There is no question that 17 games into the tenure of Tucker head football coach Franklin Stephens, the program is in as good of shape as ever. Tucker is 3-0 this season, and their only loss ever under Stephens came in last year’s state semifinals when the Tigers fell 31-28 to eventual champion Northside-Warner Robins.
But even with the success, Stephens is still growing into the role of head coach.
“It’s probably a lot more responsibility than I thought I would have,” he says.
Stephens came to Tucker after five years at Camden County, spending three as defensive coordinator. A former offensive lineman and a two-time All-American during his playing days at Georgia Southern, Stephens took a defensive mindset even to the offensive side of the ball.
“We were taught to play offensive line like we play defense,” Stephens says. During his first high-school coaching job at Burke County and then later at Camden, Stephens moved into the defensive coordinator role and was influenced greatly by the teams’ head coaches. Burke County head coach Nicky Davis preferred a 4-4 lineup, and that is what Stephens deployed. The situation was similar at Camden County.
“Coach [Jeff] Herron and Coach [Terry] Crowder, who was the previous defensive coordinator, put the 3-3 in place and I kind of ran (with) it,” Stephens says.Using that 3-3 defense, Tucker has shut out their opponents in nine of the 17 games under Stephens.
STEP BY STEP
The two-time defending Class 4A state champions, Northside, will not stand in the Tigers’ way of capturing a title this year, as they have moved to Class 5A. Many are expecting Tucker to fill the void that Northside left behind. Stephens, however, is not concerned with people’s perceptions of how Class 4A will playout.
“As a staff, we’re not worried about what’s down the road, we’re worried about what’s in front of us,” Stephens says. “There are things we have got to emphasize every week and as a team we just want to get better on the things that we’re emphasizing.”
One reason Stephens has employed such tunnel vision is the tough competition the Tigers have to contend with in Region 6B-AAAA. Rival Marist will be tough to beat and Class 3A semifinalist Chamblee has moved up to Class 4A and into Region 6. Southwest DeKalb, Miller Grove and others are also capable of giving the Tigers a battle. “They’re playing very hard,” Stephens says of Miller Grove, Tucker’s opponent this Friday. “They have some very athletic kids, some fast kids that can make a lot of things happen.”
If Tucker is able to brave their schedule and win a state title now that Northside is out of the way, it will be the school’s first-ever football state championship, making Stephens an instant legend. He, however, does not see it that way. “Before I came, Tucker’s program existed and it did well,” he says. “Me and my staff would like to keep that tradition flowing.”
Not only are they keeping it flowing, but expectations for this year’s Tucker team are nearly overflowing.
Butler can be reached at jbutler@scoreatl.com.
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