THOMASVILLE — Thomas County Central kicked off head football coach Ashley Henderson’s first full week on the job with a meet and greet event in the school’s cafeteria on Monday, with booster club members and fans packing into the school’s cafeteria to hear his vision for rebuilding the program.

After an introduction by athletic director Sam Holland, Henderson, donning a trademark blue jacket with a ‘TC’ emblazoned on the pocket, took questions from Yellow Jacket play-by-play announcer Randy Young to give attendees a picture of what his goals are.

Henderson touched on marketing the program inside and outside the walls of the high school. There will be no red worn in the weight room and players will be encouraged to wear Central gear out in the community, he said.

He also touched on scheme on offense and defense, including the no-huddle spread offense that will be a big departure from what Central has done for the last two decades. The Yellow Jackets will play out of a 4-3 on defense.

“The best high school football in America is on Highway 84, and we’re going to hold our end of that up,” Henderson said.

While there will be a lot of new things Henderson wants to bring, he also recognizes the traditions that exist, as well as the players that have come through the program in the past. The midnight madness practices that traditionally kick off the season will continue, and the team will look to keep alums like Henderson’s good friend Joe Burns involved in the program.

Another aspect of the program that Henderson touched on was the connection to Thomas County Middle School, which conveniently lies across the highway from the high school. Assistant coach Lamar Landing will be taking over the middle school program, and Henderson discussed a transparent open door policy to make sure the entire football operation is on the same page in terms of drills and verbiage.

Monday was the first night that a lot of the booster club members were able to meet Henderson, and they were pleased with what they heard.

“I’ve been talking to coach Henderson for a couple of weeks,” Central booster club vice president Bill Carson said. “I love his enthusiasm. I love his character. he doesn’t ask anything of (the players) that he doesn’t expect from him or his coaching staff. I think that speaks volumes of who he is and that’s exactly what we were looking for in a head coach.”

There’s been a noticeable excitement among players as well, some of which were in attendance. Amari Pettis, a linebacker, was particularly excited about the new offense.

“We’d do a good job on defense, as soon as we get off the field, we’d have to go back because the offense can’t produce nothing,” Pettis said. “I’m looking forward to it.”