Leading A Program W/Impact Christian Academy HC Jerrand Nesmith

We talk Leading a Small Christian Private School, Flashback to his playing career, what all entails in being a Head Coach off the field and Much more…

0:00 - Introduction

0:31 - HS Memories at Raines

1:50 - College Memories

4:37 - Origin of Back2Basicss Training

6:19 - Road to Becoming Impact Christian Academy HC

9:06 - What he has learned as HC

9:55 - X's & O's or Set The Tone

10:47 - The part of being a Head Coach no one sees

12:02 - Coach he learned from

12:50 - Impact Christian Football in 3 Words

14:04 - Role Faith plays in his Program

15:30 - Getting players to next level

17:09 - Valuable help

18:18 - Key player's to upcoming season Success

20:57 - Getting Kids vs Developing them

22:36 - Tough conversations W/Parents

24:01 - Program going in right direction

25:47 - Building a Winner

26:26 - Best player's he's coached at Impact

28:25 - Closing Message from Coach Nesmith

29:48 - Download, Rate, & Review

Twitter: @behindTW904

Transcript

Introduction

Coach Moss 0:01

My next guest is a Raines High School graduate as well as the CEO of Back2Basicss Training, which is a training company in Jacksonville. And now head coach. He didn't inherit a powerhouse. He's building one a tradition, just vision, faith, and a weightroom. The Lions, the new blood, in Duval. Head coach Jerrand Nesmith. How's it going, Coach?

Coach Nesmith 0:28

I'm doing great, man. Thank you for having me.

Coach Moss 0:30

Thank

HS Memories at Raines

Coach Moss 0:31

you for coming on. We're just gonna start a little bit about high school. Can you talk about some memorable moments that you had at Raines as well as in college?

Coach Nesmith 0:39

Uh yeah. I know one of the most memorable moments that I had in high school was a 2001 Raines v Ribault game. Unfortunately, we lost, but that was my breakout game. I had a couple catches, a couple touchdowns, over 100 yards receiving. Actually, that film was the actual film that a recruiter saw that got me a scholarship. Funny um story. That's why I always tell my kids, you never know who's watching. Uh Junior College came in to recruit our quarterback. And um the game that he saw was the Raines and Ribault game. And when he saw that game, he asked, Who is the guy that keeps catching the passes? And I ended up getting a scholarship offer, and then they end up offering our quarterback a walk-on position. Um, and I I end up making a career out of it. Um, and it was just crazy how how how life worked and how God worked.

Coach Moss 1:49

Yes,

College Memories

Coach Moss 1:50

sir. So what about college? Did you have any memorable experiences from your time playing college football?

Coach Nesmith 1:56

Oh, yeah, yeah. Um, so I went to junior college in Kansas um out of high school, played a year. I was the only freshman on the team. Um, because back in Kansas, they had those rules where you can have a certain uh certain amount of outer staters. Um, and I was one of the guys that actually made the team. But it was funny, um, I was on the block on being that extra guy on not knowing if they would pick me or another guy. But the one thing the coach said, we need a guy that can play both ways. That that that 13th guy need to be able to play both ways for us because we don't know if he'd have to play offense or defense. Um, just from my athleticism, um, I was able to make the team because I it I sh I'd never played corner before, but I I used to work on it. They had me working on it, and it was an easy transition for me. So I ended up making the team as an athlete, but I never played corner at in Kansas the whole time that I was there. I ended up being the second leading receiver on the team. I had a really good year, and then that next year, we lost a lot of uh senior, what we would call seniors then. And the coach came to me and asked me what I red, Shirt. And I was like, nah, I ain't want to stay in Kansas the whole nother year when I was about to, I was supposed to be graduating early after the second season, my sophomore season. So I had a couple friends who went to Readley College in California, and they was they was trying to do everything they couldn't to get me there. Ended up going there, and we won the Junior College National Championship in California, was the number one team in the nation. I started at receiver and ended up making a choice. Um, I had a daughter young bringing my family with me to Concord University in West Virginia, where I ended up playing receiver, and then my senior year, I played um, I end up like the last four games started at corner. So I was telling the kids, I joke with them. I was one of the guys that actually played both ways in college at a high level, um, even though it was Division II, but I played receiver and I played corner. So I always say I was Travis Hunter before Travis Hunter joke joking with kids, but I actually played uh receiver and DB. Um and then after that, I ended up playing three years of um um of um indoor football, um what you call arena football. So I played arena football for three years, and um and I had a great career, man. I I enjoyed every minute of it.

