MOULTRIE – You make an impression on Rush Propst from the opposite side of a football field and one day you just might find yourself on the other sideline standing right beside the championship winning coach.

Jason Nash, in 2015, had a defensive unit ready to play against the eventual national championship Colquitt County squad. He was the defensive coordinator at South Forsyth High, and during the season that was the only school to take a lead against those Packers into the fourth quarter. Yes, it was Colquitt’s defense that eventually turned things around and sent Propst’s team on to an unbeaten championship run, but the head coach never forgot what he saw out of that other defense.

Now, in 2017, Nash is in Moultrie as a new member of the Packer varsity coaching staff. He is the linebackers coach, which puts him in charge of Colquitt’s No. 1-rated outside backer JJ Peterson, and he is the coordinator for special teams. Nash has a lot of ideas on how to make both of these areas the best in the state.

Nash is originally from Sparta, Tenn., a small town in the middle of the Volunteer State. His high school football coaching career in Georgia spans 15 years beginning in Elbert County High School in 2002. The closest he’s been to Moultrie was a four-year stint spent at Worth County High School as defensive coordinator. Nash was at South Forsyth for seven years, but before that he helped start the football program at Walnut Grove High School in Loganville.

“We had a good run,” said Nash about his time as South Forsyth’s DC. “We were proud of ourselves. We were way outmatched (against Colquitt). We had them down in the fourth quarter, and I don’t think they’d been down in 20-something games. It’s the reason why I’m here. I impressed coach Propst.

“I’m excited to be here. I love south Georgia. I’m glad to be back.”

It fell on Nash to be the defensive coaching leader during most of Colquitt County’s spring practices. Mo Dixon was hired at the same time as Nash to be the new defensive coordinator, but Dixon’s had to miss the past week due to family reasons out of state.

“Wearing two hats has been difficult, but it’s been good,” said Nash. “Defensive energy’s been great. We’re trying to get them running, trying to get them back to Packer football defensively.”

It’s Nash’s goal to make the Colquitt special teams not only exciting, but a bit unpredictable.

“We have to be able to change the game special teams wise,” said Nash. “I want to put a little flair to the special teams. We need to be able to flip the field on the punt team, but we also need to be able to run some fakes in kickoff return with the athletes we have. We need to get good field position. It not only helps the offense; it helps the defense.

“All of our guys are playing on special teams. We ought to be really good this year.”

Players on the 2017 roster already proved what they can do in the kicking game, including Peterson. Fans will remember his kickoff return for a touchdown early in the Region 1-7A championship game against Lowndes at home. Nash also brightens up when you bring up the returning placekicker, junior Ryan Fitzgerald, and reminds you that a key component is in place with long snapper Noah Hightower.

“Fitzgerald just came back from Las Vegas where he finished fifth out of 64 in his class nationally at a big-time competition,” said Nash. “He’s going to be one of the best in the state – I wouldn’t be surprised if he’s the No. 1 ranked kid in the state for 2019. He can punt it, kick it off and he can kick the field goal. And we have a good snapper in Noah. We have two good guys to start with.”

And Nash has arguably the nation’s crowned jewel for outside linebackers.

“That’s the perfect word for it: jewel,” said Nash of Peterson. “I’ve been doing this 15 years, had several kids who went on to play Division I at linebacker. He is probably the most athletic and capable I’ve seen. We could probably put him at safety and he could play it. He is one of a kind.”

Every position coach has a message, sometimes summed up in one word. Nash’s for the Packer linebackers is physicality.

“We want to play downhill towards the football,” he said. “We don’t want to catch, side-step, fit in on blocks. We want to go towards the football, and when we get there we want to bring a bad attitude. They are getting better at it.”