Chad Alligood, Northside (Warner Robins) head coach
Today’s interviewee is Northside of Warner Robins coach Chad Alligood, whose team faces No. 10 Houston County in a Region 1-6A road game tonight at Freedom Field. Northside is 4-2 against a schedule that includes five top-10 opponents. A longtime Northside offensive coordinator, Alligood became head coach in 2020.
Chad Alligood, Northside (Warner Robins) coach
1. How do you feel the season has gone to this point? “We have had to face a lot of adversity so far. We had a player from the 2021 team [Jontel Williams] who was killed in the offseason and a coach [Lee Pope] who lost his daughter [Leanne] in a traffic accident. And you add in a couple of early-season losses with some injuries to key players and that makes for a tough start. But through all of that, this team has grown closer and has learned to fight for each other, and it has made us a better team/family. We started playing our best football three weeks ago when we went on the road and beat a top-10 7A team in North Cobb. Since that win, it has built confidence in our guys, and it shows every day in practice and the last couple of weeks of games.”
2. When you got the Northside job, the team was coming off its first losing season of 28 years. What needed to be fixed from that low point to where you are now? “Most people know that I have been around Northside since 1999. I started here as a ninth-grade coach and left after the 2004 season to become an OC [offensive coordinator] and came back to Northside in 2010 to be the OC and stayed until 2017. So I had seen what made Northside ‘go’ for a long time. When I took over the head coaching position 2020, it was not that anything was broken. It just needed some love put back into the program and everyone understanding that the standard at Northside is very high.
“We have gotten a lot of alumni back involved in the program, and the community support for our players has been unbelievable. We have 30 players on the team that I have coached or taught their parents, so this makes for a great family atmosphere. Everyone knows me and what I feel about Northside and this community. It is the best school/community I have had the privilege to work in.
“We also started a program called Life Wednesday. During the winter semester and summer, we teach life lessons on Wednesdays. We dress up. The community has donated so many clothes for our guys who may not have any. We teach them some of the following skills – change oil in car, proper introductions and handshakes, social media use, how to treat a lady, SAT/ACT prep, among a host of other things. This has shown the community that we truly care about their kids and the future we want for them.”
3. Do you feel the current team is better than the 2021 team that made the quarterfinals? What do you feel you do well, and what are the question marks? “I never compare teams from year to the next because there are so many variables. The belief that this group has in themselves is what you want as a coach. The leadership from some of our key players has been outstanding, and this group wants to win. We are playing some of the best defense that's been played here in a long time. That allows you to overcome some things in the other parts of the game. We have a lot of experience on the offensive side of the ball, and this has helped us to get more creative with some things. Out team motto is ‘It Matters!’ Our players understand that everything they do from the time they get up in the morning matters and affects the success of themselves and this team. We still are trying to find a little more depth in some spots and hoping some players keep developing to help us in the second half of the season.”
4. What are the main challenges that Houston County presents that might make them a little different from other good teams you’ve played this season? “Their big-play ability is the best we have seen so far. They throw the deep ball as good as any team. Also, they are another county game. That always carries a little more weight than some of the other games we have played this year. It being game two in the region raises the stakes, also.”