by Matt Cooke
When I arrived at the University of West Georgia in the fall of 2001, we had one of the top football programs in the southeast. UWG was a name to be feared in all facets of the game and we had the All-Americans to prove it. We had eight straight seasons of eight wins or more and we had tradition.
That fall, West Georgia put a team on the field that featured Nate Coggins and Marquis Floyd, each two-time All-Americans. In the offensive backfield, there was Nick Price, another All-American. And the first game that I saw UWG play was against Arkansas-Monticello, and we wore them slap out all afternoon long at Grisham Stadium.
But then we went into a period of dark years in football at West Georgia. From 2002-2007, we didn’t win a lot of games and we were always considered a dangerous team in every facet of the game except in the win-loss column.
Enter Daryl Dickey, who turned the program around, albeit not as fast as some people would like, but the program is in a different place in 2014 than it was when he walked through the doors in 2008. We opened University Stadium and for many a game in the first five years of one of the best venues in the southeast, the place was rockin'.
But now there is a new man in the head coach’s chair. Will Hall, the newest head coach in the UWG Athletic Department, is known for running a high-octane program at West Alabama as well as for his sense of fashion. On the sidelines, Will wears a tie and a sweater vest.
By all indications through the first few weeks of practice, that is exactly what he is going to bring to Carrollton. For goodness sakes, even his practices are fun to watch. When you go to a Will Hall practice, there is music playing, coaches yelling and everyone is going somewhere “on the hop.” (That means running, for those of you who might not have played.)
The spring game is April 11 and that will be the first glimpse that a great number of Wolves fans have at the new UWG. At that game, fans will have the opportunity to make a contribution and jump on the wagon with season tickets earlier than ever before.
Bigger and brighter days are on the way, and you may want to get your season tickets early for this coming season. You never know what kinds of new traditions will be started once the vest hits the sideline for his first year in University Stadium. And I can tell you this, the place will be rockin' once again.
