Each week, five high school coaches will discuss one issue that affects Georgia high school sports. | Last week: Coaching pressures
At Issue: The Georgia High School Association has introduced several rules in an effort to slow the transfer trend in high school sports, but one fact remains: If parents and players want to make bona fide moves into a district to play for successful coaches and programs, there's little from a legal standpoint that can be done. And parents and players continue to move. It's the classic scenario of the rich getting richer, top players leaving lesser programs and creating an uneven playing field in high school sports.
With that in mind, is there anything that can be done to slow the transfer process?
The Skinny: Bremen football coach Davis Russell grew up with football in his blood, and if there was ever a coach with football in his DNA, it's him.
His grandfather was Erk Russell, the legendary UGA defensive coordinator from 1964-1980 who coined the term “Junkyard Dawgs” after speaking with a fan about his under-sized defense.
The younger Russell has been at Bremen since 2016 and led the Blue Devils to second-round playoff finishes in 2016, 2018 and last season. The small community of Bremen — 50 miles west of Atlanta — has not felt the impact of the transfer trend.
Bremen just has that home-town feel, Russell said.
“It means a lot to these kids to be Blue Devils,” he said. “And when you're doing a lot of transferring and that stuff, it kind of takes that purity out of it.”
Russell: "We've kind of been in a bubble when it comes to transfers. When you start filling the team with transfers, the pride of playing for that hometown isn't as big of a deal. The beautiful thing about Bremen is that ... well, my little boy is 4, and he plays tee ball ... Bremen Black. My little girl is 6 and she plays softball ... all that Bremen Blue. And they grow up being Bremen Blue Devils. It means a lot to these kids to be Blue Devils.
“You got to trust the Georgia High School Association’s rules, and if a kid does it right, you gotta live with it because that's what the rules say. For me, I trust Georgia High School Association as our governing body. There’s always a stink that is going to be made (with transfers) because the coach of a team where someone leaves, that coach might be bitter. Fortunately for me, we haven’t had that. We haven’t had a kid leave. I know of some (coaches), the type of player that they’ve ‘let’ leave, has cost them their job. (Think about how it is) if you’re a Class A school and your job is dependent upon wins and losses, and your two best players transfer elsewhere. Two players in Class A is a huge deal when you’re talking about schools where you have guys play both ways. You have people like that leave your program, that’s the difference in four or five wins. That’s huge.
“The people who are doing it illegally are the ones who get the black hat. And shame on those folks for giving the transfer stuff a black eye. Shame on the coaches who try to cheat to get players. That’s not what this game is about. That’s not what high school sports are about. If there’s one thing about what we are going through right now that may be a silver lining, there’s probably not going to be as much of that stuff this time. There’s nothing good going on in our world right now, but maybe in high school football there won’t be as much of the flipping and flopping and moves in schools because people are having downtime right now to play with their families and hang out and really appreciate what they’ve got.”
AT ISSUE: High school transfers
• Robin Hines, GHSA executive director
• Brandon Lindsey, Johnson-Savannah girls basketball coach
• Jason Carrera, Meadowcreek football coach
• Daniel Brunner, Walton football coach
• Davis Russell, Bremen football coach
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