Soon after the Greenwood Bulldogs concluded their final spring practice, this Dog Pound writer sat down with newly installed Head Coach Jason Gill for a wide-ranging conversation, the highlights of which are included in this article. Besides discussing his team’s nine early morning practices, the cancellation of the spring game, and a quick overview of his top returning players for the 2026 season, Gill also talked about his revamped staff with two new coaches on the varsity staff and two more on the junior high level.
When and why did you cancel the spring game?
“We did it Wednesday morning. We were watching the weather, and I wanted to get our [final] practice in. So I just made the decision that we were going to [cancel], and we got [our practice] in. If we had waited and it stormed – I just didn't want to miss that practice. Thursday was going to be our last practice. So I was going to make sure it was actually a practice. We just kind of treated it as the spring game. We put it out on social media that we had changed it to that morning and anybody that wanted to come out could come, but we were starting at 6 a.m.
What about injuries this spring?
“We came out of [spring ball healthy], except for one kid, and we probably lost him for at least half of the season,” said the coach. “Griffin Mourton – I think it was the second practice – had a foot injury and had surgery this week. He'll be out four to five months. We don't know exactly. It depends on how his rehab goes. This was his senior year, and he was looking good in the off-season and spring, and he would have been battling for a starting spot. He was in the mix. He's really a hybrid linebacker/defensive end kid. It's what we call our “Joker” position. But he was in the running for a lot of playing time, and it's just unfortunate.”
How many players do we have?
“We lost only one kid,” said Gill. “He's moving on from the program. But we have good numbers. In fact, I don't know if we've ever started the summer with 106 kids. It’s certainly been a while. I think it probably goes back to Coach Jones. We've been in the mid-90s. We usually lose some in the spring, and we didn't. We lost just one. We might lose some over the summer, but right now they are still with us.”
How many spring practices did you have?
“We did nine or three a week,” the coach confirmed. “We didn't do the tenth one, and we went roughly about 90 minutes each time. We went from 6 to 7:30 every morning. The last 10 minutes were special teams’ stuff, so we'd send half of the kids to get showered and get to class, then the rest of the kids would come up.”
The coach added that his Bulldogs were able to practice outdoors in Smith-Robinson Stadium every day except for one. The last Wednesday was a rain day, prompting the head coach to call off the Thursday evening spring game to avoid a bad weather forecast in favor of another early morning practice. “As it turned out, it didn't rain [that] night. I rolled the dice and it didn't work out,” admitted the coach.
How did the players react to no spring game?
“I thought we were as upbeat as we could be at 6 o'clock in the morning,” he continued. “They were excited. They flew around and we let them hit a little bit more. I think it was just about as good as if we'd had it in the evening. I don't think it was any different. It was a good practice. The difference was there weren't many parents or grandparents in the stands. We probably had 20 parents when it started. There might have been more after that. But about the time we got started, we had about 20 dads (or granddads) hanging around watching.”
How did QB Cruz Coatney perform this spring?
“I think he had an awesome spring,” said his head coach. “That's one of the holes we’ve got to fill. Kane [Archer] is gone and I think Cruz has stepped in [well]. I mean, his knowledge of our offense, and he's just a competitor. He’s watching film with [co-offensive coordinator] [Stephen] Hogan. He's always in the office, just trying to get better. He's doing a lot of things that we saw Kane do, and he did a lot of that stuff last year as a backup.
“I just remember Coach Hogan raving about how you wouldn't have known he was the backup. He's always treating it like he was the starter. In our little “spring game” the other morning he didn't turn the ball over and he made great decisions. He looked like he was going where he needed to with the ball. I couldn't be happier with that guy.”
Like several other multi-sports athletes on the squad, Coatney missed some practice time this spring due to his participation in Bulldogs’ baseball, which reached the quarterfinals of the state tournament in mid-May. Others who missed time on the gridiron include Ty Holt, Cooper Webb, Ty Karnes, Brayden Brewer, Brayden Renick, and more.
As for the 2026 backup at quarterback, there may be multiple candidates, but the new Bulldogs’ head coach played it coy when addressing the issue, unwilling to name a clear #2 behind center. Joey Young is moving up from junior high but needs to mature physically and in his knowledge of the game and the GHS offense. It’s likely an older more experienced player will take snaps in the pre-season to be ready in case of an injury to Coatney.
