Coach ,

We continue our series on learning from champions and this time we focus on how a switch on offense changed everything for our featured 2021 Mississippi state champion.

The Madison-Ridgeland 2021 season ended like it did in 2019 and 2021, with head coach Herbert Davis and his hoisting a state championship trophy. It’s the Patriots third in-a-row and Coach Davis’ sixth in his career. 

He won three at MRA, two at Brookhaven Academy and one at Pillow Academy, and he is the only football coach in Mississippi history to take five schools (MRA, Brookhaven Academy, Pillow, Heritage and Winston) to state championship games. 

That journey over these past three seasons has not been an easy one for Coach Davis. He had to deal with stage 5 kidney disease, then dialysis for seven hours a day waiting for a kidney transplant, and even coached the 2020 season from a lift to minimize the threat of COVID.

In a time where facing adversity at a premium, Coach Davis’ own personal battle with health has provided an incredible example to his players. The strong culture led by a strong coach coupled with some strategic advantages created by the staff have created a perennial power.

Over these three years, there were changes to their offense that sparked this three year title run. He and his staff went about making a switch to how they operate on offense. 

Since they have made what Davis refers to as “the switch,” MRA has excelled at scoring points and putting teams away early.  Davis discusses “the switch”  the results in this video (click on image for video):

In his course “Calling the Perfect Play,” Davis teaches how they use RPO,  “Gas” tempo,  screens and verticals to create explosive plays and put points on the board.

In their vertical 3rd level RPO called “Pepsi” they were 8 of 9, 61% with an average gain of  19 yards.

Here is an example of “Pepsi” (click on image for video):

Receiver’s Coach John Weaver explains the basis of the quick game which becomes part of their RPOs (click on image for video):

The combination of their package and the tempo at which they run it provided the strategic advantage they needed to be able to overcome their rival and win back-to-back-to-back-state championships.

Here are the rest of Mississippi’s state champions:

1A Bay Springs Bulldogs, Head Coach Dan Brady

2A Scott Central Rebels, Head Coach Jeff Stockstill

3A Jefferson Davis Jaguars, Head Coach Lance Mancuso

4A Columbia Wildcats, Head Coach Chip Bilderback

5A Picayue Maroon Tide, Head Coach Cody Stogner

6A Madison Central Jaguars, Head Coach Toby Collums

MAIS

8 Man 1A: Desoto Thunderbirds, Head Coach Sam Pearson

8 Man 2A: Prarieview Academy Spartans, Head Coach Bo Barton

3A Greenville Christian Saints, Head Coach Jon Reed McLendon

4A Tri-County Academy Rebels, Head Coach Philip Wasson

5A Heritage Academy Patriots, Head Coach Sean Harrison

6A Madison-Ridgeland Patriots, Head Coach Herbert Davis

Congratulations to all of the State Champions from the Magnolia State!

Always be growing!

Coach Grabowski