THOMASVILLE — Summer is only two weeks old for the Thomasville Bulldogs football team, but head coach Jonathan DeLay is already seeing the fruits of his team’s labor so far.
“The summer’s been great so far. We’ve really been getting after it in the weight room aspect of it,” DeLay said. “This past week, we threw with Turner County and Lee County. We saw some really good things out of the kids. Plays were being made on both sides of the ball. Some things need to be cleaned up, which is to be expected.”
DeLay continues to use the summer schedule as a way to gauge the competitiveness of his players; whether they are competing in a 7-on-7 tournament, which will be the case this week in Athens, or in practice against each other. It will benefit the team once the season starts and once the team begins Region 1-A Division I play.
“When we don’t do something with another team, we’re practicing ones-on-ones. Just like I said in the spring, that’s probably the best look that we’re going to get all year, I feel like, on both sides of the ball. Both sides are getting a really good look,” DeLay said. “Some of the things I’ve seen in the days we’ve gone this summer against ourselves, it’s not just one group dominating, offense or defense. There are times within one practice when the offense is playing real great and the defense is playing real great. What that means to me is I’ve got two really good units, offense and defense, going against each other, and it just makes them better when they go against another team, whether it be in the summer or during the season.”
DeLay’s team will use this week to continue cleaning up mistakes. The Bulldogs will hold two days of workouts in Thomasville before traveling to the University of Georgia for a 7-on-7 tournament on Thursday.
“We did it last year. To me, it’s one of the best run 7-on-7 tournaments in this area. There’s a reason those guys won back-to-back national championships and were just a couple of plays away last year from it. It’s attention to detail in every single thing that they do,” DeLay said. “That whole organization does a great job. It’s very efficient, and I’m one of those guys that I like efficiency. My kids and coaches will tell you, I like things to run a certain way, and I think they do a good job of that.”