Dr. Jason Carrera is ready to lead the charge into a new era of sports at McIntosh High.
Named the school’s new athletic director and assistant principal in April, Carrera replaces Leon Hammond who is the new Principal at Fayette LIFE Academy. He previously served in the same roles at Central Gwinnett High, but he jumped at the chance to work much closer to home.
Being new to our county’s schools gives Carrera a different perspective. He can question what resources are missing and what processes are lacking based on his previous environments, and he can examine what differences are beneficial. That is especially important at this juncture for the school as it undergoes a massive shift, including new facilities and shifting fields.
“I”m a fresh set of eyes walking into McIntosh,” he said.
Carrera wants McIntosh athletics, and extracurricular activities as a whole, to thrive and grow. The skills the participants pick up and the bonds and memories they form with their friends will be treasured for a lifetime.
“My goal is I don’t want kids to get on the bus,” he said. “I don’t want them to leave school at the end of the day. I want them to be involved in something.”
The lessons learned in sports can carry a student-athlete through the rest of their lives. They impart discipline and dedication, and they also teach you how to both rely on and be reliable for your teammates. The preparation from hours of preseason work turning into game day success is a lesson that plays itself out every day in the post-playing life.
“For me, athletics shaped me. Athletics gave me the drive that I have every day.”
He was a multi-sport athlete at Forest Park High, even playing a bit of college ball. After he graduated, he worked in the corporate world for nearly 20 years, but it wasn’t speaking to his heart. The income was good, but it wasn’t his passion.
“I’ll figure out how to pay our water bill but I’m going to be a coach and teach because I feel like that’s what I’m called to do,” he thought.
He took his first head football coaching job at Meadowcreek, a position many considered doomed. The team was 2-98 in the 100 games before he took over. He had them in the state playoffs by year three, and he left as the winningest coach in school history.
Along with a great coaching staff, he built great community relationships and implemented a system to get the program on the right track.
“We eliminated some excuses for why they couldn’t win,” he said. “It was about getting kids to believe: Believe that someone cared about them, someone wanted them to be there, someone was pouring into them and holding them accountable.”
While he coached, he continued to pursue his own academic excellence, earning a Doctorate. His administrators nudged him towards pursuing his own school leadership opportunities. Becoming an athletic director is a different challenge from coaching, but it is one that appealed to him.
“I didn’t feel like I was done coaching, but I also felt like I could pour into more coaches who are working with kids.”
He is a firm believer that a thriving athletics program lifts up the whole school. The positive school pride from a big football or volleyball win can permeate the halls.
“A good fall season in any sport will set the school up for success for the year.”
He expects his coaches to aim for excellence in its many forms. Study what the best programs do and make that the bar you strive to reach.
“Quit treating your program like it’s not supposed to be the best in the state,” he said. “If you’re not trying to be the best, why are you coaching?”
That makeup of a great coach is about more than wins and losses, it’s about sculpting student-athletes. That means giving them a great experience, but also holding them accountable. It means running a full quality program. It means taking pride in the little things, like keeping the locker room and field area in top shape.
“My goal is for us to strive to be the best athletic program that we can be and set the bar very high for our coaches and our players and our school,” he said. “You don’t have to win state championships to have a great athletic program. If you put a great product on the field, if you do things right, and if people are enjoying the experience, that to me is great.”
