CLEVELAND — It's been a 21-year journey for Robbie Bailey.
The Rabun County native has coached football and basketball in Hall, Rabun, Banks and White counties over his career, but none of those years have been as a head varsity coach.
He can now add that title to the resume. White County elevated Bailey to the head boys basketball coach late last week. He was the top assistant on last year's team and will replace Wade Mawdesley.
"I've been waiting a long time for this opportunity -- 20 years," Bailey said. "I'm very humbled but at the same time, I feel like I've got to do a lot and experience a lot over my career. I'm so grateful for this opportunity."
Bailey spent his only year at White County as the head middle school football coach and varsity basketball assistant.
"It doesn't feel any different right now," he said. "I guess because of this coronavirus deal and not being in school. Obviously, I had to go through the interview process. I know it's not the same magnitude, but I've been doing head middle school football stuff for like 10 years. I want to say that has prepared me for the other parts of the job like scheduling, and fundraising. So that has prepared me some."
The Warriors have struggled since Sam Borg left for North Hall in 2018, the last winning season for the program.
Last season, White County finished 12-14 and the season before, 8-18. But Bailey has a solid foundation returning next season with Cooper Turner, Reece Dockery, Silas Mulligan and Jimmy King back to form a rock-solid foundation.
"I feel great about the program," he said. "The one good thing I've got going for me is I do know who's coming back, and I do have a relationship with the kids that are there. I feel really, really good about it because I know what's there. Now, we've got a long way to go. I think we have a chance to have a successful season and program. I'm a relationship guy. I've built a lot of relationships in my first year. So, I think that we're in a good spot. We just got to go out there and do it."
A BRAND NEW REGION
When the new classifications were released by the Georgia High School Association earlier this year, the Warriors dropped from Class 4A to 3A.
They joined Region 7-3A, which houses Cherokee Bluff, Dawson, Gilmer, North Hall, Lumpkin and West Hall.
"The new region is very attractive," Bailey said. "That 7-4A region was pretty tough. But I think we are a better fit in this new region.
The new region also stamps more meaning on battles with traditional rivals North Hall and Lumpkin County. In the past, those games haven't counted in the region standings. Now they do.
"We get to play rivals like North Hall and Lumpkin, so it kind intensifies those rivalries a little bit more," he said. "We feel like it's a better region for us."
'WE'RE GOING TO GET AFTER IT'
The new-look Warriors will play a different style of basketball. As Bailey says, "we're going to play hard and get after it."
So what does that mean? His philosophy is steeped in a wide-open mentality with a tenacious defense. But no worries, Bailey understands his implementation of certain things will depend on what his players can do.
"We're going to get after," he said. "We going to take pride in our defense. I want people to know that when they play White County, it's going to be a dog fight. We're going to play hard, be disciplined, play a style of basketball that's fun. But at the end of the day, it's about what our kids can do. We're going to try to embody that tough, physical hard-nosed type basketball."
THE COVID-19 EFFECT
The coronavirus has halted play across the country for all high school sports. It's canceled the spring season and is threatening to postpone summer workouts, camps and activities for varsity teams.
Being a first-year head coach, Bailey knows the challenges that the virus imposes on his program now, and like most coaches, Bailey's only communication with his players is online video conference calls.
He says they'll give the players workouts, expect them to finish those workouts and send in videos of the workouts being completed.
"A lot of our preparation will be on the internet," he said. "It's different, but we're probably going to have to do stuff like this. We'll give our players workouts and expect them to do it and text us a video of them doing stuff. A lot of this stuff will have to be done on their own. We may have a shortened summer or not have one at all. June basketball is valuable, well, we may not have it. So a lot of our preparation is going to be on them. "
