Currently residing in Newnan, fulfilling his teaching obligations at Heritage in Conyers and then making way to continue getting settled in at VR, it’s been quite the whirlwind for the new Cat leader. But it’s a challenge and opportunity he’s certainly embracing and excited about these days.
“A couple of weeks ago when I was offered the position and it was decided by the school board, the first thing I wanted to do was come over and meet the players. So I met with the team and just described myself a little bit, my background, where I’ve been and what we’ve been able to do and some of the things our players have been able to accomplish, our teams have been able to accomplish,” Frazier said.
Frazier’s spent the past six years leading the Heritage program, where it went 37-27 during that time, including making the state playoffs the past three seasons with a Region 8-AAAA crown in 2011.
Frazier comes to Villa Rica having familiarity with both the Wildcat program and most of its Region 5-AAAAA adversaries. As an assistant at Northgate, Frazier coached against the Cats and his Heritage squad squared off against Allatoona this past season in the state playoffs.
“I used to coach at Northgate and we were in the same region with Villa Rica, and the two years that I was there we split and I just remember them having really good athletes. Some kids with size, some kids with speed and athleticism. So that and the opportunity to win, and win big, and then the opportunity to be an athletic director was something that I’ve always wanted to do,” Frazier said. “So timing, location and opportunity all just came together and attracted me to it.”
Heritage dropped a 24-21 contest to Allatoona in the opening round of the Class AAAAA state playoffs back in November, and while preparing for the Bucs, Frazier and his staff saw plenty of film on Region 5-AAAAA programs.
“We played Allatoona in the first round and we missed a field goal to tie the game at the end of the fourth quarter, so obviously we got to break them down. We got to see some of the other teams in Rome, Hiram, East Paulding, North Paulding. So we got to see a lot of those teams on film when we were getting ready for Allatoona,” Frazier said. “It’s a very competitive region, top to bottom.”
Villa Rica will feature a Wing-T, option attack offensively and base out of a 3-4 defense, a system that ranked No. 1 in the region the past two seasons with the Patriots.
The Wildcats are coming off a 4-6 campaign and went 10-10 over the past two seasons under former coach Mike Falleur. VR last made the playoffs in 2008, and it’s a destination Frazier wants to get the Cats back to on a consistent basis.
And with a strong contingent of returning players, the program is in a promising position to do just that.
“I think nine guys are coming back that got significant playing time on defense, so that’ll be exciting. I was going through the entire list of kids by grade level and coming back, we have 15 seniors, which is a low number for us. But we’ve got so many sophomores and juniors coming back with a lot of experience. So that’s huge,” Frazier said.
The new VR head man is in the process of completing his staff, which includes retaining some assistants and bringing in a few of his own guys. Frazier is also getting to know his new players during after-school agility workouts heading toward spring practice in late April and early May.
And along with taking over the VR football program, Frazier is also tackling athletic director duties, marking a first-time position for the Valdosta State graduate.
“That’s the part that scares me right now. I don’t have experience actually doing that. I’ve worked with athletic directors for 15 years. I’m confident I’ll do a good job. It’s just the unknown things, so it’s just hard to tell what that’s going to be like right now. I’m looking forward to it. You know, being organized, being a leader. All those things that I’ve had to do as a head football coach,” Frazier said.
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