Today’s interviewee is Lincoln County coach Lee Chomskis, whose 11-0 team will play at home Friday night against No. 1 Manchester in a Class A Division II quarterfinal. Chomskis spent much of his childhood in Lincolnton and was an assistant coach at Lincoln County when the Class A power won its most recent state titles in 2005 and 2006 under coach Larry Campbell, who retired after the 2013 season with a state-record 477 victories and 11 state championships. Chomskis took the Lincoln County job in 2020. His 2022 team won the Red Devils’ first region title in 10 years and made the semifinals. This season’s team achieved the first undefeated regular season since 2011.
1. How do you, the team and the community feel about this year’s success, and what’s the state of the program five years in? “Our team, school and community are very excited to be in the playoffs. We all know the importance of Friday’s game and are certainly excited to get to play at home. Practicing on Thanksgiving week is always an indicator that you are having a good season. As far as the state of the program, we feel that we are in a good place. We have 54 players this season in grades 9-12. We will only graduate five seniors and have fairly large classes in the 11th to ninth grades. Our Pop Warner program has been instrumental in turning things around, and our middle school team has been very successful the last three years.”
2. What’s been the biggest challenge in getting Lincoln County where people in the community believe it ought to be? Were there things that you and your staff focused on there that was a little different than what was needed elsewhere? “There were two main areas that needed addressing when we came to Lincoln County five years ago. First, there was a feeling of division in our community when we arrived. I believe that was caused by a lack of trust of people that were in leadership roles. I also believe that the only way to change that feeling is through time. You cannot win people’s trust overnight. You have to just go to work every day and be consistent. Through time, people will see you for who you are and what you stand for. Secondly, we had a numbers problem. In 2019, there were only 28 football players in the program. We came in in 2020, and we had only 25 players. We have been fortunate to have larger classes coming through lately, which increased our football numbers. This enabled us to play a full JV schedule and allowed our coaches to develop talent in the younger grades.”
3. You coached under Coach Campbell and knew him growing up. He coached your youth baseball team. What separated him as one of the coaching greats in this state, and how is he doing? “Coach Campbell is doing well, raising cattle, watching grandchildren and continuing to support LCHS. It is my belief that Coach Campbell is an incredible leader. He was head coach and athletic director in one place for over 40 years. Think about how many difficult decisions he had to make pertaining to the children of Lincoln County, children whose parents were in the same church, worked at the same school, shopped in the same stores as he and his family. He even had to make decisions about children whose parents worked on the football staff. Through all of that, he built a program of consistent success. You cannot speak about Lincoln County without the name of Larry Campbell being discussed. Coach Campbell has been kind enough to help me since being hired in Lincolnton. He has been very supportive, and I always seek his wisdom on matters about community, discipline, staff and strategy. I am truly blessed to be close enough to Coach Campbell to call him a dear friend. Coach is at all of our ball games and is probably our number one supporter. What a blessing to be around the winningest coach in the history of the state of Georgia.”
4. What do you think about Manchester? What makes them so formidable? “Manchester is an incredible football team. They are very well-coached and play with incredible effort. They have been a state contender for a very long time, but this year’s senior class has had an incredible four-year run. They are loaded with talent in all areas of their team. The toughest defensive group that we have seen thus far this season. Their offense is disciplined and runs the Wing-T very well. They have great team speed and play a very physical brand of football.”
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