Coach Moss 4:36

Yes,

Origin of Back2Basicss Training

Coach Moss 4:37

sir. Um can you talk about how you got into starting your your training back 2 basicss? And how's that how that has developed over the years?

Coach Nesmith 4:46

Um, it's it's I ended up starting it because I had a son, he was four years old, and I wanted him to be prepared. You know, in in Jacksonville, we started playing football at five. Um, and uh to rewind back, it was a lot of things that I didn't know going into um junior college that I was missing out on as far as skill-wise, um, that I was never taught. Um, I ended up having a receiver coach that was from Florida. He was from Miami. He was actually still playing arena football when he was our coach. And I thought I was, I thought I knew it out, I thought I knew it all at the receiver position, and he taught me so much stuff that I didn't know. And I was like, he was like, man, this is basic stuff. Like, this is basic stuff as a receiver, there's some basic stuff that you should know. And that's how I came up with the idea back 2 basicss, because I was missing the basics, and just luckily I was an athlete and I caught on fast that I ended up um being was able to prevail and and catch on real fast and be a big part of what we was doing. But to to answer your question, I just I wanted to get my son ready um for football at the age five. Um we would we would train and it just started off at at uh at the park, just me training him, then the next week he brought his cousin, and then the next week the cousin brought his friend, and then it is here we are 16, 17 years later, still doing it.

Coach Moss 6:18

Oh wow.

Road to Becoming Impact Christian Academy HC

Coach Moss 6:19

So can you talk about your journey to um being becoming impact head coach? Like where all did you stop at, or how did that come to be about?

Coach Nesmith 6:29

Um I started off I I've been training, I've been training for a long time, and I never really got into coaching because what I realized when when I if and when I was gonna get into coaching, I think people would feel like they didn't want to train with me because I'm coaching somewhere, and it felt like it was a like it it would be a conflict of interest, but it really wasn't. So um I I stayed away from coaching for a long time. Um I know Coach Mas gave me a call. Um uh I guess a couple guys had reached out to him and tell him that um I was the best guy for the position. Um so I started off coaching at Raines at receiver, receiver coach. I did that for uh like a year and a half, and Coach Ramsey ended up taking the taking um the impact job. Um my brother, Carl, was supposed to be his defensive coordinator, but he ended up taking right before the season, he ended up taking a college job. And so my brother was like, man, bro, you all you should look into going with impact, going over the impact. And I'm like, well, if if the coach was to reach out to me, I would, but I'm not like actively searching to be a coach. Um so Coach Ramsey ended up coming to one of our youth camps that we did in the summer, and he saw how I interacted with the kids. Um, and he kind of like after he left, he reached out to me, like, we would love to have you on them staff. So my first year, I was the wide receiver coach at Impact, and we were we went one and nine, and I was like, man, look, we I'm not with this losing stuff. So I ended up using some of my resources, bringing in some guys like Elijah Caldwell. I brought in uh some starting offensive linemen, some skill guys, and then I also brought in a defensive and coordinator. And that next year we end up going, I think like seven and three, seven and four. And then the year after that, we we were good as well. Um and then he ended up leaving and went on to Andrew Jackson. And unbeknownst to me, um, they put me in the hat to be the head coach over at Impact, uh, just based off the stuff that I was doing at the school and on the field, because I was the middle school head coach. And they see how I work and how I moved, and um by the grace of God, I end up being becoming a head coach over at Impact and the rest is history.

What he has learned as HC

Coach Moss 9:06

Yes, sir. So, what did you not know about being a head coach until you sat in the chair?

