Michael replaces Free as Edgewood football coach
Chad Michael, seen here with Macon East head coach Glyn Lott, was tabbed as the new head football coach at Edgewood Academy. (Tim Gayle)
By TIM GAYLE
Edgewood Academy fans might not know a lot about Chad Michael, but the Wildcats’ new football coach and athletic director knows plenty about Edgewood.
“Edgewood, to me, has always been a top five job in AISA,” Michael said. “When it came open a few years ago, I was very interested but they hired coach (Darryl) Free rather quickly. When it came open this time, I was able to get in touch with Mr. (Jay) Adams (Edgewood headmaster) as quick as I could before the search started.
“It’s in a great place, they have great support there. Playing them the last few years in all sports, watching the way their fans travel and support their school, it’s a great atmosphere they produce for Edgewood.”
Michael has spent the last three years watching the resurgence of Edgewood while he was helping Macon East Academy head coach Glynn Lott create a resurgence at Macon East.
Michael has helped Macon East compile a 26-8 record as Lott’s offensive coordinator over the past three years, including a 11-2 record at home during that span, with one of those losses coming last year in a 70-69 double-overtime thriller to Edgewood.
Michael will replace Free, who led the Wildcats to a 17-7 record over the past two years. Free took a job two weeks ago as a head basketball coach and assistant football coach at W.S. Neal.
Michael held his first meeting with the players on Tuesday.
“One of the first things I told them is you’ve got to understand a little bit about me,” he said. “I don’t golf, I don’t hunt, I don’t fish, I don’t have any hobbies. Football is my job, it’s my hobby, it’s my passion.”
Michael said there will be no changes to Edgewood’s offensive philosophy, but he has some ideas about changes on defense.
“I know the roster, playing against them the past few years,” he said. “They have some great seniors there that are very talented and very good assistant coaches who have been there a long time. Offensively, we’re going to do a lot of the same things they’ve done, we’re not going to change terminology because we’re so late in the game (heading into the 2020 season). We’re going to try to keep things the same offensively; we may tweak some things here and there that I’ve had success with.
“Defensively, we’re going to go more with my style of coverage. It’s going to be different from what they’re used to. We’ll start installing things on Monday. By the time we get to the first week of preparing for a game, we will have been doing it for six weeks.”
Michael’s first coaching stint lasted two years with Hooper Academy in 2015 and 2016. Michael’s debut, as Steve McCord had faced a year earlier, was against one of the most brutal schedules in the state. Michael, like McCord, went 1-9. The next year, the Colts improved dramatically against the AAA schedule and Michael went 4-6, then left for Macon East Academy.
“It prepares you,” Michael said. “The first time as a head coach, there are things you don’t know you’re getting into, the different events that come up that you have to deal with, that you don’t deal with as an assistant coach. As a head coach, it’s 25 percent dealing with football and 75 percent dealing with other issues.”
He landed quickly at Macon East Academy and has served there the last three years under Lott as the Knights’ offensive coordinator, gradually taking on more duties as a director of football operations to allow Lott to concentrate on his duties as the school’s headmaster.
“Coach Lott allowed me to do a lot within that program,” Michael said. “I’m very appreciative of him and the things he allowed me to do and the things I was able to learn from him. It was a tough decision (to leave). Leaving that group of seniors, I’ve coached them since they were freshmen and they’re a special group that is going to do special things this year. It was just a decision we prayed about and felt God had opened a door for us that we couldn’t close.”