Was your final spring practice structured differently?
“We scrimmaged more,” said Gill. “There was a lot more scrimmaging. We did ones against ones, twos against twos, and threes against threes. We never went ones against twos or anything like that. It was best on best. We mixed a few of our twos in with the ones just to see them against some better competition. But our #1 offense went against our #1 defense, our #2 offense went against our #2 defense, and then #3 versus #3.”
Talk about the O-line, especially the center position?
“I think there's about two or three guys battling for that [center] spot right now,” said the coach of the position held down the last three seasons by the college-bound (Henderson State) Akira Fujibayashi. “It's undetermined, but there’s Ethan Shumate, a senior who’s been playing some center. Aden Brazel is a junior and [junior] Matthew Craven, Jr. They've all been rotating, and then another tenth grader, Avery Shavalier. They've been rotating in, but I think it will end up between Brazel, Craven, and Shumate, one of those three. I think Coach [Austin] Moreton feels good about it. He's got six, seven, or eight linemen there. Robert Wirth is also in the mix.”
The Bulldogs have three starters returning on the offensive line, forming a solid foundation for another strong unit. Hal Davis is back along with Alex Vanderwatt and Jaxen Cepeda. The head coach confirmed that the other two starting jobs will go to two of the three older players battling for the center position.
“You could probably throw the Wirth kid in there too. He had a really good spring. Cepeda was injured and probably [missed] the last three practices,” said Gill. It was recently announced that Cepeda has received a football scholarship offer from the Ole Miss Rebels of the SEC, quite an accomplishment for a player with two more years of high school eligibility remaining.
What about your wealth of talented receivers?
“We’ve got senior Brayden Renick back, and he had a great season last year. He kind of came out of nowhere. They had a great run in baseball, so we didn't see him a lot in the spring and he's had a little injury. But we're excited about him being back. We’ve got Braxton Canada. He's going to be a junior and he's dynamic. He can make things happen. Cooper Webb is a senior and the same as Renick. He played a lot of baseball and he's back. He had an injury last year that sidelined him for about half the season. But he's a big target out there.
“We're also excited to have Ty Holt,” added Gill. “He's going to come back out for football. He had a good [final practice]. With Renick being out they got to throw him the ball a little bit more and see what he could do. Then we have Ty Karnes coming up from the ninth grade. He had a good spring. Aysen Dawson will be a junior and had a great spring. The offensive coaches have been impressed with him. We’ve got Lawson Leath back, Jadin Mills, and Will Houston. There's a lot of guys. Ryan Ross is a receiver coming up from junior high. I think that's it, but that is a bunch. They probably have five or six guys that are going to play on Friday night and then we have four or five guys that we're excited about their futures. They're younger kids, but we're excited about the future of our receivers.”
How have the running backs looked this spring?
“I’ve been impressed with [senior] Mario Dunbar,” said the coach. “He’s back and he set our squat record. It's kind of weird. Both of the guys we’re counting on set new school records in their weight classes. But Mario has gotten thicker and stronger. He's probably about 200 pounds. He's solid. Then there’s [senior] Rhett Holloway. We moved him at the end of the playoffs to scout running back, and he's looked awesome this spring. He’s a little guy, but he also set the school record in the bench press. He's doing an awesome job. He's falling forward and he's physical. Then we have Drake Little back. He's going to be a junior and he's been getting good reps there. He's a kid that could line up anywhere on offense and play any position. They played him some at receiver, and all three of those guys can catch the ball out of the backfield.”
How do you feel about your 2026 defense?
Gill plans to continue leading the defense himself as his own coordinator, just as his predecessor, Chris Young, also coached the wide receivers. “I'm going to see how it goes, and if I need to delegate, I will, but I don't see me having to do so,” he said. “There are going to be some things I might have to give to my assistant coaches, but I'm just going to see where that goes.”
The former Broyles Award winner for the state’s top assistant coach flashed back to his days at Mansfield, his only other head coaching job. He was one of just three coaches on staff, so Greenwood is a huge step up with seven assistants to support him.
”It’s a totally different animal,” he acknowledged. “We only had three coaches, so there was no time to do anything. I was there from 2006 to 2012.”
