Interview by Abernathy Cochran intern and Gainesville High School senior Marie Matthews
Meet Josh Niblett! Coach Niblett is the new Gainesville High School football coach. He played college football at the University of Alabama and recently moved to Gainesville from Hoover High School in Birmingham. Coach Niblett began his high school coaching career in 2000, has won 4 state championships in Alabama and was named Alabama Coach of the Year twice.
We want to thank Coach Niblett for spending time with us recently and telling us more about his life.
Question: Please tell us a little bit about your family.
Answer: “I have a beautiful wife, Karen. I have an older son who is 22 and goes to Cumberland University in Lebanon, Tenn. and he plays football there. Then, I have a daughter who is 20, that plays junior college softball at Wallace State Community College in Hanceville, Ala. And a 16 year-old son that’s here with me at Gainesville High. So that’s kind of our family besides Buck, our dog.”
Q: What do you love most about what you do?
A: “Just getting to make an impact in kids’ lives. I’m all about relationships, I’m a high energy guy so I don’t like sitting down and I like staying on the move, coaching our guys up and then trying to make a difference in their life and also the life of our coaches.”
Q: What are a couple of your favorite restaurants in our community?
A: “Mellow Mushroom…There’s a couple other ones like Atlas Pizza and the Collegiate are really good. I hadn’t been here actually long enough to try to get into all of them, but I definitely have to put Longstreet as No. 1.”
Q: Where do you see Gainesville football in the next few years?
A: “I see us winning a state championship with really good young men who make a difference in our community. I’m one of those guys where I have a high expectations and I think it’s highly important for us use our wisdom and our imagination to get to where we want to be. That’s where our vision is and then we just got to focus on of day to day process so we can get there.”
Q: What are some of your favorite college and pro teams?
A: “I’ve always cheered for Alabama growing up. I played there, I’m an alumni of Alabama. There’s other college teams I enjoy watching, I enjoy watching Georgia…And then pros, I like the Rams even though everybody say he’s jumping on the bandwagon, but I’ve always enjoyed watching them…and then the 49ers are two of my favorite teams in the pros.”
Q: If you could travel anywhere in the world right now, where would it be and why?
A: “I’m a beach guy…I’m a water guy so anywhere where there’s just clear blue water and just be able to lay out all day and enjoy the scenery. I’m not a real picky person, but I am a homebody. I’m not wanting to get on a plane and fly anywhere for 15 hours or anything like that.”
Q: What is one of your favorite movies? TV shows?
A: “I’ve always loved ‘Remember the Titans’ and ‘The Outsiders.’ One of my favorite TV shows that I have been watching during COVID was ‘Longmire,’ that was pretty good and I enjoyed watching that.”
Q: What Bible verse is one that you live by or like to share?
A: “Joshua 1:9, ‘Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged, for the LORD your God will be with you wherever you go.’ My mom had that in her Bible and when I was in the third grade, I was reading through her Bible and saw that in the front and I was like, ‘this is going to be my verse, when I make it one day and I sign an autograph, if I get a chance to do that.”
Q: If you could choose anyone that is alive today and not a relative; with whom would you love to have lunch? Why? And where locally would you meet for this lunch?
A: “It would probably be some pro coach or some college coach just so I could sit down and like pick their brain…I wouldn’t mind like sitting down and eating lunch with like Sean McVay or Kyle Shanahan. Or it might be an author that’s written a book that I really like.”
Q: What is your favorite thing or something unique about our community?
A: “Just the community in itself, that’s unique, because it’s very diverse…You get the best of small town but you get a little bit of everything you want here which is great, because I don’t want to get in that traffic in Atlanta. Also, I think the people are what make it so unique; people here are very supportive and really love their community.”
Q: What were some of the reasons why you decided to move to Gainesville?
A: “Well, there’s two reasons. I’m a faith-based guy so I feel like this is a ministry for me. And so I wanted to be somewhere where I can make a difference in the life of the community, but also in the lives of these players that I’m coaching every day on this campus. I think it’s all about like people, like Adam Lindsey, that I get to work with and I those are the people you get to engage with everyday.”
Q: Where do you see yourself in 5 to 10 years?
A: “Right here doing this interview with another person that’s wanting to be a journalist. I turned 50 years old, January 2nd. For me, it was a new chapter and that was something that Coach Lindsey and I talked about. I’m gonna always be where my feet are, I’m not looking for another opportunity, I am always within the opportunity that I have, unless something just presented itself. But I see myself being here and still shaping lives and playing football games.”
Q: What is something on your bucket list?
A: “I’m a pretty normal guy, I don’t ever think that I’d love to do this or love to go to that…I’ve never went snow skiing so that’s something that maybe I want to do, or go to Montana and ride horses in there. In college, I went through this cowboy phase for a while and I thought roping was what I wanted to do the rest of my life…So, I think on my bucket list would be to spend a week out on a ranch.”
Q: What is the most beautiful place you have ever been?
A: “Probably Destin or Gulf Shores. I went to Yuma Arizona to watch my daughter play a Softball National Championship last year. We went out to the Imperial Dunes…That was probably one of the prettiest things I’ve seen in a long time.”
Q: Favorite month? Favorite holiday? And best single day on the calendar?
A: “Best month: I would say is my birthday but it’s too cold and I’m a warm guy. I like when August rolls around because that’s the month for the first game of football. I love Christmas, I love to give gifts, I love to see people be happy. And then the greatest day on the calendar is when we’re playing for the state championship.”
Q: What would you rate a 10 out of 10?
A: “I’d probably say the calzone at Mellow Mushroom.”
Q: Who inspires you to be better?
A: “My family and the people I work with. I don’t want to ever let them down, so there’s high expectations there. I think what inspires me the most every day is I want to make an impact and add value to people.”