Coach Nesmith 9:12

Uh I didn't know how much um how much things that you had to handle outside of football. Um it's just like this day-to-day stuff, being that we're a smaller program, like um making your schedules, um, finding them somewhere to practice uh for me and just impact. Um it was just that type of stuff, not only being a head coach, but also you gotta find time to be a teacher, you gotta find time to be uh a mentor, you gotta find find time to be a father figure, um, it's just all the stuff that went around it that that comes with being a head coach.

X's & O's or Set The Tone

Coach Moss 9:55

Yes, sir. So are you more of like an x s and o's guy, or are you like set the tone as far as the culture?

Coach Nesmith 10:02

I'm a little bit of both. Because I'm a big, I'm a big X and the O's guy as well, because I'm always one of those guys that I'm a I watch a lot of film. I'm always one of those guys that's trying to find a way to get one up on your opponent. Um I've been like that even when I was in college, I watched a lot of film, and I would always study my opponent. So I'm I'm big on X's and O's, and I'm also one of those culture guys because I understand and I'm a little bit younger, but closer to these guys' age, and I know what it takes. Uh, and most of the guys on our staff play college ball or beyond. So um we understand how important the culture needs to be and how how important it is to a program because it can make or break the program.

Coach Moss 10:46

Yes,

The part of being a Head Coach no one sees

Coach Moss 10:47

sir. So, what's probably the one part of your job that nobody sees? Because a lot of fans probably think, oh, or he just said, Coach, he just called plays on Friday. But what what's one thing that you would say that they don't see that goes into at least that goes into like rent running your program?

Coach Nesmith 11:05

Um, the time that I make for the kids and the parents. Um it's it's many nights that I probably had to talk to, I've talked to parents that ask me to um speak or talk to speak with their kids. Um I've had kids stay at my house that I know that needs that family atmosphere. Um I've been I've been a brother, I've been a father, I've been an uncle, I've been like it's it's a lot of things that the parents who can they confide in you about personal things that you would never would have known, but they feel comfortable enough to tell you about what they're going through and how I can help them and what what what can I do to help their uh family dynamic? It's those stuff like that. That's people never know how much you deal with um and how many problems that I I take on um day to day.

Coach Moss 12:01

Yes,

Coach he learned from

Coach Moss 12:02

sir. So is there a coach that you that you learned from? And if so, like what's one thing that you took from from them that you're using to build your program?

Coach Nesmith 12:11

Uh one of my uh mentors, Coach Coffey, Coach Welton Coffey, he is one of the guys who he was my coach in high school. Um one thing I I took from him is he's a family guy. Um he's always been a family guy, and he loved us unconditionally. And I try to mimic that with my uh program as well. We talk often about um things I just we don't talk about X's O X's and O's much, but we talk about things that surrounds football and um the day-to-day operations. So uh just the being able to be a father figure and really show genuine love to these kids, um, and that's one thing I took from you.

Impact Christian Football in 3 Words

Coach Moss 12:50

Yes, sir. So as far as the culture at Impact, um in three words, like what is impact Christian football like? When you when you come on the film every, what's one thing that you what's three probably three in three words, what do you want to have been shown on film?

Coach Nesmith 13:05

Show on film, uh we're tough, uh aggressive, um, and smart. Uh we and I say that because if you come to Impact, uh most uh most likely you probably play two positions, you probably play offense and the defense. Um we still have it where we have some guys that stand out both ways. Um you have to be tough because some of our guys are young and they're going against seniors and they're some eighth, ninth grade. Um we speak about the IQ of the game and how important it is. It a guy can be bigger, stronger, faster, but if you're smart and you can get there fast enough and and you know where you're going and and you know how to get there and how to do it, uh I think that plays a part as well. So um one thing we was big on this spring is um is IQ, uh becoming a better student of the game. I think the the better we are with that, I think the better off we'll continue to be.

Coach Moss 14:03

Yes,

Role Faith plays in his Program

Coach Moss 14:04

sir. So we're gonna talk a little bit more about the faith part. So private, you got so Impact is a private school with Christian in the name. How does faith play into your program?

