year: a brand new fieldhouse, which will not only have facilities for the players (including a badly-needed larger weight room), but a concession stand, restrooms and a place to sell Tiftarea gear.

“It’s an incredible place to see,” said Soliday, further describing it as “A showplace of the school.”

Second to speak was Littleton, who was named new head coach of the Blue Devils earlier this year. A Sylvester native who won a state championship with the Worth County Rams as a player, he’s also coached one, leading Bainbridge to the crown in 2018.

Before he talked about the team itself, Littleton introduced Stacy Duckworth, who came over from Fitzgerald. Duckworth knows the Blue Devils well and also coached with Littleton on a Tift staff under Tommy Seward. Littleton also introduced Tift County Touchdown Club leaders Mike Beaumont and Spud Bowen. Not only have they supported him, “They are a big part of me coming to Tifton,” he said.

Littleton has coached 32 years. He admitted that he thought he’d retire at Bainbridge, but he decided “to get out of my comfort zone and set off for a new challenge.”

He assured Tift fans that the tough times won’t last. Littleton said he was building the program off of five values: Pride, tough, effort, motivation and trust.

“We’ve raised the standard here in Tift County,” he said. “The players have bought into that process and our coaches are going to hold them accountable to that standard.” It’s not just about the five values, but building off of them. “We don’t want to get too comfortable,” Littleton said.

The weight room has been a big emphasis, though he said their strength is still behind where it needs to be. “We will catch up, I can promise you that,” he said.

Littleton said the summer went well, with 86% of players making the required number of workouts.

“We have great kids here,” he said. “They have worked hard and they will continue to work hard because we will hold them to that standard.”

Tift is by far the larger of the two schools, with a much bigger football program, but Tiftarea does have the Blue Devils outnumbered in one category: Seniority. Soliday reported 12 seniors to Littleton’s 11.

Littleton said numbers were high in younger classes, including 46 freshmen (61 sophomores and juniors) and 150 in 6th-8th grades.

Of Blue Devil returning starters, five are on defense and two are on offense. Only one senior plays offense. “We’re very inexperienced, we’re limited in what we can do, but we’re getting better every day and we’re proud of those strides we have made.”