For Gatewood head football coach Jeff Ratliff, the start of a new season still brings the same excitement, even after more than three decades on the sidelines.
Entering his 33rd season overall in coaching and his 16th at Gatewood, including 14 years as its head coach, Ratliff said the routine may be exceedingly familiar, but the excitement remains.
“I love football; I really do. I love the kids, and I love the opportunity to try and see if we can build a winner,” Ratliff said.
The Gators will have little time to ease into the 2026 season. Gatewood opens its regular season next Friday night at Tattnall Square Academy in Macon, a Class 4A program that Ratliff knows will provide an immediate test.
Gatewood then faces two more road games against traditional rivals in Briarwood and Brentwood, the latter coming off a 2025 GIAA Class 2A state championship-winning campaign. It will be a challenging opening stretch for Ratliff and his players.
That’s not necessarily a bad thing, according to the coach.
“Football is a marathon, and the only way you’re going to get better is to play against better players,” he said.
There can be a temptation to schedule an easier opponent early in the season, allowing a team to build confidence before facing tougher competition. However, Ratliff sees value in the opposite approach. He said playing strong competition from the outset forces a team to identify its weaknesses, then quickly address them.
“You can’t have excuses; you’ve got to figure things out,” he said. “I really do believe that better competition makes you better, too.”
That philosophy will be particularly important as Gatewood continues working to establish an identity for the new season. Ratliff said the Gators have plenty of work ahead of them, but he liked the direction his team has taken as the preseason progressed.
Before Gatewood turns its full attention to Tattnall Square, the Gators have one more opportunity to test themselves in a preseason scrimmage this Friday night in Eatonton against Central Fellowship Christian Academy.
Ratliff said this final scrimmage not only gives players a chance to see different competition; it provides his coaching staff one more opportunity to identify areas still needing attention. However, he added, the game will be treated more as an extended practice than a true measuring stick for the season.
“We’ll probably alternate offense-defense every 10 downs or so, but we’ll include field goals and punts when they come up, which we haven’t done so far this season,” Ratliff said.
Afterward, he added, the process will be straightforward. Watch the film, let the players study what they did, correct the mistakes, and move on.
“We’ve still got a long way to go,” Ratliff said. “And we’ve got to get it right out of the gate.”
For Ratliff, that remains part of what keeps the beginning of a football season fresh for him. The names and faces change; the opponents change; even the challenges change.
But the anticipation remains the same.
“That’s when we’ll turn our attention to that Week 1 ball game,” he said. “And that’s all we’ll be focused on.”