Terence Hennessy, Thomas Jefferson Academy head coach
Today’s interviewee is Thomas Jefferson Academy coach Terence Hennessy, whose teams have won four consecutive GIAA titles, most recently in Class A. Hennessy’s record at Thomas Jefferson is 46-14. Thomas Jefferson Academy is in Jefferson County.
1. What is football like in GIAA's Class A? “You get great participation from your kids. My school last year had 83 kids in the high school, and 30 of them played football. You get a lot of those kids playing two ways. We had maybe only four kids who didn’t start both ways last year. You also get tremendous support from your school community. Every family at our high school is at our games on Friday nights. I’ve coached at bigger GIAA schools, and we get bigger support than them sometimes. Planning practices can be hard at a smaller school. This year, we have only 20 or 21 players, so we can’t go 11-on-11 except in our preseason scrimmage. If we have a stomach bug go through the school, we might have only 14 or 15. That happened in 2021. We had 14 who could practice until the first game of the regular season.”
2. You inherited a team in 2018 that had gone 3-9, and you've won four state titles in five seasons. How did things turn around? “I was their fourth head coach in five years. I started off telling the seniors that was unfair and sucked for them. Our seniors who won four straight titles were eighth-graders that year. We had a tremendous graduating class. Twelve of the 30 players were seniors. Three or four were four-year starters. Another three or four were three-year starters. It was kids buying in. I learned what I do from three really good head coaches – Jim Walsh and Tommy Brackett at Benedictine and Buddy Sorry, who I worked with at Edmund Burke and Southeast Bulloch. I combined what I learned from them on how to practice and the offseason thing. That was very different for them here, but they continue to buy in. We preach accountability. We have 20 players, and if they’re not at practice, we know where they are.”
3. Tell us about this year's team. What's the scouting report? “It’s going to be very different. We don’t have a single offensive starter who will start at the same position. We have two offensive starters back. Our defense returns four starters, but only one will start in the same position. We have to replace all our specialists. We have only two [returning] seniors. Will McNeely is going to be a four-year starter at center, and as a senior, he’s going to be a fullback. He’s also moving from defensive line to linebacker. Noah Cowart is another senior who’ll start at offensive and defensive tackle. So it’s going to be a growing process, but our team motto is no excuses. When we get to the end of the season, we could still be a pretty good team, but we don’t have the same experience we’ve had the last two, three years.”
4. What would you want people to know about your school and/or the GIAA? “Because we’re smaller, it’s like a family. We have people who’ll help out other people. As a great example last year, there was a helmet shortage, and schools in the GIAA came together to make sure everybody, including our rivals, had the equipment they needed. We don’t always like each other, but at the end of day we love each other and take care of each other. I think that’s what makes my school and association very special.”