Matt Dobson, Statesboro head coach
Today’s interviewee is Statesboro coach Matt Dobson, whose team defeated 23-point favorite Brunswick 28-21 last week to force a knot of teams challenging for the Region 1-5A title. Statesboro, Brunswick and Effingham County each have one region loss. Statesboro has not won a region title since 2011. Dobson became head coach in 2023. His team is one victory from delivering Statesboro’s first winning season since 2013. Dobson is a Florida native and former all-conference safety at Georgia Southern, which sits two miles from Statesboro High.
1. You began the game with an onside kick, which you recovered. You also recovered one in the second half. What's the story behind those decisions? “We decided on Sunday before the game that we were going to try multiple onside kicks. We knew Brunswick's offense was explosive, and we knew we needed to keep them off the field. We also wanted to get some momentum on our side early in the game, which is what we did. We have multiple kickers who are good at different types of onside kicks. The kicking game is no different from offense and defense in the fact that you have to trust your guys to execute and make plays. We practiced it all week and had a freshman kicker [Maddux Davis] and a sophomore kicker [Mason Sellers] execute perfectly two different types of onside kicks that we recovered. The first onside kick was a surprise bunt. The second one was a two-kicker onside where we can kick it either direction based on the return team alignment.”
2. Huge defensive plays at the end. What was the biggest play there? What was the defensive call? “Our defense played incredibly all night long. Brunswick came in averaging around 550 yards of offense and over 45 points per game. We thought if we could force a couple of turnovers we would have a chance. We forced one on their opening drive, and our offense turned it into a touchdown. In the fourth quarter while we were leading by five, Brunswick drove it down to our 14-yard line. We got them in a third-and-long and brought pressure and forced the quarterback to throw one up that we intercepted in the end zone [by Keyonne Johnson] for a touchback. Our defensive coaches had a great game plan, and our kids executed it really well to hold a tremendous offense to 21 points.” [Defensive end Xavier Spells' pass rush was instrumental on that play.]
3. What made you decide to go back to Statesboro and take the job two years ago? “Statesboro is a special place to me. Since going to college here at Georgia Southern, I have always thought it would be a great place to come back and coach one day with the wonderful tradition that has been established here. This is a town that loves football. It is also a great place to live and raise a family. When the job came open, I was immediately interested. Ultimately what can make a job good or bad is the people. We have tremendous administration in our building, great players on our team and wonderful support in our community, and when you combine all of that, it makes this a great job.”
4. What's the state of the team/program now vs. when you found it? “The biggest difference in our program right now vs. when our staff got here in 2023 is that our players have earned the right to compete in meaningful games like they played in against Brunswick on Friday night. It had been 10 years since Statesboro had won a playoff game and 10 years since they had a winning season. Our players needed people to believe in them, and our staff did that. Now they believe in themselves. Playing in big, meaningful games in October and beyond is something that is earned through a lot of hard work. Nobody gives those opportunities away, but our players, staff, administration, school and community have earned that right. Now our goal is to make sure we are playing these types of games on a more regular basis in Statesboro.”
