Head coach cuts it close to fulfill promise
Greenbrier Middle School's head football coach Jody Hilley finally met his match Friday at the hand of a hairdresser.
''There's a debt to society that needs to be paid today," shouted Greenbrier Principal Jeff Carney at a school pep rally.
Greenbrier Middle School head football coach Jody Hilley has his head shaved while his team watches. He promised the shave if the football team went undefeated.
Photo by Jim Blaylock
Seconds later, Hilley stood up from a chair with a shiny, bald head and smiled as those gathered in the packed school gymnasium laughed at the damage left by the hairdresser's electric shaver.
It was a promise fulfilled after an undefeated football season.
''I was trying to find some incentive after the first couple of practices this year," Hilley said about his idea to have his head shaved in exchange for a perfect season. ''And who knows? I might like saving on shampoo costs and combs. I might grow to like it."
Hilley's assistant coach, David Marshall, also got into the act - he had his hair shaved to the scalp while seated at the center of the school's gym floor.
This year, the school's team went 6-0 - a first for the school. Their final win came Oct. 23 with a 22-6 victory over Evans Middle School. And that's where the trash talk began.
''I kept hearing parents as the clock was ticking down going 'Buzz!"' Hilley said. ''They couldn't wait to see me bald."
Neither could team member Tanner ''Country" White, an eighth-grade nose guard and center for Greenbrier.
''We're going to rub it in on him," he said with a grin.
Tanner then added a serious note.
''He's going to show us commitment today because we showed him commitment. And this did encourage us a little more."