Toomer took unconventional route to football coaching

Aug. 10—MOULTRIE — Before Worth County played host to Colquitt County in the second game of the 1997 football season, Rams defensive coordinator Neil Roberts — who had previously held the same job for the Packers — was asked by a reporter to assess his unit.

Among the players Roberts said the Rams would depend on was 6-foot-4, 285-pound senior defensive tackle Terel Toomer.

And the massive run-stopper did his job that September night in Sylvester leading the Rams to a 9-7 upset of a Packers team that was ranked No. 4 in Class 4A and went on to advance to the state semifinals in the Georgia Dome.

Twenty-five years later Toomer would be wearing Colquitt County's black-and-gold and coaching the Packers defensive linemen while helping lead the team to a 13-1 record and another berth in the semifinals.

But Toomer's odyssey to coaching in Georgia's highest classification has not been a conventional one.

In fact, after his senior season playing for head coach Bobby McAllister's Rams team that went 9-5 and lost in the quarterfinals, Toomer assumed his association with football was over.

He had been contacted by many of the top college football programs in the country and even had Florida State's Jim Gladden offer to help him get into Jones Junior College in Ellisville, Miss.

"I remember coach Roberts telling me, 'You're tall, your big, they just don't build guys like you all the time. They want guys like you,'" Toomer said.

"But when I left high school, my grades were bad. I wish now I had gone to Jones."

So Toomer sat out the 1998 and 1999 seasons, working on a farm, at a grocery store and in the mobile home building industry.

"It was bad," he said. "I realized I needed a college degree to make some money and make something of myself. That's what drove me to college."

In 2000 he got in Middle Georgia College and played two seasons. In 2001, he was All-Conference and an All-American, but still could not get into a Division I program.

There were a number of Division II programs interested, however, including Valdosta State, one of the top programs in the nation.

But he had to sit out the 2002 season to get his grades in order and in 2003 he worked his way on to a Blazers roster that included quarterback Sean Calhoun.

Toomer was a reserve nose guard when the season started, but as he rounded into shape, he became a starter.

In 2004, he was named All-Conference and All-America on the Valdosta State team that won a National Championship.

He said he received calls from six National Football League teams, "but none of them pulled the trigger."

After graduating from Valdosta State in 2005, Toomer played one season for the Rome Renegades in the Arena Indoor Football League.

He then went to work in a juvenile correction facility.

It was disturbing.

"I saw these teen-agers who had done adult crimes," he said. "I decided then I wanted to help keep kids from doing that. Maybe I could help them get out in front of it.

"I thought if I coached kids, I might be able to keep them out of places they couldn't get out of."

So in 2008, he got certified to teach and got his first coaching job at Rome Middle School working for longtime successful coach Sid Fritts.

In 2009, he was hired to coach the offensive line, defensive line and outside linebackers at Region 7-AA Chattooga High School in Summerville.

Toomer spent the next three seasons at Gordon Central High School before working as the defensive coordinator and linebackers coach at Washington-Wilkes.

"They have a lot of football tradition there," Toomer said of Washington-Wilkes. "It reminds me of Moultrie."

The Tigers went 10-0, won the Region 8-AA title and advanced to the state quarterfinals in 2013.

After the 2014 season, Toomer went to Darien to join the McIntosh County Academy program, where he was the defensive coordinator and coached the secondary and linebackers.

The Buccaneers had been 0-10 the year before he arrived, went 4-7 in 2015 and then reached the state championship in 2016 before losing to Macon County in the state championship game.

Toomer served as the team's interim head coach for the last several games after the head coach had been suspended.

He was hired as the team's head coach in early 2017 and took over a team that had only two defensive starters back.

The Buccaneers went 4-6, but after meeting with the school's new principal, he chose to resign.

"But I learned more in that one season than in all the seasons I was an assistant coach," Toomer said. "I am very glad I took that job. And I would like to be a head coach again."

In 2018 he was hired by Macon County head coach Dexter Copeland to join his staff.

It was Copeland's 2016 team that had defeated McIntosh County in the state championship game, but he had been impressed with the Toomer's Buccaneers defense.

The Bulldogs improved each year Toomer was on the staff, going 5-6 in 2018, 6-5 in 2019, 9-2 in 2020 and 13-1 in 2021.

Toomer has been a part of three straight outstanding teams, including last year's13-1 Packers.

The 2020 and 2021 Macon County teams were 7-0 in the region and the Packers were 4-0 in Region 1-7A last fall.

His last three teams went a combined 33-4.

When he and Calhoun, his former Valdosta State teammate, connected in early 2022, he was pleased to be offered a chance to coach in Georgia's highest classification.

Toomer said both he and his son Bryce, a junior linebacker for the Packers, had dreams taking off Macon County red garb and putting on something black.

And when shown a house in Colquitt County by real estate agent Regina Giles, Toomer said he knew he had the right home.

Toomer has had some work to do this off-season as the defensive line unit has lost two of its three starters from the 2022 group.

Julian Harper is now playing at Thomas University and Duke-committed Tyshon Reed Jr. has been moved to outside linebacker.

But Amari Wilson, who started as a sophomore last year, is back.

"He had about as good a sophomore year as any player I've had," Toomer said.

Wilson will be joined on the line by some combination of seniors Javaris Parrish, Ky-von Rivers, Jartavious Flounoy, Johnny Clay and Islann Alvarado.

"These guys are looking to get us over the hump," Toomer said. "I'm really proud of the way they practice and how they try to meet our expectations.

"They respond well and give it all they've got. You can't ask more from a kid."

And while Wilson was the only starter last year, the other received what Toomer characterized as "meaningful reps" last year.

And they know their primary assignments: stop the run.

"If we can stop the run and make the other team one-dimensional, that's what you want," Toomer said.

While Toomer's primary concern is the defensive line, he also keeps an eye on son Bryce, who missed all of his sophomore season last year after suffering injuries to both knees.

But Bryce got plenty of playing time in the recent scrimmage against Peach County, filling in for Reed, who had stitches in his hand and and did not play.

Toomer is perhaps even more proud of his son's 3.4 grade point average.

He encourages the other players on the team to commit to their education.

"I want them to get the best grades possible and put themselves in the best situation possible," said Toomer, who earned his master's degree in 2020.

It is all a part of his commitment to youngsters that he first was introduced to when he played for Neil Roberts 25 years ago.

"I remember how much he wanted to beat Moultrie and what a difference-maker he was," Toomer said. "He was big on getting bigger, faster and stronger.

"But he also was big on discipline. He was more than about just football. He really cared about you, wanted you to do well in school and stay out of trouble. And he helped guys without hesitation. He cared about us the way I care about our guys."

Oh, an about that dedication and discipline. Terel and Shana's son Bryce is not the only football player in the family.

Freshman daughter Leah is a member of Colquitt County's inaugural flag football team.