By: Joe Delaney

TheSouthernSportsEdition.com news services

The Frederica Knights defeated Bulloch Academy 35-20 recently to move to 5-3 on the season.  As a result, the Knights coach Brandon Derrick reached the 100-win plateau in his career. After talking to Coach Derrick, I’m getting the feeling it’s just the start.

I’ve had the pleasure of watching him coach and mentor young men since he came to Glynn Academy as the Offensive Coordinator a dozen or so years ago. He coached my son Preston Delaney as the quarterbacks coach and OC at Glynn. And trust me, Preston absolutely loves the guy. I sat down with Coach last week and had a great conversation.

Brandon told me that while, yes, he was the Head Coach at Frederica he was really in the “kid business”. His real job was getting those young men ready and prepared for life.

He said, “Once you get on the Frederica Family Bus, you’re on it from now on and everyone is welcome”. He told me that sometimes the bus ride can be bumpy with a lot of hard work and some tribulations. But he added that there is a standard at Frederica to be held to and that requires kids to work every day to get a little better at football and life. He said that sometimes holding on to that standard can be tough and you learn more when you lose. But you get better.

Derrick spoke of the early days at McMinn Central in Tennessee where he was the Head Coach from 2006-2008. He took them from a 3-7 record to back-to-back 9-2 seasons. From there it was on to Glynn Academy and finally to Frederica.

The Frederica Coach spoke of the special teams at Frederica and included the 2018 squad with the great Jaylen Simpson. The 2020 state runner up squad and the 2021 team nicknamed the “mean 19”. Yes they only had 19 players!

I put him on the spot and asked who were the top 5 kids he had coached and he immediately told me that they were Jordan Jackson from McMinn, James Dean and Joe Nathan Alford at Glynn. Jaylen Simpson and Jordan Triplett from Frederica. That’s a great top 5!

We went on to talk about all the great high-quality players and kids he has had on the Frederica Bus. Names like Patrick Brunson, Jayshawn Sheffield, Harry Veal, Isiah Jackson and Michael Tindle. The list went on with Will Counts, Deke Jernigan, Josh Meadows, Thomas Veal, Garrett Squire, Brice Riley and Sam Norris. All great players and young men.

What struck me as I left his office was that we hadn’t really talked about the great games, wins and losses. We had mostly talked about the kids.

Brandon Derrick is indeed in the “kids business” and that’s a great big bus he’s driving. The Frederica Academy Knights, players, coaches and fans are very lucky to have him.

Congrats on the first hundred coach!