JOHN REYNOLDS COACH OF THE YEAR: Pelham’s Dondrial Pinkins

PELHAM — Dondrial Pinkins didn’t want to re-invent the proverbial wheel. When the former Mitchell-Baker High School football standout took over as head football coach at rival Pelham, he wanted his staff to build on the talent that was already there.

However, he wasn’t sure he would have success so soon.

A year after taking the Hornets to the Georgia High School Association Class AA state playoffs in his first season, Pinkins helped lead Pelham to the Region 1-A title and the second round of the GHSA Class A public school state playoffs in 2016.

The Hornets finished with a 9-2 record, and Pinkins was named The Albany Herald’s John Reynolds Football Coach of the Year.

“I don’t know if I expected (success) so soon, but coming in we knew that Pelham had talent,” Pinkins said. “We just kind of thought that if we could put a good staff together, come in and get that talent going in the right direction, that we could have some success.

“Our coaches came in, we all came together, had the same goal in mind and we went to work. The kids bought in and started having some success. Hopefully, we can continue to build on it.”

The former Mitchell-Baker standout quarterback coached at his alma mater for four seasons, turning them into a contender before leaving Mitchell County in the spring of 2012. He was an assistant at Valdosta and Thomasville before being hired at Pelham in the spring of 2015 when former coach Frankie Carroll left to become the athletic director at Worth County.

In 2015, Pinkins helped Pelham end a six-year playoff drought when the Hornets defeated Berrien 40-39 in the regular-season finale. Although they lost to Macon County in the first round of the Class AA state playoffs, Pinkins and his staff were excited for 2016.

The biggest drawback was finding a quarterback after veteran Jimmy Fackler graduated. The Hornets brought in freshman Kendrick Patterson, who gradually improved to become one of the top quarterbacks in the region.

“We had some talent around him,” Pinkins said. “Coach (Daniel) Dorsey has done a great job with the offense. And the players around Kendrick played phenomenal. He was surrounded by five seniors on the offensive line that we kind of have to replace.

“But the core of the guys around him at the skill positions are coming back. We lose Cassius (Allen), and that’s the only thing we lose from the skill positions, so if we can build an offensive line around him, we hope he has a lot of offensive success in the future.”

The Hornets won their first two games over Albany High and Baconton Charter before dropping a 24-15 contest to Terrell County at home. But Pelham rebounded to win its next seven, including a nail-biting 29-26 victory over Mitchell County in the regular-season finale to claim the region title.

The Hornets earned a first-round bye before falling 55-40 in the second round to Greene County. Pinkins said he’d like to have that one back.

“Looking back, hindsight is always 20/20,” he said. “I’ve had people ask about the first-round bye, if we felt like it set us back. You can’t look back and say yes or no because you could play the first round and potentially get beat in the first round.

“Going back and talking to some of our guys, you always have a few who have some regrets who wished they would have joined the program a little sooner. You have guys that join when school starts that should have been there in June and July or in January when you lose the previous season. I think our guys are starting to see that. As we preached, the games are won in the offseason. Football season doesn’t start in August, it starts in January.”

Mitchell County coach Larry Cornelius didn’t like losing to the Hornets in the rivalry game, but he’s been impressed at what Pinkins has been able to do in a short time.

“He’s done a tremendous job,” Cornelius said. “He’s got the community behind him, and he’s got that charisma about him. I believe he was the right pick for the job.”

With the team’s offseason program starting soon, Pinkins has challenged his players to move on from its playoff setback.

“I tell our kids every day it’s fourth-and-inches,” he said. “Either you get it or you turn it over on downs. We don’t have an opportunity to go back and do it over. Until the next year, the hay is in the barn. January, we’re back at it.”

That’s when Pinkins and his staff will continue building.