Sean Pender
Pirates Crew
By: Kipp Branch
TheSouthernSportsEdition.com news services
Since February Sean Pender’s new staff has been hard at work at Brunswick High School.
Since that time Pender has started changing the culture at BHS. The offseason conditioning program has been going strong and the Pirates have competed in several 7 on 7 tournaments.
Before the official start of the season let’s take a look at the positional groups of the 2017 Pirates.
Brunswick High Pirates 2017 Preview
By: Kipp Branch
TheSouthernSportsEdition.com news services
To say that there is a lot of excitement on Altama Avenue regarding the 2017 Brunswick High football season would be an understatement.
The anticipation is through the roof. New head coach Sean Pender has the Pirate Nation fired up and with 35 seniors retuning on a talented roster, most loyal Pirates feel like the program can bounce back from back to back dismal seasons.
Let us take a look game by game and predict how the Pirate season will play out.
Glynn Academy and Brunswick High Scrimmage
By: Jason Bishop
TheSouthernSportsEdition.com news services
The Spring Scrimmage has come and gone for the Glynn Academy Red Terrors and the Brunswick High Pirates.
The two squads took advantage of a rule passed by the GHSA allowing a spring scrimmage to be played against another school if so desired.
The cross-town rivals took advantage and played one half of varsity football against one another to a pretty large crowd for a spring scrimmage.
Pirates Dynamic Duo
By: Kipp Branch
TheSouthernSportsEdition.com news services
In comic books you have the dynamic duo Batman and Robin, in sports you had Jordan and Pippen, Shaq and Kobe, and the list goes on and on.
At Brunswick High you have the dynamic duo on the Pirate offensive line returning for their senior years John Cano and Ty Hinson.
Brunswick High Pirates 2017 Preview
By: Kipp Branch
TheSouthernSportsEdition.com news services
On February 1st, 2017 the Sean Pender era started at Brunswick High School. Since that time, Pender has brought a new mind set to Altama Avenue.
Pender’s Promises
By: Kipp Branch
TheSouthernSportsEdition.com news services
Earlier in the month new Brunswick High Football coach Sean Pender spoke to a packed house of Pirate supporters at the Boy’s and Girl’s Club of Glynn.
It was a meet and greet event where Pender got to meet the Pirate fan base for the first time since his hiring.
The Game February 11
SSE Minute February 10
How Good Will Sean Pender Be?
By: Kipp Branch
TheSouthernSportsEdition.com news services
New Pirate head coach Sean Pender has met with his new players and current assistant coaches’ at BHS. The meeting in the words of one of the top returning players was he connects with players, and they loved his plan for the upcoming season, and he knows what he is talking about.
Pender met with the entire team and then met only with the returning seniors for next season. By my count Pender will have seven starters returning on the offensive side of the ball, and seven returning on defense from a talented 5-5 team that underachieved in 2016.
I was fortunate enough to sit down to dinner with him, Athletic Director Steve Waters, Jerry Mancil, Keith Reddings and myself. Pender’s football IQ is off the charts. The man flat out knows the X’s and O’s side of the game of football.
He talked about certain looks a defense will give you and then the amazing part was how they can run 3-4 different plays based on the look. Pender’s offense will create a lot of nightmares in this region in 2017.
Pirate fans can you picture top rated safety Sharrod Frazier in special packages on offense running speed sweeps with 4.48 speed? Not saying this will happen at all, but with anything new comes excitement.
Can you see Jaylen Jackson at WR wreaking havoc on an opposing defense? Can you see DJ Whitfield touching the ball 10-12 times a game on offense? Can you picture RB Shaq Robinson being involved in the passing game? Then once everyone is spread out in space watching Ben McCloud destroy the middle of a defense running between the tackles.
On defense can you see Kam Futch at 225 pounds making 12-15 stops a game with Frazier playing a hybrid LB/S spot drilling an opposing QB?
Exciting times are upon us at Brunswick High School. Pender will get to work fulltime at BHS on February 1st. The off-season program will be implemented and the assistant coaches will be coached up on the offensive and defensive schemes. Pender will start rounding out his football staff as he meets with current assistants and other candidates for potential staff openings.
In 2017 per a new GHSA rule schools can have a spring football game with another opponent. That game is scheduled for May 19th at Glynn County Stadium with opponent to be determined for the Pirates. Between now and the start of Spring Football practice Pender his to get as much of his system in place as fast as he can.
This man drips passion as he talks football and that enthusiasm is contagious. He has a unique way of connecting with players, administration, alumni, and boosters that in just two days has created quite a buzz around the program. My phone has been blowing up with former alumni and players that I have not seen in years asking how to get involved with the program.
Times are exciting again as a buzz surrounds the BHS Football program. The Pirates open the season in August with a road game at Coffee. I bet the Coffee coaches are blowing up the Pierce County Hudl account now trying to watch as much film as they can to try to defend Brunswick.
I can hear the Coffee coaches now saying “How are we going to stop this with the athletes Brunswick has?” Yep that’s your problem 2017 opponents. We’ll meet you at the 50 on Friday Night’s for the coin flip.
Brunswick High Pirates Hire New Coach
By: Jason Bishop
TheSouthernSportsEdition.com news services
Three years ago the Glynn County administration made the decision they wanted both Glynn Academy and Brunswick High to contend every year for state titles. Glynn Academy hired Rocky Hidalgo and that is what Glynn has become, a perennial state title contender.
Two years ago the Brunswick High Pirates made the playoffs and lost in the first round to the Stockbridge Tigers. The administration then made the decision to fire Victor Floyd, who was the BHS coach at the time. One of the reasons given for the decision to let Floyd go was his lack of success in the playoffs.
The Pirates then hired a young and upcoming coach from AA Macon County, Larry Harold. Harold had turned around the Macon County program and was coming off winning a region championship with the Bulldogs.
However, Harold never did duplicate the success he had at Macon County with the Pirates and had a losing record after two years. Larry Harold resigned at the end of this past season.
A search committee was formed to find the next Pirate coach, but not just any coach would do. Remember, the administration wanted both the Glynn and BHS programs to contend for state titles, so hiring the right coach would be paramount this time around.
The job opening received 32 applications from, not only Georgia, but from around the country. The search committee weeded through every application and created an interview list that only consisted of five candidates.
Those five candidates all had a ton of playoff success on their resume and resided over powerhouse programs.
The search committee wrapped up their interviews in a week and have offered the job to the Pierce County coach, Sean Pender; pending approval by the Glynn County Board of Education.
Pender is coming off taking the Bears to the Elite Eight this past season in AAA and has had a ton of success during his time at Pierce. When Pender took the job with the Bears the program was not nearly as respected as it is now under his guidance.
Pender will inherit a much deeper talent pool at Brunswick High than he ever had at Pierce. There is no coach in the state that has done more with less than Sean Pender.
He is an offensive specialist and will make the BHS offense fun to watch, especially with the athletes he will inherit. The Pirates will have 35 seniors return next season and will be positioned to make a deep playoff run with the talent returning.
Sean Pender spent eight seasons at Brantley County going 35-43 for the Blue Herons; one season at Crisp going 4-7 and five seasons at Pierce going 54-18.
