Today’s interviewee is Lovett coach Mike Muschamp, whose team defeated Holy Innocents’ 28-6 on the road last week to improve to 6-0 for the first time since 2000. Lovett’s campus and athletic fields were heavily flooded during Hurricane Helene. This is Muschamp’s 20th season as Lovett’s coach.
1. When you saw the damage at Lovett, what went through your mind and heart? How much damage is there, and how long will it take to get back to normal? “We had the same situation happen back in 2009, and it is as devastating now as it was back then. Just a helpless kind of feeling. Bad things happen to good people all the time. Don’t focus on the thing that happened, rather focus on how you are going to handle what happened. The field was already clear of standing water yesterday before we left to go to Holy Innocents’, which is a lot better than we had it back in 2009. Fortunately, we don’t have a home game again until October 25, so that helps. Our grounds crew will get the game field back in shape, and we’ll come up with a plan until they do.”
2. How did Saturday’s game go? What did you do well? “We started out slowly Saturday. A lot of that had to do with how well Holy Innocents’ played. They are a good team and played hard for the entire contest. The game was a lot closer than the score shows. I think the difference in the game was the big plays that we had that kind of changed the momentum a little. We had a 43-yard touchdown pass and then a 28-yard screen that led to a score, and that gave us some momentum. Then we had the pick six right before halftime to make it 21-6.”
3. Lovett is having a good season. What would you tell people about your team? “We have a really good group. They came together this summer and really bonded during camp. Camp was especially rough due to the heat we had, and we had a bunch of things that happened on campus that made it even more of a challenge. I think that has helped us, one, come together even more, and two, handle the adversity that comes in every game. This flood is just another example of the challenges that we have had to handle. This group has answered in every situation that has been thrown our way so far. We’ve been fortunate to have success through it all. Hungry and humble is our approach, and we will need to be both as we continue through this season.”
4. The Class 3A-A private division is new. What are your thoughts on this setup? What is the ideal solution in your mind, or is this it? “I do think that the GHSA needs to have an investigative branch that investigates all of the transfers. I want to win as badly as the next coach. Our job as coaches is to develop our program and the players in our program so that we have a chance year in and year out to have success. When our quarterback graduates, it is up to us to have developed the next guy, not go get someone else’s quarterback. Our job is to take the guys who show up on July 24 or 25 and make the best team we can from them. Maybe that is naïve, but the current situation, to me, is out of hand. I know that doesn’t answer the question, but I think if we get a handle on the transfer situation, we may be able to get a better grip on reclassification.”
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