Adam Fossett focusing on discipline in first year at Smiths Station

Adam Fossett knew he wanted to be a football coach early on in his high school career.

As a sophomore at Lamar County High in Georgia, he was working on the defensive line with a coach who was particularly tough on him. Every day Fossett would put out what he thought was a good effort, and every day his coach would get after him.

One day, after practice the coach put his arm around him.

“He told me he believed in me,” said Fossett, who is beginning his first season as Smiths Station’s head coach. “He took the time to push me and get on to me and then show me some love afterwards. There was just something about it. I knew I wanted to be coaching to affect kids and help them grow.”

That’s what he’s been doing for more than a decade, the previous eight years as a head coach at Winterboro (2008-11) and Childersburg (2012-15). That’s what he hopes to continue with the Panthers.

Upon arriving in Smiths Station, Fossett immediately made a couple changes, the most drastic of which was the early call time for summer workouts.

Three days a week at 6:30 a.m., his players are expected to be in the weight room or on the field, ready to improve. Any who don’t make it on time get their name on the board.

“And you don’t want to be that guy,” Fossett said. “They know the consequences involved.”

There was some resistance at first. Players couldn’t make it on time, and when they did they weren’t exactly perky.

“It was like pulling teeth,” Fossett said candidly.

But, over time, he said, the players responded to the new schedule. The number of stragglers dwindled and, on Wednesday, players were notably chipper as they finished their workouts and headed home for the day.

Fossett said it all goes back to what he learned from his high school coach: Discipline.

“Life is about adversity,” he said. “I want to give them some adversity up front and see how they handle it. Give them some challenges, whether that’s getting up in the morning or giving them a tougher workout. I’ve had a couple of them come and tell me, you know, ‘Coach, you’re killing us. This is tough.’ But that’s a good thing as far as the work we’re getting out of them.”

Fossett envisions a team that bonds around the adversity as they train for the upcoming season. It can’t win without coming together as a unit, he said.

“We can’t be a bunch of individuals playing football,” he said.

It’s a tried and true method for Fossett, who has a 53-36 record over eight seasons as a head coach. He has produced six winning seasons during that span, seven playoff appearances and one 10-win season. Only once, after losing 26 seniors before the 2015 season at Childersburg, has he failed to win at least five games.

While his methods have been proven in the past, he says it’s time to prove it with the Panthers.

“Myself and the staff and this program, we have to go out and prove it,” he said. “Every day, that’s kind of my mentality. Just prove it.”

This story was originally published July 15, 2016 at 5:04 PM with the headline "Adam Fossett focusing on discipline in first year at Smiths Station."