Eighty miles southeast of Atlanta, deep in the heart of Georgia, three football coaches gathered for cocktails. At Bruce Arians’ house on Lake Oconee, the bar is always open.

What a trio they were, sitting on a deck that overlooked the still blue waters, the last blush of daylight sweeping across the vast Southern sky. For an hour, Arians — who recently retired as the Arizona Cardinals head coach — Oklahoma head coach Lincoln Riley and Sooners assistant Shane Beamer sipped drinks and swapped tales, some a little taller than others. Arians and Beamer, who also lives on the lake in the summers, eventually put the soft sell on Riley, telling him he should buy a house in Reynolds Lake Oconee, which more than 25 NFL and college coaches call home during their summer breaks. Indeed, Reynolds Lake Oconee has become to football coaches what Panama City Beach and Daytona Beach are to college students on spring break.  

“I’d guess there are more coaches who live here than anywhere else in the country during the summer,” said Frank Beamer, the former Virginia Tech head coach who purchased a house on the lake in Reynolds in 1989. “I was the first one to buy here with Ralph Friedgen, who was the offensive coordinator at Georgia Tech at the time. Back then there were hardly any homes here. But now it’s really developed and it’s spread by word of mouth to coaches across the country. Every year, more move hear. Sometimes we joke that Reynolds is the places where coaches go to die.”

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The list of coaches who have homes in Reynolds Lake Oconee — a resort community that features six golf courses near Lake Oconee, which has 374 miles of shoreline — includes Florida’s Dan Mullen, Georgia’s Kirby Smart, Penn State’s James Franklin, former Wake Forest coach Jim Grobe, former Arizona coach Rich Rodriguez, Florida defensive coordinator Todd Grantham, and former Central Florida coach George O’Leary.

“I always wanted a lake house and one day I was driving to Atlanta from Hilton Head, South Carolina and saw how beautiful Lake Oconee was and thought I needed to check this place out,” said Mullen. “Once I found out that other coaches were here, it became an easy decision. There aren’t that many people who understand what you go through as a head coach, and so we can really relate to each other when we see each other.”

“I wanted my kids to have a permanent home somewhere, and this was the perfect place,” said Smart. “Coaches are always moving from job to job, and I wanted my kids to have a place that they knew would always be there. The coaches are always getting together and wagering a few bucks on the golf course. The competition always comes out, but we don’t really talk football. It’s more about spending time together and relaxing before the grind of the season begins.”

They also tell stories. On a recent Monday night, Rodriguez held court in the bar at the Ritz Carlton in Reynolds — a favorite hangout spot for the coaches. He shared the tale of how he was the “craziest” coach in America for turning down the Alabama head coaching job only days before it was offered to Nick Saban.

“I was in New York City at the College Hall of Fame dinner and (former Alabama athletic director) Mal Moore was there,” Rodriquez said. “We met at the Waldorf for three hours. I had some success at West Virginia and he offered me the job. He showed me what they were going to do with the facilities and it was really impressive. But I told him I couldn’t accept the position until I talked to my people in West Virginia. Then the rumor got out.”

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Rodriquez continued, a devious smile stretching across his face. “The next day I went to Jacksonville, Florida for a Gator Bowl press event. A couple of West Virginia boosters were there, including Ken Kendrick, the owner of the Arizona Diamondbacks. He knew about Alabama. Over the next five hours, he said everything to me a coach wants to hear. So I ended up staying. I don’t dwell on it, but man, who knows what could have happened?”

Sitting near Rodriguez was Arians, who views Reynolds Lake Oconee as his ultimate home court. In the spring of 2007, Arians had just been promoted from wide receivers coach to offensive coordinator for the Pittsburgh Steelers. At the time he did not have a good relationship with quarterback Ben Roethlisberger. “He thought I yelled at his receivers too much,” Arians said. “So I invited him down to Reynolds for a few rounds of golf and a few rounds of cold beer.”

The two swung the sticks and talked on course, with Arians sharing the secret that he was kicked out of high school for drinking booze with his football buddies. “I knew I had to win Ben’s trust,” Arians said. So one night on the deck of his house, as the sun was falling and with beers in their hands, Arians asked Roethlisberger if he’d help him rewrite the playbook. And just like that, the coach and the quarterback bonded.

“We built our communication on the golf course at Reynolds,” said Roethlisberger. “I even bought a house here to be close to Bruce.”

In his first season under Arians, it should be noted, Big Ben called some of his own plays and compiled a passer rating of 104.1, which is still the best of his career. “I honestly don’t know where our relationship would have gone if we hadn’t spent that time together here at Reynolds,” Arians said. “That’s what so great about this place — you can just be yourself here and no one will bother you.”

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One coach’s wife has a different perspective. “Look, all these coaches who live here in the summer love it because it’s like they are Peter Pan when they are here and they never have to grow up,” she said. “They are always playing on the water with their boats and Jet Skis or they’re on the golf course or they’re enjoying cocktails at the 19th hole. But you know what: They need this place. It’s a huge stress release. For a few weeks in July, they can just have fun.”

On a recent morning Arians, Mullen, Smart, and the Beamers stood on the driving range of the Oconee Golf Course, preparing to play in a tournament that Arians hosts every summer. Under a blue sky, surrounded by the pines, a Bloody Mary bar a few feet away, Arians told the golfers, “If you can’t have fun here, it’s your own damn fault.”

And then the coaches were off, driving away on golf carts into the Georgia sunshine, football far from their minds.

(Top photo courtesy of Reynolds Lake Oconee)

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