GMC News

Over the last three football seasons, Georgia Military College’s offense has made a habit of distinguishing itself by finishing in the nation’s top 10 for total offense and rushing offense.

Based on those statistics, American Football Monthly magazine named GMC offensive coordinator Jeff Tatum its 2002 Junior College offensive coordinator of the year in its September issue.

When he was young, Tatum, a native of Frisco City, Ala., was interested in a number of sports and received college scholarship offers for baseball, basketball and football upon graduation. Tatum said he chose football because he came from a football town.

“Football was always the most important sport where I went to high school,” he said.

When his playing days were finished at Delta State University’s Junior College, Tatum made the transition to coaching.

“I like helping kids learn the game,” he said. “And I like that kids can learn lessons from sports about life.”

When asked about how he approaches running an offense, Tatum explained that above all, flexibility was a priority at the junior college level.

“You’re never sure what type of players you will have from year to year,” he said. “But I try and put the best players in the best position situations that I can.”

For Tatum, success depends on how well he handles these choices each year.

“I start out with a base system,” he said. “And then adapt it to the personnel.”

Tatum also believes that one of the keys to having a powerful offense is the quarterback.

“The offense revolves around the quarterback,” he said. “So I tell all my quarterbacks to be competitive and be a leader.”

No matter how hard he gets after his players in practice, Tatum never loses sight that most of his athletes are inexperienced

“I tell them I know they are young and I know they are going to make mistakes,” he said. “But if they play to win and play hard, then we’ll be fine.”