Yet despite a lack of coaching support and resources, Gill managed to have three 10-win seasons, earning a conference championship, and reached the playoffs all three years, winning nearly 50 games in his seven seasons with the Tigers before Coach Rick Jones hired him at Greenwood.
As for 2026, Gill claims to have five or six defensive starters returning, headlined by junior Bryer Hackler coming back at linebacker. Thomas Newcity played a lot last season at safety and Gunnar Flanary at linebacker. Jacob Berry returns at defensive end, but has battled injuries the past two seasons, limiting his huge potential. Charlie Hudnall is also back on the defensive line with Brock Shephard returning at linebacker. Drew Dickinson's also returns after playing a lot as a sophomore at linebacker.
“We’re excited about them,” said Gill. “We looked pretty good in the spring. We're still trying to find some guys who can play in the secondary. But overall, I’m pleased with how the spring went with them. We were able to do a little bit more than we did last year because we were so young [back then]. Not only do they have another year of experience under their belts, but they're bigger and stronger because they're still growing. Drew Dickinson is one of the guys that's changed his body in the weight room. Shepard, Flannery, Newcity – those guys have really put on some muscle and look really good going into next season. They look like our front sevens we've had in the past.”
What about your kicking game and special teams?
“Landon Franklin is back from last year and we have Grayson Cobbler up from junior high” recalled the coach. “He put [the ball] in the box in junior high. So he's got a strong leg. He's going to be able to push Landon and keep him on his toes. But we feel very comfortable at kicker.”
Asked about punting, which the Bulldogs seldom do, Gill said there are multiple options, including last year’s punter, Braxton Canada. “That'll be up to Coach [Josh] Holloway, but right now I would say Landon punts the ball well. But Braxton being back there is just different. They’ve got to honor him, or he might take off and run with the football. But yeah, he does a good job and has a strong leg back there.”
Canada is also a prime candidate to return kickoffs and/or punts because he is so dynamic after the catch. “I think we'll put him back there. We want him to have the ball in his hands as many times as we can. But we have four or five kids that we could put back there. Coach Holloway will find the guys that we need to get back there. The main thing is somebody that can secure the football. We didn't see the ball turned over that much this spring.”
As for tackling during spring practice, Coach Gill indicated they remained careful while ramping up the contact a little. “Coach Young over the last few years has started letting us go a little bit more, as live as you can get in practice. We try to go as physical as we can and keep people healthy. We really emphasized not throwing people to the ground, not taking blind shots, those kind of plays that can injure somebody, and we came out of spring pretty healthy.”
Any changes to the summer schedule?
“No. Coach Young put that thing out in January and we're trying to stick with it,” said Gill. It hasn’t changed much over the last 10 years. It works, so no, there’s no point changing it. We're still going to do a few 7-on-7s.
We have three or four team camps we're going to attend. FASDOGS starts July 6th. The father-son retreat, Moms 101, stuff we've been doing here for years. The dead period will start July 21st. But we’ll give our kids off [starting] June 12th and we won't see them again until FASDOGS on July 6th. The AAA says two weeks, but we give them three.
“It will give those guys three weeks to get recharged. We want those kids to get out of here and go be kids for three weeks. We ask a lot from them. We pretty much go from July to December, and then we take a month off, and then we're back at it from January to June.” It will also give the coaching staff some time away to be with their families and take vacations before the pre-season work begins in earnest.
What about your new staff members?
As the interview came to a close, Gill talked about the four new football hires this spring, two on the varsity staff and two on the junior high level. Former junior high head coach Luke Hales was promoted to coach the varsity receivers while his former defensive coordinator, Brandon Godfrey, was promoted to coach the varsity safeties. On the junior high staff, Parker Gill, the coach’s son, will take over the ninth-grade defense after coaching last season at Alma. Replacing Hales and leading the junior high program now is Cory Chambers, most recently the junior high head coach at Van Buren.
“Coach Godfrey came up in February or March, and he's done an awesome job. He also did an awesome job with the junior high. They had some great defenses down there. He's going to be coaching safeties for us. Then Coach Hales has been around here for so long. It's not anything new to him. That's what's awesome. We've been blessed here. We're just moving guys up that have been in the system. There’s nothing really changing here. A lot of times when you have a head coaching change, you have all new staff and a new system, but that's not the case here. I think that's what makes us unique here. We just keep the same system and try to not mess it up,” said Gill.