Head coach Frank Brown returns to roam the sidelines this year for first year program Dawson County Middle School.

Brown took some time off from coaching in order to watch his son play at the high school. He decided to get back into coaching when approached about the job last spring.

“I have another son who will play at DCMS,” said Brown.

“Plus, I missed the game and wanted to coach,” he added.

Brown will inherit a young squad this season.

Most of the players that formed the Riverview Middle School team, stayed at the school.

“We have a lot of experience with kids that played on the park and recreation teams last year. We just don’t have many who played at the middle school level,” said Brown.

Offensively, the team will try and emulate the high school team of Coach Jeff Lee as much as possible.

Brown said about his offense, “They are getting better with the type of offense Coach Lee would like for us to run. We are going to add a few more wrinkles just in case things don’t work out.”

Assistant Coach Stephen Moates will run the defense for Brown. “Coach Moates and I have worked together before,” said Brown. “He does a great job teaching the kids fundamentals.”

The Tigers will run a defense that is similar to Coach Lee’s high school team.

“We will run a 3-5 and blitz from every angle, depending on the circumstance,” Brown remarked.

“I think it will be good for us to keep our linebackers moving all the time so the offense doesn’t know where we are coming from,” he added.

“Our goal is to get these kids ready for high school football,” Brown said. “Our coaching staff is committed to do the best we can so that Coach Lee will know these players are prepared for him when they get there. We would be doing a disservice to the program if we didn’t do that.”

Former Dawson County football star, Thomy Edwards will also be an assistant coach for the football team this year at the new middle school.

Edwards will work with the quarterbacks and running backs.

Edwards will be a first year math teacher at the school.

“There are a lot of good teams in this league,” commented Brown. “Riverview will be tough. Jasper and Pickens will be much improved. Gilmer is always big and talented. If we can execute and limit our mistakes we should be competitive.”

The Tigers will participate in a scrimmage at Riverview Middle School on Thursday, Aug. 21. Other teams playing will be Jasper Middle School and Pickens County Middle School.

Kick-off is scheduled for 5 p.m.

E-mail Pam Jacobs at sports@dawsonnews.com.