ALBANY, GA -- This spring, Dougherty High School hired longtime assistant Corey Joyner to take over the Trojans football program. The hiring in May didn't leave Joyner a long time to put his group in place, but this head coach isn’t thinking about excuses.
Coach Joyner is rebuilding the Trojans snap by snap, but it all starts with the mental game.
“Football is an analytical and critical thinking sport, and in order for that to happen you have to exercise your brain in the class room,” Coach Joyner said.
After five years as a Trojans assistant, the new head coach is putting his stamp on the program in quick fashion.
“It's about intelligence…number one and tempo is the second thing,” Joyner said.
Joyner is placing his knowledge and tempo in to the hands of inexperience-a lot of freshmen and sophomores running the show. Sophomore quarterback Michael Whatley has bought in.
“He's more like a mentor, like somebody you can look up to. He's a good person. He leads as if you lead yourself,” Whatley said.
The attention to detail, the enthusiasm for the game, Joyner believes hard work will turn the Trojan program around. Perhaps, even back to the state title days of 2005.
“That's the thing that I've always brought to the table even when I was only coaching defense, you don't have any choice either you're going to work or you don't play. You're going to do it in school or you don't play,” Joyner said.
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