A Sweet return to WHS

Media General News Service
Published: August 28, 2008

For four years, Jeremy Sweet was the heart and soul of Waynesboro’s offensive and defensive lines.

After the 2006 season, Sweet graduated, leaving a hole that his proteges were forced to fill. Tonight Sweet will make his return to the Waynesboro sideline, not as a player, but as a coach.

Sweet took over this season as the Little Giants’ line coach, training some players he was on the field with as a teammate two years ago.

“I think it’s good because we played with him and we know what he’s looking for and what he likes,” said Waynesboro senior Jacob Lipscomb.

But the adjustment for Lipscomb wasn’t half as bad as it was for Little Giants center Kendall Sweet — Jeremy’s younger brother.

“It’s completely different,” the younger Sweet said. “When he’s here, he’s coach, and when we’re at home, he’s a brother. I know when I come here it’s time to work. I don’t get special treatment.”

It was a tough adjustment for Jeremy Sweet as well.

“It’s different at practice,” he said. “I have to get on him, but when we get home it’s like, ‘You want to play NCAA?’ Both of us have a good relationship. We know that when we’re at home and when we’re here are two different things.”

Sweet also had to establish his authority with his players. He’s only two years older than the seniors he once played with.

“It’s different … but it’s what I want to do,” he said.

The players like having a younger coach who they know can take a hit.

“It’s nice to have a coach that can show you what he wants done,” Lipscomb said.

Last year, Sweet got a taste of coaching with Waynesboro rival Stuarts Draft. He said that while he learned a lot with the Cougars, he was glad to be back in purple and gold.

“I was appreciative that [Stuarts Draft] coach [Rod] Bowers gave me a call and wanted me to do it,” he said. “Shoot, it’s Draft, but hey, I don’t care. I was more worried about the experience than who it was for.”

Sweet brought with him a love for hard-nosed football, which fits perfectly into Waynesboro’s single-wing offense. He played in two old-style offenses — the wing-T and the triple option — and coached the wing-T at Stuarts Draft.

“I’ve got a lot of different outlooks of the game,” he said. “I try to mix it together with what I’ve been coached and what I learned last year being at a different school. I really like to run the ball. People are going to all these exotic defenses. Well, if you line up in one of those old-style offenses and put it down there throat, unless they’re prepared, there isn’t much they can do.”

Waynesboro has three seniors — Kendall Sweet, Lipscomb and Chaz Crews — up front this season. Sweet is using a four-man rotation that includes sophomores and a freshman to keep the players fresh. Cramping has been an issue for the Little Giants the last two seasons.

“They did a good job last week,” he said. “We just have to work on a few things.”