Coach Nesmith 14:14

Oh man, it's it's it's a it's the centerpiece. Uh, because um I'm I'm I'm I I love um I'm I'm a God fearing man. Um that was instilled in me by my parents and grandparents. Uh um and I feel like that's something that all kids should have, being able to get a chance to uh be a part of. Uh because uh through through throughout life you'll have ups and downs, and you want to know that you have somebody with you throughout all times. Um that's one thing I think sets us apart from everybody else is being in on Wednesday we have chapel, and that chapel is very very important. We speak on day-to-day um activities that kids may deal with. Uh, and just knowing how important God is and putting God first is is the center of what we do. We talk about it all the time. We have those conversations day in and day out. Uh because some of these kids don't um they don't deal with adversity well. So knowing God, being able to uh pray to Him and ask for guidance and ask for knowledge, I think is very important. And all these kids should get a chance to experience one way or another.

Getting players to next level

Coach Moss 15:30

Yes, sir. So can you talk about the success of getting your players to the next level, whether that's an impact or with back 2 basicss training?

Coach Nesmith 15:39

Um I've been fortunate enough to be uh have a have some kids that are that has been successful over the years. Uh we we took a we'll talk about it uh not too long ago where I just went down memory lane and I realized uh of the lot of lives that I've touched of been a part of. Some kids that just got uh drafted and kids that played Division I Power Five Football, also with uh being able to train NFL wide receivers, uh NFL DBs. Um this last uh this past season here, we had one kid that signed Division I, Elijah Caldwell to Michigan State, and then we had a couple guys, we have three more guys that signed Division II scholarships, and then the rest of my seniors either signed to go to college academically or they're going to start their careers, and I'm and I'm truly blessed about that. I'm just as happy for the guys that play football um as opposed to the guys that also that's picking the career. So my job is is is simple. Give them the opportunity that they want, whether it's football, whether it's college, whether it's career, whatever it is, I want to give them the best opportunity to um achieve that goal. Um, just to know that it can be attainable is it's just a blessing. And if they do everything that I feel like they're supposed to do, and if it's in God's will, they definitely make it to where they want to make it.

Coach Moss 17:08

Yes,

Valuable help

Coach Moss 17:09

sir. So can you um shout out like maybe one of your assistant coaches that kind of help you at as far as in the day-to-day, or that's a big part of the program that you that most people may not know?

Coach Nesmith 17:21

Oh, without a doubt, my brother coach Carl Nesmith, man. Without him, I wouldn't be where I'm at today. Uh me just being a head coach is just a title. But uh he can very easily be a head coach, without a doubt. A lot of the things that I didn't know, he kind of filled me in on because again, my first time being a head coach was the first year of me being a head coach. So a lot of stuff I kind of figured out on my own, along with his guidance and help. It was it was just nothing but a blessing, and I couldn't do it without him. He takes a lot off my plate day in and day out, and uh I'm just uh I'm elated just to have him, and not to mention he's my actual brother. So that that's that's a blessing in itself, and I'm just happy that he's he's with me. He's always down for whatever. Um he he tells me when I'm wrong, um, he pats me on the back when I'm right or wrong, he keeps me upbeat. Um, but I I love him to death and I and I really appreciate him.

Key player's to upcoming season Success

Coach Moss 18:18

Yes, sir. So what players on your team that you that you're looking forward to having a big season or that you feel like will be important for impact success on the field this year?

Coach Nesmith 18:28

We got a couple guys. Um, one of the guys that I know he's gonna fill in that role of that Caldwell took up last year, Mr. Do It All for us, uh Alex Alexander. He's really Alexander Lee. He's a kid, he's from Miami, but I saw him play in middle school at Arlington as an eighth grader, and he's been with me. He's coming on his senior year. He has an offer from Shaw University.

Coach Moss 18:52

Okay.

