Lee Shaw's Rabun County Wildcats In Line for Big Season

Rabun County went 6-5 last season, making the AA State
Playoffs for the 1st time since 1998, and putting together
its first winning season since 2000 under coach Lee Shaw.

Coach Lee Shaw is featured on the latest episode of BLITZ, sharing his thoughts on his first year at Rabun County in 2012, when he took over a Wildcats program that hadn't made the playoffs since 1998 and hadn't had a winning season since 2000.  And of course, as Coach Shaw is so great at doing, (see Flowery Branch 2002-2011), he has begun turning this Rabun team into a powerhouse.  A 6-5 season and a first round playoff appearance put Rabun back on the map and brought plenty of excitement.

"Our guys had a tough schedule, but it was exciting to watch them believe some, the community buy in.  I tried to bring that same mentality that I had at Flowery Branch, that winning mentality.  We're closing the gap on some of the bigger schools and we're figuring out how to win."

Despite last season's success, Shaw would be the first to say this is merely a stepping stone for this program.

"We're taking it, seems like every week, to another level, but the hardest thing is once you get 6-4, 6-5 like we were, not to get complacent. Because to me, it was a good season to start off, but it's only one game past average. We're looking for something bigger and better than that and these guys have really committed to that."

Coach Shaw's quarterback apple never falls far from the tree.  A Rabun alumni and standout QB in his day, he passed the torch on to sons Jaybo (Georgia Tech; Georgia Southern QB) and Connor (entering SR year as starting QB at South Carolina).  Even after Connor's departure from The Branch in 2009, following his incredible 2008 junior season that saw the Flowery Branch Falcons go to the State Title game in the Georgia Dome, Shaw has coached two other Division-I signal-callers.  In 2009, Connor Shaw finished his career at Flowery Branch with a semi-final showdown at Gainesville in what is arguably one of the greatest football games in GHSA history.  You can see the highlights here of the 2009 AAA Semifinals, which also featured big-time play-makers in Blake Sims (Alabama QB/RB) & TJ Jones (Notre Dame WR).

Shaw's next two QB projects were Habersham Central SR transfer Austin Brown (UAB) in 2010, followed by North Hall SR transfer Kanler Coker (North Carolina) in 2011 before departing Flowery Branch with an overall record of 79-41, averaging 10-11 wins per season by the 2005 season.  Rabun's SR QB Wes Holcombe is back for the 2013 season.  Shaw's main weapon found some success last year, tossing over 2,000 yards with 16 TD, and that has the head coach feeling like Holcombe can be just as capable of picking up a D-I offer.

"Wes has the same makeup as they do. He's a dual threat QB, this system is great for him. I'm expecting a big year out of him, and I really hope he gets credit due to him in the recruiting game."

Needless to say, Shaw and his QB Holcombe, along with other play-makers such as highly-touted sophomore WR/DB Charlie Woerner, are expecting big things in 2013.  Who know's...quite possibly we could see another Lee Shaw run in the playoffs as we've been accustomed to seeing while he was at Flowery Branch.

"Certainly anything's possible when you make the playoffs.  We proved that at Flowery Branch, going on the road and beating some team's that we shouldn't have in the early years.  A lot of things have to fall into place. The game's we lost last year came in the second half...we're trying to put four quarters together.  It's a real exciting time for Rabun County football."