Kevin Giddens, right, wore a replica jersey with son Bryce's No. 68 on it when he went to watch the Arkansas State football team play.

MOULTRIE – Many sons of athletes and coaches yearn to grow up and emulate their fathers.

Bryce Giddens was no different.

From the time he watched his father prowl the sidelines as a coach for Colquitt County and Coffee high schools, “I knew that was what I wanted to do.”

And he could have found no finer role model than Kevin Giddens.

A successful coach, administrator, athletic director, state high school association associate director and Colquitt County Parks and Recreation Authority program leader, Kevin Giddens provided the template for success that his only son could follow.

The younger Giddens started four seasons and became an undersized All-State center for the Packers. He went on to become an outstanding collegian at the same position and followed in his father’s football footsteps as the Packers offensive line coach.

When he spoke recently just weeks after his father died unexpectedly of a heart attack just three days short of his 60th birthday, Bryce admitted to an emptiness he was still dealing with.

The two were exceptionally close, sharing not only football, but also the closeness of their family and the love of the outdoors.

But it was on the practice and game fields that the two forged their deep bond.

Himself an offensive lineman who played at Georgia Southern and veteran coach by the time his talented son came of age and wore a Colquitt County jersey, Kevin provided tough but necessary love.

“He held me to a higher standard,” Bryce said. “He held all his guys to a high standard, but with me it was a little different.

“He knew how to get the best out of me and made me love it even more. He coached me hard because he knew what I needed as a player, what I needed to be my absolute best.”

Kevin came to Moultrie in 1994 in time to join Jim Hughes’s staff and help lead the Packers to an undefeated season and the program’s first state championship.

Several years later, he went to Coffee High as a head coach, but after three seasons was back in Moultrie as an assistant principal.

When it was clear his son was going to be an outstanding football player, he signed on as the Packers offensive line coach.

Kevin also was wise enough to at times turn his son’s football education over to Joey Bennett, also an outstanding Colquitt County line coach during Bryce’s time with the Packers.

“And when I got to college, he turned into my biggest fan,” Bryce said. “But … we still had some conversations. He continued to push me, just in a different way.”

After his high school career, Bryce signed with Arkansas State and took over as the Red Wolves’ starting center early in his freshman year.

He had an excellent season and was leading the team in knock-down blocks, averaging in double-digits per game, when he only had a half-dozen against one opponent.

“I remember we met in the hotel lobby and he said to me, ‘So we’re not finishing blocks anymore?’ He just wanted to make sure I wasn’t getting complacent.”

Bryce was one of the nation’s top centers while at Arkansas State and was among the players being considered for the Dave Rimington Trophy, given each year to the nation’s top center.

An injury cut short his college career and it wasn’t long before he decided to follow his father into coaching.

His first year was in 2017 when he came back to Moultrie to work with the offensive linemen and tight ends.

He spent the next season as a graduate assistant at Auburn, but returned to South Georgia to join Rush Propst’s Valdosta High staff as offensive line coach in 2019.

The next two seasons were spent at Lowndes, but in 2022 – 10 years after he graduated from Colquitt County – he returned to his high school alma mater to coach the offensive line for Sean Calhoun.

“He is the reason I am the way I am,” Bryce said of his father. “He told me I learned the good and the bad from him and told me not to make the same mistakes he did.
“But honestly, I don’t remember there being many mistakes.”

Bryce is already looking forward to the opportunity to coach his own son Bo, who is 4.

“Dad told me that Bo is more athletic than I was at that age, that he has better ball skills and hand-eye coordination,” Bryce said. “He’s a natural athlete and already wants to play football. And he likes to snap that ball.”

And while football was a big part of Kevin and Bryce’s relationship, fishing and hunting were just as important.

“I have as many memories outside of football as I do inside. We could get on a pond or a lake and spend a whole day and not talk football at all.
“We were always able to connect and spend time together.”

Bryce called his father his mentor both personally and professionally.

“I have made all my personal and professional decisions on my own,” he said. “But whenever he said anything about them, he was always spot-on.”

The Moultrie-Colquitt County Recreation Authority, where Giddens was working when he died, honored him with KG decals on the batting helmets worn by its teams in the state tournaments.

While helping the current crop of Colquitt County offensive linemen get prepared for the 2024 season that begins August 16 at home against West High from Salt Lake City, Utah, Bryce is also helping his mother Lynn and sister Shannon deal with their loss.

Lynn had just retired and she and Kevin were looking forward to taking some trips together.  

Bryce, reflecting on his relationship with his father, said, “It’s been a unique experience. But it’s been a blessing. One I hope to get with Bo.”