Coach Nesmith 18:52

Uh, have some entries for him, a couple schools here. Uh he's a do-it-all guy. Um uh Rolack. Rolack was a guy. He had a really, really good spring, came out of track. He played receiving DB for us. He had two picks in the uh game against first coast and also had a touchdown at receiver. Um, we have we got a young guy, Lundy, uh Terron Lundy. He's a young guy. He he's the eighth grade, going to the ninth grade, but he has an offer from Syracuse. He's a uh middle school under Armor All American. Um he played um, he he ended up starting at the slot for us last year as an eighth grader, made plays on both sides of the ball. Not only um last year, he uh in the playoffs, he ended up having a he got one of the longest touchdowns in impact history. He got an interception and took it back for 105 yards against Episcopal in the playoff game. Uh we have a young guy, James Stewart, that we call BJ. He's a receiver, ninth grade, uh athletic, 6'1 guy long rangy, can play. He does a lot of stuff well for us. Uh our quarterback, Aiden Dees, he's a young guy that came from Trinity that does a lot of good stuff for a great IQ. Uh we also have Gillisley. Gillis, uh he came in from ribault and he came in from the spring and did some stuff, some really good stuff, had a pick six. Uh, he looked really well at um safety for his long guy, Rangy, and also a quarterback, dual threat quarterback. Uh, we got Jamal Freeman Jr. too. Uh he's a running backslash uh uh safety type for us. We got a lot of guys that that's young but have a lot of experience on the football field, and I'm very excited. Along with our center Maurice, he's a young guy that's been with us um these last couple years, and Javon, he's another guy returning on the offensive line. Um, Javon Smith and uh DJ Altman.

Getting Kids vs Developing them

Coach Moss 20:57

Yes, sir. So being at a small private school, how much of your job is getting kids versus developing them?

Coach Nesmith 21:05

Uh it's a it's it's it's a little bit of it's it's a mix, it's kind of 50-50. The hardest thing is to get a guy to pay to go to school. When you can go to school, all these schools are free. That's one of the hardest things. I don't think people understand how hard it is for us being that we're a smaller school, and then you're trying to get somebody to go to private school and pay. Some of your bigger uh private schools here, if you, you know, they have those extra funds to be able to help these guys make the transition easier where they can go to private school and still not have to pay, um, not to knock what they're doing. But it's it's hard to get a guy to buy into what we're doing and then still have to pay out of pocket. Um, and we don't have all of the amenities that everybody else has. But one thing I think we do have is a good culture and we have a good football program and we develop well. Um and Most of these guys are the guys that people don't necessarily check for until they play for us. Um, we usually develop them to be uh be able to play at a high level, and then most of the bigger schools try to pull from what we do. Um, we put in all the groundwork with them. Um, and I think I think we we base our success off that developing kids. So I think we've been doing a really, really good job of developing kids here over the years because we had some guys that came in day one that couldn't get in a football stance that end up starting for us and playing a big role for us.

Tough conversations W/Parents

Coach Moss 22:36

Oh wow. So speaking of being like, as far as being like a small private school, how is it like if you have a conversation with just say a a child's parent who's they're they're paying private to go to the school, but they aren't playing like as much as they want to. Like, how is that is that a tough conversation to have with a parent?

Coach Nesmith 22:56

16. Uh yes and no, uh, because most of the guys that goes to Impact, they believe in what we're doing. So most of them who come there, they come there to play football for us. They kind of got an idea of what we're doing, and they kind of already on board on our culture that's set. Um we have guys that you you'll be surprised. A lot of people come in and like, uh, I've been peeping what you guys are doing. I want my kids to be a product, a part of what you guys are doing. So that kind of helps us. Um, but they it's it's not as tough, but we do have those parents that we have to have those real conversations with because I'm a realist. Um and I and I do I do believe in um again, it goes back to developing process. I feel like if a kid can give me everything I need when it comes to weight room, skill training, and uh film, which we all offer outside of football, I think we'll be able to do enough to be able to get them on the field to be able to show their showcase their talent.

Program going in right direction

Coach Moss 24:01

Yes, sir. So can you talk about a game that a game in impact that you that you kind of feel like we're building something? And what was that really like?

Coach Nesmith 24:11

Uh just just here recently, the spring game, we took on first coast. Um the and the notion was before the game that they was gonna score 50 points on us. And um I think um just uh we went in, we played well. In our eyes, I feel like it was a success because we played our starters in the first half. If we end up winning in the first half 20 to 14, and then I end up playing three quarterbacks of my eighth-grade quarterbacks, kids played, my middle school DBs played. We had it, it was a success for us because we end up allowing 95% of the people on our team a chance to get on the varsity field, even if they wasn't varsity um middle school guys. Um so just be able to, they end up kicking, scoring it with 40-something seconds left again with our younger guys on the field and and making that extra point and they won 21-20. Um, just being able to see us really dominate that football game on both sides, other than um they did run the ball well on us. That's that's one thing I'd say they did. But we played with five lines, ended up playing both both sides. Um just showing you that we're we're a really, really good team. Um, that was one of those games that let I think put the city on notice that they're a really good team.

