WIGFIELD: ‘We ran into a buzzsaw,’ MGM’s Zach Golson says, but future remains bright

Mary G. Montgomery coach Zach Golson is 21-3 in the last two seasons with two straight 7A Region 1 titles, making him a highly attractive prospect for coaching vacancies at top programs statewide, including Prattville. But he indicated he is happy at MGM. “We’re in the middle of building something we think is special and I’m enjoying what I’m doing,” he said. “I really, really feel like we’re where we’re supposed to be.” (Helen Joyce/Call News)

 

 

Two things happened last week that made Mary G. Montgomery fans nervous. One, the Vikings lost to Vestavia Hills 42-21 in the first round of the Class 7A playoffs, a thorough beating nobody saw coming. And two, Prattville fired its coach.

Lest anyone needs reminding, MGM coach Zach Golson, the man who rose the Vikings from the dust and made them relevant, is from Prattville, which covets a coach to return the program to glory. The Lions won four state championships from 2006-2011 between Golson’s mentor, Bill Clark, and Jamey DuBose and appeared in the finals two other times.

But MGM aficionados can rest easy, at least for now, for it’s highly improbable that Year One A.G. (After Golson) is about to start.

For one, Golson isn’t interested in lateral moves.

“I’ve said from Day One that my hope and my dream, my next situation, is to coach in college,” he said.

Prattville is also in a county school system, as is MGM, and Golson would merely be trading many of the same plusses, deficiencies and needs from here to there. Any offer from Prattville, if it comes, or anywhere else “would have to be overwhelming,” he said.

Probably the most anxiety-inducing pastime in Semmes is trying to gauge how long Golson will stay there, for anyone who is that successful will be sought by other schools.

“Anytime you have opportunities, you’re always going to listen to what people have to say,” he said.

What stirs him is his desire to build an elite Class 7A program which contends for a Blue Map every season. He is doing that in Semmes despite an annual budget of $100,000 and modest facilities that are far from the high-end headquarters at Thompson, Hoover, Auburn and Vestavia Hills.

Vestavia Hills’ 2024 football budget is $482,150, including $30,000 for protein four days a week year-round and breakfast for its players in the offseason. Another $5,000 went for pregame and halftime snacks. By contrast, the Vikings were eating on $12,000 this year. Pregame meals are donated.

Those are some of the benefits of operating a football program in a city school system. There is no doubt if the City of Semmes commits to one, Golson will stay long term, secure in the comforts of all the resources he needs to make MGM a perennial state championship-caliber team. The best 7A organizations have superb nutrition programs, full-time strength coaches, top-flight facilities and coaches who can study scrupulously arranged digital breakdowns of their team and their opponents 48 hours a day if they choose.

As it is, Golson said he is happy where he is.

“We love living on the coast and God’s got a plan for us,” Golson said. “So, we’re just going to try to keep seeking that every day. We’re in the middle of building something we think is special and I’m enjoying what I’m doing. I really, really feel like we’re where we’re supposed to be.”

It says a lot for what Golson has accomplished when a program that went 20 years without a winning season before he arrived is disappointed in a 9-2 finish.

“This group certainly believed they were supposed to win every game that we walked out there,” he said. “I hate it for the guys. We ran into a bit of a buzzsaw.”

Golson said his players weren’t overconfident, given that Vestavia Hills is probably the best 5-5 team in the state.

“We knew what we were getting into,” he said. “The kids had a great week of practice. They were very focused. Tip your hat to Vestavia Hills. They found the weak spots. They were basically flawless. They knew exactly where to go, they knew exactly who to attack, the routes to attack us with. It was flawless coaching, flawless execution. And they were just knocking us off the ball. I wasn’t expecting that.”

Each of Golson’s three Mary Montgomery teams were different. The first one had nowhere to go but up. The second one had 18 senior starters. The third one featured a roster reset and was perhaps the most physically talented of the three but also the most immature, leading to discipline issues.

Golson referenced the problem after a 34-31 overtime victory against Baker.

“There’s a lot of things we gotta get fixed if we want make any kind of run in the playoffs,” he said. “We do have a good team, we’re talented, but we’ve gotta cut out penalties. I think the refs are already conscious that we’re a little chippy and we’ve just gotta cut that.”

Golson said his younger players must be accountable and value unselfishness.

“The majority of our guys that are playing are underclassmen,” he said. “Leadership is a challenge. Since Day One, we were going to be a coach-led team and I told our guys early that we had to kind of reset that.”

Golson saw some maturity develop late in the season.

“I think that we played probably our most disciplined game, our most focused game of the year, against Vestavia but it just gets back to the core of who you are, the details and all the little things that over time add up,” he said. “I wouldn’t say that had anything to do with the loss, to be honest. … We were a young football team. They made a lot of mistakes. It wasn’t pretty a lot. But the growth that we’ve seen in this group has been really, really strong. I think that gives us a lot to build on, especially going into next year.”

Golson makes no apologies for the aggressive style he teaches but his players are learning how far to push it.

“We’re always going to toe the line when it comes to playing physical,” he said. “It’s a gladiator game. We’re never going to back down from anybody. But as far as playing between the whistles and our brand of wanting to be that team that plays the game the right way and treats people the right way, we want to be that. It’s certainly a fine line sometimes but that’s part of what we’re trying to teach our kids. Through the game of football, (you learn) how to walk that line, to not back down from anybody but still do it in a respectful way.”

Talent, experience and discipline could intersect next year, when the Vikings return 16 starters, led by senior dual-threat quarterback Shondell Harris.

“It should be a fun year,” Golson said. “I feel great about our foundation. Shondell is going to be unbelievable. He’s already a great kid, a great player. The growth that we’ve seen from him since his freshman year has been astronomical. I expect more of the same — more improvement, bigger, faster, stronger and a year of experience under his belt at that position is only going to help him.”

But Golson said he still faces a quandary about playing Harris and fellow two-way star Devin Pettway both ways, a necessary but unpreferable option, especially since he feels Harris is an SEC-level defensive back.

“Shondell’s a lot of fun to watch on defense, too,” Golson said. “Either way that unfolds, he’s going to be a great player for us. He’s got to touch the ball a lot.”

Whatever form that takes, Golson said none of his players can be content.

“These guys have got to show up to work throughout the offseason because when you look around, people aren’t going backwards,” he said. “The competition is getting stronger.”