New Veterans head coach Steven DeVoursney talks all things Warhawks
The man that now leads the helm of the Warhawks football program spoke to 41NBC's Justin Dierkes ahead of his first season as Head Coach in Georgia since 2021
KATHLEEN, Georgia (41NBC/WMGT) – The Veterans Warhawks have hired Steven DeVoursney to lead their football program. Coach ‘DeVo’ is the fourth head coach in the 15 year program history, replacing Josh Ingram.
41NBC spoke with him Tuesday at Freedom Field about the transition here, his past, what he plans to bring to the Warhawks program and what he can expect from the Veterans community.
“Everyone talks about how tough the region is and the schedule, and all that, but we are going to build something special in this town and community,” he said.
Coach Devo also spoke about how excited he is to be coaching the Warhawks.
“Veterans is a new school,” he said. “It’s a great school. It’s a great place to send your kids. Great leadership and they want to win, and be supportive so, I think our time is coming. I think everyone in the county has won, and won big, except Veterans. So why not us? It’s time to start getting that tradition going.”
DeVoursney now shares this stadium with his rival just six miles away, Houston County High School, with a very familiar head coach. Houston County head coach Jeremy Edwards actually used to be DeVo’s offensive coordinator at Cairo High School. Another region rival, Thomas County Central, has another head coach, Justin Rogers, who used to be DeVo’s offensive coordinator at Griffin High School. DeVoursney shared his thoughts on being in a tough region with close region rivals he knows so well.
“Hopefully, we can make it a bigger rivalry,” he said. “That’s why they hired me. I think our kids are excited for that challenge, and I think it’s great for this community. There’s a lot of tradition in this town, and in this community, so we want to be apart of it. We don’t want to be on the outskirts looking in all the time. We want to start being apart of this tradition and apart of this winning process. Our schedule is the toughest schedule in the state, and we are in the toughest region in the state, but so are the other teams. We can’t make excuses, we just got to go to work and see what happens.”
With a 182-68 record as a head coach in the state during his time at Griffin and Cairo, along with a state championship ring in the Bears’ undefeated 2013 season to go with it, the new Veterans coach says he is here to change the culture of Warhawks football.
“Well, hopefully just get a fresh start,” he said. “You got a new coach, and new expectations. You know you got to win to put people in the stands. There’s no question about it. People aren’t coming just because you got a new coach. We got to do everything we can to win and put our kids in the best situation.”
Coach also gave us his initial reaction of the team he will be taking over in 2025.
“Football is a different sport when you put pads on, so it’s hard to tell right now, but as far as the lifting and moving, and mobility they have, they look like they are good athletes. Whether that translates to the football field, we will find out in May when we do spring football, but I’m excited with what we have right now, and like I said, the way they’re working, their work ethic, you know, wanting to be better, is promising.”
He’s spent the last few years as a coach at Orange Beach and Foley High Schools in Alabama after leaving Cairo in 2021. DeVo has brought his more htan 20 years of head coaching expertise back to the Peach State and to a fairly new program that has less than 20 seasons under its belt.
“Here, we are going to work hard and try to be physical. As our kids get older, better, and have more football knowledge, we’ll get better as a team,” he said.
With young talent, leadership and a fresh start, big things are happening in Kathleen, and coach DeVo has a message for the Warhawk community.
“Get behind us. Be there. We’re going to do the right thing for these kids and this community. Just be behind us to support us. The big way to support us is to be at the games. We’re just excited about this year. It’s only been about 14 or 15 years of the school, so I don’t have a lot of alumni but, hopefully the people coming up, and coming through that pipeline, are excited about what’s going to happen here.”
Coach DeVo has relatives in the area including his nephew Eric DeVoursney, who is the offensive coordinator at Perry. That’s something he said was a big draw for him to come to Middle Georgia.
Veterans will hold a meet and greet with the new Warhawks coach on Monday, February 10, at 6 p.m. Justin Dierkes will be there to hear reactions from the Veterans community.
