Adamsville's Gray sees no need to split TSSAA schools
ADAMSVILLE – Brandon Gray grew up in Adamsville and played quarterback for the AHS football team.
He's worked his entire coaching career with the Cardinals and built the program from the consistent cellar dweller it was known as for decades to the perennial power program the team is known to be now after four consecutive trips to at least the state semifinals (championship game appearances in 2012 and '13).
During all his years with Adamsville, Gray played high school ball against University School of Jackson and has battled Trinity Christian for the District 15-A championship in recent years.
In 2012, the Cardinals were kept away from the Class 2A championship by Friendship Christian School.
He's dealt with the private schools on a consistent basis over the course of a couple decades, so his opinion regarding the TSSAA's upcoming vote on a possible private-public school split might hold some weight with those who care to hear it.
"I don't think they should be split," Gray said. "The private schools in Jackson are the closest ones to us, and they're 60 miles away. So maybe I might have a different opinion if they were closer to us.
"But if TCA and Jackson Christian want to stay in Division I, why should we tell them they can't? TCA has beaten us the past two years for the district championship, but I don't think they had any kind of unfair advantage over us. If the ball bounces a different way or a play goes different here or there or a call is different, then we would have those district championships. They don't have them because they're a private school."
Adamsville also won when it mattered more in 2013. TCA won at Adamsville in the regular season in what determined the 15-A championship. They met again in the state semifinals with Adamsville winning after taking over in the second half with its ground game behind running back Zak Neary, who's climbing the depth chart at Mississippi State now as a walk-on.
"I can't say yes or no they have an advantage when it comes to getting athletes, because I don't know," Gray said. "I do know all of those schools have quality coaching.
"I played against USJ and Mickey Marley was coaching them then. I said back then if I ever got into coaching, Coach Marley is one I would want to work for because he's a good coach and I could probably learn a lot from him."
Gray insists he still could although Marley might say the same about Gray based on his recent success.
That success is hard to argue, and Gray's final comment was as well.
"When you compete and play for championships, you want to compete against the best so you can say you are the best if you walk off with a championship," Gray said. "I don't mind playing those teams to compete for championships as long as everybody plays by the same rules when it comes to getting kids into their program."
Brandon Shields is the high school sports columnist at The Jackson Sun. Contact him at 425-9751 or at bjshields@jacksonsun.com. Follow him on Twitter @JSEditorBrandon or on Instagram at jacksonsunsports.