By Michael A. Lough

The Sports Report

centralgasports@gmail.com

          Chad Alligood is a coach who likes learning, and then employing what he has learned.
          So he took years as an assistant, and many as the No. 2 man on a staff, with him to his head coaching debut at Washington-Wilkes two years ago.
          Experience and instinct told him last fall that it just wasn’t quite working like he had hoped, and he resigned in early January.
          “I just felt I couldn’t get the whole community and everybody to just buy in to the vision I had here,” Alligood said. “Great people, I enjoyed my two years, but you know as a head coach when you just can’t get complete buy-in, and (I) couldn’t get the program going the way I wanted to get it going.
          “You just know when it’s time to move on.”

          What the future held at first was uncertain, but he has landed on his feet, from the same spot he left two years ago, returning to Northside as the Eagles’ offensive coordinator.

          Lee Pope, who has experience on both sides of the ball, succeeded Alligood and isn’t going anywhere while simply changing duties.
          Head coach and athletics director Kevin Kinsler will do some shuffling of responsibilities while taking advantage of an opportunity.
          “I had an opportunity to make our staff even stronger than it already,” he said. “Made some changes, put some people where they’re going to be the strongest, where they can excel and help us the most.
          “Being able to get Chad back on staff, I was able to put everybody in spots where they can excel and help our kids.”
          The Eagles went 80-11 with Alligood as offensive coordinator, current Georgia Tech quarterback Tobias Oliver leading Northside to the 2014 GHSA Class 5A state title. 
          Washington-Wilkes is in the same Class A region as eight Central Georgia schools, including the Macon private schools and his alma mater, Wilkinson County. It was in an eastern sub-region that included Hancock Central and GMC.
          The Tigers went 3-7 in 2018, with three losses by 12 points or less, two coming to playoff teams. W-W went 7-5 in 2017.

          “I wouldn’t trade my two years here for anything,” Alligood said. “Being a AD, running the program, and at a place like Washington-Wilkes, that has all its tradition and all, it’s been a great two years, it really has.”
          Alligood will remain at Washington-Wilkes but make regular trips back to Northside, a little more than a two-hour ride on mostly two-lane roads.
          But as often as not, it won’t be all that bad a drive.
          “It is home to me,” Alligood said of the place he’s spent the longest time in his career, two stints adding up to 14 years.
          The graduate of Wilkinson County and Georgia College started out at John Milledge, where he coached future Georgia fullback, John Milledge head coach, and future brother-in-law J.T. Wall.
          Six years under Conrad Nix at Northside followed, as did visits to Perry and FPD before returning to Northside.
          The years at Northside sort of spoiled Alligood.
          “From the principal to the secretary to the lunchroom to the custodians, everybody’s on the same page,” he said “You have to have that. You think as a coach you can just fix it all, and you can’t.
          “It takes a whole lot more than a good football coach to make a great program.”