Bobcats’ Season in Review

The Gilmer Bobcats football team posted its first winning season in a decade with a 7-3 record. Gilmer did not make the playoffs, unlike last year’s team that finished with a 5-5 record and did make the playoffs. FYN recently sat down with head coach, Wesley Tankersley to discuss the football season.Coach Tankersley spoke of changing the mentality from a losing mentality; the Bobcats went 0-10 in his inaugural season, to the winning mentality that it takes to build a successful program.

“Last year was a big step in getting that confidence that you can win that you can play with anybody,”

Tankersley said.

Tankersley talked about how the main ingredient to having success is, ironically having success.

“The weird thing is, you got to do it (win) once or twice. You’ve got to get to that point where your kids actually do it I think. To be able to get them to realize they can.”

Tankersley spoke about building the foundation for the program, and how success is not always determined by the number of wins in losses.

“Our success isn’t always going to be exactly what the score is, (or) exactly how we do in a season. Our success is going to be determined by what do you do on each play? Do you play each play to the best of your ability? If you do that then things are going to come out pretty good in the end, more times than not.”

The Bobcats will have to replace nine seniors; however, Tankersley expects his team to “continue to stay hungry.” Off season workouts will a be a key part of Gilmer’s success or lack there of in the upcoming season, as Gilmer, despite the recent statewide region changes, will see familiar faces in both the sub-region and region, such as Allatoona, Cedartown, and the Dragons of Pickens County.

Tankserley spoke briefly about the Region rival, Dragons as well as the rival Rebels of Fannin County, saying that the eight year losing streak snapping rising over the Rebels was clearly, for him, the biggest win of the year.

“That’s been one, that you know obviously has been such a mental thing over the last couple of years, and for us to get over that hurdle that really changed the way people were talking in school, the mindset of people in the community, and stuff like that. I saw a lot of changes there too.”

Tankersley also compared the Fannin and Pickens rivalries, saying,

“There both big rivals, I guess you could say that Fannin’s more of a friendly rival and Pickens isn’t as friendly of a rival,”

quite possibly the understatement of the year.