Tift County isn’t the Tift County of old. When I first got in the business, Gene Brodey was running things and the Blue Devils were a strong, tough, hard-hitting bunch that would knock your d!ck in the dirt. They were always well-coached. When Brodey retired, they hired Eddie Feeley from Florida who had a stroke before the season and the team fell apart under the interim, Gerry Riopelle, and the program hasn’t really been the same since, save a few teams here and there.
I have met Coach Anders, who seems like a nice guy, and the Devils were physical when we played them, but they were pretty one-dimensional offensively and have been in the shadow of Lowndes, Valdosta, and other similar sized schools / traditional rivals. Seems like there were some political issues as well. I believe a lot of the old guard aren’t happy, so there will likely be change.
If your son enjoys the game, I hope he will keep playing and I also hope Tift’s proud tradition will return quickly. There’s a lot to learn about life on the football field. Getting up when you get knocked down, working hard when you might not feel like it, and learning to be reliable (do your job / be accountable) have helped me for 40-some odd years. Good luck to your son and the Blue Devils moving forward.