Calling plays and shaping a team are no easy tasks. Here's a look at the area's top coaches and a few who leave us holding our breath.

Top 3:

1 - Hal Lamb: When you think Calhoun football your mind immediately goes to the talent on the field. This year's crop of Da'Rick Rogers, Nash Nance and Dustin Christian are just the latest installment of the Jackets' version of a Pro-Bowl roster. They play the game with more speed and athleticism than any other team in this region. They literally run circles around their opponents. But what they also do is play disciplined, smart football. That's where Lamb comes in. Without fail, Lamb dials up the right play at the right time. He doesn't just rely on having better players, he also picks his spots. Just look at the first game of the year. They play what looks like their toughest game all year against Dalton and instead of controlling the ball and waiting for the big play to happen, he has his best receiver, Rogers, throw a pass on a reverse. How many coaches would take the chance early in a make-or-break game to call a trick play? Oh, and it just happened to result in a touchdown and the Jackets went on to win. Since then, Calhoun has been sitting in the driver's seat and are staring down another trip to the Georgia Dome. Lamb has his players in the best position to succeed game in and game out, earning him the top billing as a head coach.

2 - John Mullinax: Simply put, Mullinax is a coaches coach. He has more joy for the game than any coach I've seen this year and the players feed on it. In an era where being a hard-nosed, old school coach doesn't relate to players, Mullinax has every one of his boys attention. He has a somewhat average team believing in itself every time they go to the field. Beating Pepperell for the first time ever will do that. The Indians toppling the highly rated Dragons was no fluke either. Armuchee played one of the best games I've seen all year, beating Pepperell at their own game. If there was ever a game where coaching shined through, the Indians-Dragons match-up brought Mullinax to the forefront once again. Mullinax does what every coach tries to do; play disciplined football and avoid turnovers. Do that, and you have a chance to beat anyone. How far the Indians go is still to be determined, but one thing is certain - Mullinax will have them playing their best football every step of the way.

3 - Tommy Atha: Time for a show of hands: Who had Darlington going to the playoffs this year? I'll venture a guess and say no one is reaching for the ceiling. Now, who had Darlington even competing? Still, I'll say not too many people called that shot. It was easy to say the Tigers would struggle this year when you saw their preseason games and practices. They were a young squad, struggling to find their identity. But my oh my how they turned a corner. Atha whipped the Tigers into shape faster than anyone could imagine. This was what many called a rebuilding year after losing a lot of players to graduation and their star quarterback to transfer. Nash Nance, the former Darlington up and comer, may have Calhoun's offense humming, but Darlington didn't lose a beat. The Tigers play with a fervor unmatched by any team we've covered this year at Prep Central. They're young and Atha has them headed in the right direction. Whatever he's done to have them believing, it's worked. Darlington has won four straight and looking for a good playoff seeding. This may not be Rome's version of Little Giants or even The Little Engine that Could, but it's a team worth following week in and week out. If Atha gets Darlington to finish anywhere near the top, he deserves a look at Coach of the Year.

Still holding my breath:

Brad Waggoner: Waggoner has done a lot to impress this year. Chattooga dismantled Adairsville with ease on the road following a tough loss to Calhoun. It would have been easy for Chattooga to allow for a let-down game, but Waggoner had his team fired up and taking positives out of the loss to the Jackets. It's easy to tell the media how a loss can help, but selling your kids on it is another thing. Chattooga has big wins against Armuchee and Adairsville. They've squeezed out tough wins against lesser opponents in Cedartown and Sonoraville. The rest of their schedule lines up well and the Indians look to be hitting their stride when it counts, with only two regular season games left. Waggoner is still in his first year, so I'm reserving judgment, but things are looking good up to this point.

Jim Kremer: Another first year coach, Kremer has endured an up and down season thus far for the Tigers. Adairsville has had some tough losses to Ringgold, Chattooga and Woodland that have put a damper on an otherwise talented team. The Ringgold loss left a bad taste for the Tigers after racking up penalty after penalty which brought back two Beasley TDs. With that win, it's hard to say where Adairsville would be at this point. While Kremer has had his work cut out for him, there have been no complaints or rumbling out of the team. Kremer is an in your face coach that encourages his players as much as he gets on them. It's hard to say whether the Tigers will improve this year with a slim chance of reaching the playoffs, but the signs of improvement are there. The defense is undersized, but attacks the ball and challenges opponents. The weakness seems to be the inconsistency of the offense which looks like a one trick pony - running the ball nearly every down and in every situation. Much like the Chattooga offense, when they get going they're hard to stop, but they also can be shut down when things aren't clicking on all cylinders. If the Tigers can find a second option on offense, Kremer could have the Tigers making some noise before the season ends.

Sid Fritts: Rome fans may be holding their breath until next fall. Everything that could go wrong for the Wolves has gone wrong. Losing Reggie Whatley to injury early hurt Rome and brought to light just how much they lost from last year's squad. But Fritts has stayed strong at the helm and kept his team competing despite some tough losses. The playoffs are all but out of the equation and Fritts will see his team fail to reach double-digit wins for the first time in more than a decade. It's been a lean year for the Wolves to say the least. But don't go jumping in the life boats just yet. Every team has to struggle through a bad year and to throw it all on the head coach, especially one with such a stout history of success, would be unfair. Next year will say a lot about the direction of the program, so for the time being we'll commiserate with Fritts instead of throwing him overboard.