Shannon Jarvis, Head Football Coach of Mill Creek High School

The football team is coming off of an impressive season that saw them reach the quarterfinals of the state playoffs. But for head coach Shannon Jarvis, the results on the field are not as important as the character being shaped in each player's life. 

Coach Jarvis is the only football coach Mill Creek has known. Jarvis was hired when the school opened seven years ago and has been at work building a powerful football program ever since as evidenced by last year's quarterfinal appearance.  The feat is even more impressive when you factor in the reality that Mill Creek competes in arguably the most difficult region in all of Georgia's 5-A football -- region 7-AAAAA.

"It's a dogfight every night and our kids have to be prepared to play in both the physical and the mental aspect," said Jarvis. "Last year all our kids saw how powerful the spirit of this team can be."

It's that "spirit" that Coach Jarvis is more impressed with than anything else his team accomplished.  

"We have a lot of unselfish players who perform a lot of unselfish acts," he said.  "That's hard in today's society when people are looking for immediate rewards and there is a lot of self-promotion. Our kids have bought into being a part of something bigger than themselves."

For Coach Jarvis, cultivating a spirit of selflessness and responsibility isn't just something to be developed on the side, it's a vital part of his vision and responsibility as a coach. He sees his role as an opportunity to help develop young boys into responsible young men who contribute positively to society.

"The biggest problem I see in our society today is the lack of male influence. We are losing our fathers; we are losing positive male influences. We now have a whole generation of cowardly men who are bolting out of marriage and kids are being raised without a positive male influence," he said. "Our greatest impact to our community will be to generate husbands, fathers, and young men who know the value of hard work. We will not compromise our values in order to just get a win."

The young men who journey through Coach Jarvis' program are taught that life isn't just about football.

"I told my players this last year and I meant it, that if the greatest thing you do is make it to the state quarterfinals your senior year, then you are selling yourself short" he said.

After seven years of coaching with that vision of seeing young men's lives transformed, Coach Jarvis is seeing positive results on the field and off.

"We've had some young men graduate from this program that nobody in the community hardly know because they are not division I recruits, but I cannot tell you how optimistic I am about our future because of the strength and the leadership and the character of the kids that are coming out of this community. And that is not just a reflection of our football program, it's a reflection of parents and a community that are willing to raise these kids together," he said.

For Coach Jarvis, his philosophy isn't just rhetoric, it is birthed out of a lifestyle of faith lived out with his wife and two daughters and strengthened by his church, in Dacula.

"I am a Christian. I will not let my self-worth be measured by wins and loses.  I start my day in prayer and let it give me perspective before I go to work," he said. "I would encourage all men to find their self worth not in results and their paychecks, but look for it in their own personal lives and their relationships with others, and for me it all starts with my relationship with Jesus Christ."

It's this type of faith that keeps Coach Jarvis grounded during the successes and the disappointments of high school football.

"At the end of the day, when my tenure is done at Mill Creek, whenever that may be, I'm going to look back and do my self-reflection," he said. "I'll look at what type of kids did we put out, and that's ultimately how I'm going to be evaluated."

For those who have the privilege of going through Coach Jarvis' program, the fruit of his hard work will be seen in their lives as they become husbands, fathers, and contributing individuals in a society in desperate need of good men.