New Faces, Different Places: Godby’s DeMario Jones ready to meet Cougar Standard

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (WCTV) - Did you know there are 16 new high school head football coaches throughout the Big Bend and South Georgia? In a new segment on WCTV Sports called “New Faces, Different Places”, Ryan Kelly and Dominic Miranda will visit each of the new coaches every night leading up to the season. New Godby Head Coach DeMario Jones was the first installment of the new series.

Coach Jones equates taking over a football program to starting a family. Everything has your imprint on it, the past is the past, and it’s time to start fresh. Yet, he knows with the Godby Cougars, the expectations are high.

“We know here at Godby, there’s a standard. The standard is obviously to do more than make the playoffs--it’s to make a deep playoff run and be in position at the end of the season,” Jones explained, “We’ve tried to attack that standard and apply it to our kids’ lives and make sure they have a plan for when football is over. We feel like if we can reach them with their everyday habits and how they go about their work, that will translate to the football field.”

Sophomore quarterback Christian Sims says the difference is glaring. Jones tells his team he loves them every single day. Sims says that’s meaningful because some players don’t hear that at home. Senior defensive tackle Jeremiah West agrees, saying that coach Jones is a breath of fresh air.

“We have more focus. We also have a better mindset now,” West said, “We’re more focused on character building and preparing for our lives. We’re preparing for football too, but it’s more for what’s after football.”

Speaking of the football field, Jones likes what he sees with the Cougars. They’re big up front, have athleticism all over the field, and Jones is challenging his team to have a “you vs. you” mentality in hopes to have a statement season.

“I’m really, really excited for our kids because everything we do this season--all the successes and failures--will be earned,” Jones concluded, “So, the cream always rises to the top. I don’t want to put any of our kids over the other because I want all of them to be “that guy”. So, I hope everyone is worried about the Cougars.”

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