THOMASVILLE, GA. (WTXL) — Ed Pilcher was one of the greatest football coaches to ever grace the Rose City.
He won five State championships in six seasons as head coach at Thomas County Central, never missing the playoffs in 17 years as the Jackets head coach. In a career that spanned 30 seasons, Pilcher won 250 games, on Thursday -- he died -- Pilcher was 72 years old.
Former Jackets head coach Bill Shaver joined Pilcher in Thomasville in the summer of 94 as an assistant coach and would eventually succeed him as the head coach in 2008. Shaver knew him well and told us coach Pilcher's philosophy was one you couldn't help but love.
"His biggest statement was always to take care of the little things and then big things will happen after that, so you know we ran split back veer and that is just about doing a lot of reps over and over and over again, and you know just keep doing those little things over and the kids really bought in and the community bought in and you know they got it rolling and it kept rolling and it kind of got where the kids expected to win," said Shaver. "He got it all started and it was just about hard work, determination and not taking any kind of shortcuts."
Thomas County Central named their field at the Jackets nest after Pilcher back in 2020, and his funeral is set for Monday in Thomasville.
