Breakfast Of Champions Ingrained In Dorman Football History

Jake Morris can put his finger on something simple that just means Dorman football to him.

The former Cavaliers’ standout player and current Dorman head coach doesn’t mean walking down the hill to Cavalier Stadium, or a pep rally, or any number of things that are special in any number of places. It’s a little bit simpler for him.

“There’s just something about cheese grits on Friday mornings that set the tone,” he said with a chuckle.

Those cheese grits come from Dorman’s Breakfast of Champions, were a core group of volunteers cook, pick up, deliver, and serve breakfast to the team every Friday morning during the season. It’s a tradition that’s been in place since 1993, Dave Gutshall’s first year at the helm of the program.

Kaye O’Sullivan was a member of that first group, and remembers the genesis of the program.

“We had heard of someone who went to church with us that did something like that once or twice on the east side of town,” O’Sullivan said. “Sharon Conn and I went over and talked with her to just see what they did, and then we kind of did what we thought would be a good plan for Dorman. We wanted to do a ministry, a devotion. We wanted to do something for the guys, and at that time my husband Wofford was principal at Dorman. Sharon had a son, Travis, playing at the time. It was the first year that Coach Gutshall was here.”

The group decided that they’d host the events at a home. Sharon and her husband, Dick, opened their home to the Breakfast of Champions, and the event had a home for years to come.

“We just really felt like that was more of a family atmosphere and we wanted that team to feel like a family,” O’Sullivan said. 

The initial breakfast group included the O’Sullivans, the Conns, Al and Debbie Clark, and several others. Mickey Sobeski was one of them. Two of the constants at the breakfast have been Chic-Fil-A-biscuits, courtesy of Keith Laws, and Sobeski.

“I’ve maintained a connection with it the whole time,” he said. I cook eggs with Eddie Whitt now. I’ve either participated, hosted, or cooked for 32 years now.

Some of those years included playing host to the group. 

“Dick and Sharon hosted from 1993 until 2006 at their house,” he said. “Chet Williams was the first guy who did our devotions, and eventually he went back to Auburn as team chaplain. The first year we made the semifinals. The second year we played for it all. It was 11 regular season games back then and then at least two playoffs games, usually three or four.  We hosted from 2007-2020 at our house.”

Hosting duties showed the players a different side of Sobeski, he thinks.

“I had some of them in class as students. I’d see all of them in the program, but to have them at my house and for them to see me as a dad, as a husband, me and my wife doing this together, I just think that was a good model for them. A husband and wife working together pulling this off in their home.”

Friday mornings the way Dorman does them have the potential to produce hectic Thursday nights. Sobeski said that wasn’t usually the case.

“You know, Thursday night wasn’t too bad,” he said. “When we hosted, my wife would get the grits ready and set out the things we needed, but it wasn’t bad. But there was a LOT of activity from 6 a.m. – 7 a.m. on Friday morning.”

That activity falls under the scope of well-rehearsed chaos. O’Sullivan said the group found their groove from the very beginning.

“We all had our own roles,” she said. “We knew what we were supposed to do. I mean, we were a team ourselves. We knew who was going to go pick up orange juice and English muffins. We knew who was going to go get Chic-Fil-A biscuits. We scrambled tons of eggs. Once we got in the kitchen, we had our jobs and we didn’t stray from them. Sharon was cracking and scrambling eggs and I was buttering muffins and getting them in and out of the oven and helping to stir grits and Debbie was doing drinks. We knew our jobs, we’d do them and chat, and we were kind of a little old machine for that time of the morning.”

Sobeski said the effort was always appreciated.

“I know all the players, every one, appreciated the effort that went in to doing the breakfast,” he said. “They were all well-attended. It wasn’t 100 percent, especially off-campus, but 40-50 players on a Friday morning, for sure. And there were always a lot of good volunteers who make it happen.”

Morris is one who truly appreciates the breakfast, first as a player and now as a coach. Seth Buckley now brings the devotion, and has for years. The event has transitioned from a private home to a team meeting room at Dorman. But those cheese grits are the same, as is the intent behind the gathering.

“As a player, you always look forward to Friday mornings, Morris said. “You just kind of sit on the edge of your seat to see what Seth would bring for us. I think it’s a bonding time for players that’s special. Not a lot of players get to do that. When you’re outside of the realm of football and you’re together as a team, with just a time to come together and bond and be with each other. You’re not focused on practice or film or any of that. It’s just a special time.And now as a coach, you have a chance to get them out of bed, get them eating, get their game day started the way you want it. And you’re still sitting back there on the edge of your seat waiting to see what Seth brings to us.”

And now the gathering, with a name borrowed from a Wheaties box, is ingrained in Dorman football.

I think it’s done a lot to bind the players together as a team and to do something together outside of football practice,” Sobeski said. “It makes Friday special. It just kind of starts that day. It’s not the secret sauce. But I think it is something that the teams who have made it the furthest have drawn close outside of the practice field. This is a tool to help them do that. There’s not always the buy-in, but when there is, I think this is a contributing factor.”

Morris agrees.

“I think it’a something that’s very special and very unique at Dorman, and it wouldn’t be a gameday at Dorman High School without it.”