Tony Franklin
The Gulf Coast Athletic Club opened its September 11, 2023 meeting in the Clubhouse at Craft Farms Golf Resort at 7:00pm. President George Autrey welcomed the crowd of 65 members and guests.
President George asked that all members please continue to RSVP for the upcoming meetings. He did mention the first two weeks of the College Football season was crazy.
Going right into the Prolific Pigskin Prognosticators Contest, otherwise as the College Football Pool, we have 39 paid participants this year, so a good award awaits some savvy picker at year end. He mentioned several who were doing well, and last year’s leaders were giving everyone else a chance to catch up early on. BRAUS14 with 11 won Week 1 and JCB4AU took Week 2, also with 11. This year, a new “trick” ploy, picking a key game worth 3 points, may prove to be the deciding factor.
Gulf Shores High School Athletic Director Paul Wilson gave the Dolphins report. Football starts out kicking with a 3-0 record with Regional adversary UMS coming up at home on Friday. Volleyball is in full swing with another great start. Cross Country has started and the year is in a “full go” mode.
Dr. Gaylon McCollough said this is his favorite time of the year, when the Club introduces GSHS Male and Female Scholar Athletes who will compete for the Club’s annual scholarships awarded at year end. These two young ladies are no exception to the string of incredible Scholar Athletes to precede them.
Our first Scholar Athlete is Morgan McCartney, a young lady who is a one-person track team all by herself. Decathlon, Heptathlon, Discus, High Jump, Long Jump, Triple Jump, Javelin, wow, that’s enough right there. She’s been on Varsity Track since the 8th Grade with multiple records in all events. A 4.1 GPA, and National Honor Society member, she plans to compete in College Track somewhere and plans to be an anesthesiologist. She loves Healthcare and is already a Certified Patient Care Technician.
Our second Scholar Athlete is Dianna Moore, with a 4.26 GPA and a 31 on the ACT. She has played Volleyball for 9 years and is Team Captain and on the All-American Watch List. A member of NHS, Sr. Class Secretary, and a Class Ambassador, she plans to go to South Florida with studies in Biology and a career as an Orthodontist. She has a scholarship in Scuba Diving.
A great shout out to Taylor Means for his coordination in this great program.
Team Reports are really good with almost 20 teams weighing in, with longshot Colorado being the highlight this week! Ably handled as usual by the quick-witted Dec McClelland, his “committee” selected none other than the expected Alabama Crimson Tide for this week’s Crying Towel (sorry, Clemson, you dodged a bullet). Fred Dickinson accepted the CT on behalf of the Bama Faithful.
Tonight’s speaker is Tony Franklin, another great example of GCAC members getting outstanding programs and speakers from the entire football community. Tony has been the Offensive Coordinator at Auburn, Troy, California, Army, Middle Tennessee, Kentucky, LA Tech, and others. Tony says there are only 130 team in Division 1 football and he’s coached at or against 80 of them!
This Kentucky native talked about the “Smell of Football” in the State of Alabama. Obviously, he’s had the experience, plus he worked with the legendary High School Coach Rush Propst in creating The Tony Franklin Fast Tempo Football System, a movement that spread throughout the HS ranks, then to the College level, used by more than half CFP college teams and hundreds of High Schools.
Tony then became successful as an author with “Fourth Down & Life To Go” and “Victor’s Victory”, a story about a 15-year-old who died at Football practice because there was no AED Deliberator available, now AEDs are always available. “Do good for somebody who can never repay you.”. Tony Franklin, a fascinating man who was a really impactful speaker.
The $81 50-50 was awarded to Bill Tunnell, who donated it back to GCAC.
The 9/25/23 GCAC Speaker will be GSHG Defensive Coordinator Coach Brian VanGorder, former college and NFL coach.
The meeting was adjourned at 8:25pm.