Coach Moss 25:36

Yeah, and that's big being able to play them them younger guys, especially those middle school guys, where they got the experience against a varsity team.

Coach Nesmith 25:44

And yeah.

Coach Moss 25:46

Um, so

Building a Winner

Coach Moss 25:47

coach, complete this sentence for me. To build a winner at Impact Christian as a head coach, you have to be what?

Coach Nesmith 25:55

Willing to buy into the culture, uh, willing to buy into putting in extra work in the weight room, willing to go the extra mile and put in skill work when we do extra skill training on the weekend, willing to uh sacrifice for your team, um, willing to uh be the best teammate that you can be, um, willing to take on the challenge that I might be a little bit younger, but I'm ready to get on this field right now and play.

Best player's he's coached at Impact

Coach Moss 26:26

Yes, sir. Um the last thing I asked you, um, can you talk about the best player or some players that have stood up that you've coached at your time at Impact?

Coach Nesmith 26:34

Uh, I can tell you uh one of the best players that we've had, um, the first Division I signee that Impact has had in history of being existing, of existing, um, Elijah Caldwell. And he's one of those guys that we de I've developed him. Um, I've known him since he was seven years old. Um, I trained him and coached him at um since he was seven, um, just to see him be able to be what he was what he is today is a blessing. He's a mi he's an early college enrollee, so he's at Michigan State now. Um I think he's one of the best players that we've had. Um we had Xavier Glenn, an offensive lineman guy. He's he was really, really, really good for us. Um he was he was tough. He was mean. He was an offensive lineman with a defensive lineman mentality. Um I think Mario Pratt, um they call him third. He was one of them, he was a great DB that played for us. He's over at Mandarin now. He's one of those kids. I think he developed well at our school. Um, again, when we had when we brought him in, he was kind of an unknown kid, but now he's a household name and he's over there making noise over there at Mandarin. Um, those type of kids stood out to me. Um, and they would we we just really had some really good, solid players. Um, again, that goes under the radar until we start playing. And then again, we end up having those guys that that try to pull from them from the bigger school. But we have some good young talent now, like Taron Lundy, which is an all-American, a middle school all-American, um, James Stewart, he's a ninth grader, um, Alex, Alexander Lee, and we have those guys that I think they're going to continue to uh put our program on the map.

Closing Message from Coach Nesmith

Coach Moss 28:25

Yes, sir. So is there a message that you kind of want to deliver about either you or your program that you want the listeners to know?

Coach Nesmith 28:34

I just want to know that um even though that we're a small program, I think we're doing some big things, we're doing some things on a bigger scale. Um my motto is um I we strive to make these young men better on and off the field. I think it's a but we care about the kids. Uh we put our all into them. Um we give them every opportunity that we didn't have. Um we try to provide a safe haven for them to not only grow on the field, but grow off the field as well. So we're always talking about giving back our time, um uh being assets to your community and uh learning how to be great fathers, great husbands, uh great uncles and great brothers. I think we're doing a good job with that. It's bigger than football. That's one thing that we say uh over at Impact is bigger than football because it is. We just use football as a tool to help them grow. Um, but uh whatever happens, whatever they want to do, we want to try to provide that opportunity for them. And I'm just blessed and to be in the position that I'm in. And I do know I can't do anything without my coach and staff. And then also I just want to say thank you to the administrators and all the people at Impact for even giving me a chance and taking a chance on me for uh allowing me to lead these young men.

Download, Rate, & Review

Coach Moss 29:48

Yes, sir. Well, folks, that's a wrap. Shout out to my guest, Coach Ne Smith, for coming through and keeping it real. You've been listening to Behind the Whistle 904. Please remember to download, rate, and review, and turn on that notification bell so you don't miss an episode. See you next time.