Sitting with Barney Hester: Tempering expectations, but bring back what worked (with video)
By Michael A. Lough
The Sports Report
centralgasports@gmail.com
The season was weeks away, and full practice wasn’t very old.
He had been gone for a dozen years, leaving for Howard, then Bibb County public-school athletics, and then retirement.
Just when he thought he was out, the game and school dragged him back in.
That was in early January, the culmination of a well-kept secret.
For all intents and purposes, Barney Hester was home on afternoon in late July when he sat his old office at the end of a hallway at Tattnall.
That hallway led to a place Hester knows well, so well – and much to his chagrin – that he’ll walk out onto turf at Jack Baynes Field at Barney Hester Stadium on Friday night for the first time as Tattnall’s new head coach.
Again.
The Trojans host George Walton in their home opener, with the naming dedication to take place before kickoff.
And Hester will feel appreciative and humbled and almost annoyed the entire time. When Tattnall decided to do the inevitable, then-head coach John Abernathy was a few months away from resigning and creating an opening.
Hester was named in January to replace the third head coach at Tattnall since he left. And in a rarity, he’s been unable to talk powers that be into pulling the new name back until he’s really done.
He’s used to adjusting, though. The part of the Tattnall fan base that expects Hester’s magic touch to show itself better be patient.
“I think most people realize what we lost and what we’ve got coming back,” Hester said. “I don’t think that’s an issue.
“I have not talked to anybody thinking that that we're going to be world beaters. I just have. I think people realize where we are.”
Certainly the 0-2 start in which Tattnall has been outscored 77-12 has taken care of that. That’s more points than a Hester team at Tattnall allowed three times during his first run. At this point, Hester second first team will have to get sharper soon to match the 6-4 record of his first Tattnall team, back in 1982.
But Hester’s outlook hasn’t changed.
“Our goal every year is got to be win the last game of the season,” he said. “I mean, it's got to be. And you know, who knows? Who knows? That ball bounces funny, man.
“I mean, who knows? You can have a one of those games you're not supposed to win and turn everything around and kids play over the head.”
Hester doesn’t like to discuss age, but few would argue that the only difference between the one who last sat in that office a dozen years ago and the one who’s back in it now is some grayer hair, and maybe a few more facial lines.
But figuratively and literally, he hasn’t lost a step, physically or mentally. The sharpness and intensity in his words remain.
“I don’t feel any different than I did when I was here before,” he said. “I really and truly don’t. I’m sure I am.
“I feel just as energized as I did back then. Maybe more energized, quite honestly.”
The football philosophy? No reason to change. It worked at Georgia Southern, and it worked at Tattnall, after experimentation and youthful confidence at Gordon-Ivey and Josey.
“I thought I knew everything about offense,” Hester said of the early days, before he spent a year at Georgia Southern under Erk Russell. “I mean, I had every play for everything. Every defense and man, we just had a bunch of plays and we were going to be great.”
On to Statesboro, and quite the classroom.
“One thing I learned was, you get you two or three good plays, get you several passing plays, and you learn to execute those run plays, and you'll beat folks by out-executing (them),” Hester said. “People knew. People knew what we were going to do. I guarantee you, we never went into a game where people didn't know what we were going to do.”
The period before games from 5:30 to 6:45 still drives him crazy, and it takes forever. He’ll have had a calm Thursday night, Hester and his staff having done all they can do.
That 0-2 start might lead to a little more restlessness, but not much.
Hester will counter impatience with patience. He’s changing little of what worked so well, but has to change more than he’s used to because he has new players, a smaller roster than he’s used to, some changes in the game, and a new staff.
“I hope we have enough talent to compete,” he said. “As long as you can compete, you got a chance to win.”