Ask the question, and Laney coach Eric Parker immediately will reel off the Wildcats' win-loss records for the six years he's been in charge.
There was the 0-10 season in 1997. Then the 1-9 year in '98 and the 3-7 mark in '99.
That equals 4-26 in Parker's first three years at the helm.
It didn't surprise Parker; he knew his first couple of seasons would be rough going.
"We knew coming in we'd take some losses," Parker said. "That didn't happen by surprise. (Former Josey coach) John Starr said before I got this job that if I would be willing to come in and take some losses, he believed I could turn the program around. He said the talent was here."
Now, Parker can talk about those lean years without bursting a blood vessel. Now, Parker can look to the past and smirk.
The Wildcats are 29-7 during the past three years, and at 3 p.m. Friday, they'll make their first appearance in Atlanta's Georgia Dome when they take on Dublin in the Class AAA semifinals.
"The first thing (defensive coordinator) Lemeul Lackey and I did was make our minds up, and we said we were going to do things the right way and make the kids work hard," Parker said. "We'd make them responsible for all their actions. Obviously, if you do that, and you'll lose a lot of the talented football players you've got. And after we started 0-17, a lot of the community got antsy."
The community is just fine now. The Wildcats are 12-1 this season, and they expect to win their first title as a member of the Georgia High School Association - they won state championships in the Georgia Interscholastic Association in 1961 and '66.
Still, life as a Laney football player isn't perfect.
The practice facilities are less than state-of-the-art - the Wildcats have spent some practices lately at Josey's White Road Stadium to take advantage of the extra room and lighting - the Wildcats still don't have their own stadium, and they don't get the respect they think they deserve.
They take all of that our on their opponents.
"We don't get the top-notch facilities," senior linebacker J.K. Sabb said. "We have a little practice field and a little weight room. We have to go out and prove we're one of the top five teams in the state."
Parker said, "There might be a chip on our shoulder. Regardless, when you step between the white lines, you have to count on the 11 guys out there. That's the mentality here."
For senior offensive lineman Courtney Safford, it's a family mentality. In essence, his big brothers have turned the program from laughingstock to lucrative.
Now, it's his job to take the rest of his brothers all the way.
"In my 10th grade year, we were just happy to have a winning record," Safford said. "They won the region, so that's how the senior class will be remembered. We want to do something that no other class has done."
Reaching the Georgia Dome is a start.
"But we want to feel like we've shocked the world," Safford said. "We don't feel like we have yet. We still feel like we haven't accomplished anything."
Laney's record since Eric Parker was hired
Year/Record/Playoff finish
1997/0-10/None
1998/1-9/None
1999/3-7/None
2000/10-2/2nd round loss to Fitzgerald
2001/7-4/1st round loss to LaGrange
2002/12-1/TBA
Six years/33-33/
Reach Josh Katzowitz at (706) 823-3216 or josh.katzowitz@augustachronicle.com.
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