Gordon Lee’s Josh Groce Enjoys the Honor of Coaching His Son Peyton
Chickamauga, GA-(WDEF-TV) Some football players say their coach is like a father to them. Well for Peyton Groce there is no like about it.
His coach is his dad. That can be a bit never racking, but they are also making great memories.
News 12’s Brian Armstrong shows us why.
Said head coach Josh Groce: “It has its challenges, you know, probably more for him than for me.”
Fathers coaching sons can be difficult for Gordon Lee’s head coach, Josh Groce. He handles coaching his son, Peyton, differently.
Said Josh: “I try not to actually coach him. I coach a position that he’s not at. And that was my goal going into this, you know, all the way through rec ball up to middle school. And then, you know, I knew once he got into high school, if he was playing the position I was going to be coaching, then I was going to move to a different position because I wanted someone else. To be coaching him.”
This was done as a means of not crossing a father-son line.
Said Josh: “Well, ’cause I try not to, um, take the, the father concept out of it because, you know, I am his dad and I don’t want to, and when he knows, and we had this, a long talk before he started playing high school football last year, that when he’s out here, you know, he’s, he’s a player. He is not my son. And then, you know, when we get off the field, you know, I don’t wanna lose. of father, son.
Most of help out through my position. It’s just coach Cassell. most of time because I’m but he’s always good about ability to be able to bond.
Said Josh: “It’s opportunities that not a lot of fathers get to have. I mean, because we’re around each other, you know, a whole lot and you know, especially after wins, it’s a lot funner. Uh, sometimes after losses, he probably takes the brunt of, you know, me being upset and, you know, frustrated. But, you know, he does a very good job handling that scenario.”
Said Peyton: “He just apologized and he’s like, I know I’m hard on you and stuff like that.”
And being the son of a coach creates fun stories when you’re practicing with the team when you’re much younger than the rest of the players.
Said Peyton: “We were out trying, we were doing over speed so it was like a, I was with the high scorers and there’s like a bungee rope tied to one person and I was with a high scorer and he took off and I wasn’t ready and he drug me across the whole field. How old were you then? I was probably like seven or eight.”
