When Jay Hollander played football in Hall County in the early 1980s, North Hall High School's program wasn't memorable.

"North Hall was always everybody's homecoming," Hollander said. "I remember a game where West Hall beat North Hall 77 to nothing ... Nobody cried for North Hall when they're losing 77 to nothing."

Then, 11 years ago, North Hall got a new head coach, Bob Christmas.

When Christmas moved to the area, he bought the house Hollander's family lived in.

"I had a boy at the time who was getting ready to be a freshman. Obviously, we were involved in athletics and the coaching had to be better, because it was awful," Hollander said.

"It's hard to start a new program over when all you've got is a new coach. You had to start everything over. North Hall's stadium was hideous. There was a big wall at the bottom ... there was no room to walk. I remember playing there when I was in ninth or 10th grade and there was no room on the sidelines. The fans at the bottom couldn't really scale that wall because it was 3 feet tall and solid concrete."

Tony Herdener, a former North Hall parent and member of the school's Touchdown Club, said the place was "dismal."

"What Christmas did, he kind of challenged the parents that this is their sport and everyone should have pride about it. The stadium was the place to start," Herdener said.

The stadium was repainted and bricked with the help of parent, alumni and community volunteers. The field house was redesigned to include a patio for tailgating, and the narrow sidelines were kept to intimidate the visiting team.

"It was a labor of love," Herdener said. "Everybody pitched in, donated money and their time and their presence. We'd be at the school for several hours painting the field for the game. You were proud to be part of the process."

The stadium was bricked in sections — first the press box and bleacher area, then the field house after the new one was built.

"There was just so much brick. It took the guys a long time to get it all brick," Athletic Director Harold Daniels said. "Someone said ‘this is like a brickyard.' So that's where it came from."

Creating a new stadium was just the tip of the iceberg.

"They were 3-27 their previous three years. They had just had a handful of winning seasons in their 46 years," Christmas said. "We decided that we're going to change that ... change the tradition at North Hall."

Change came quickly.

"That first year we were 0-9 going into the 10th ballgame. We played a team that was 8-1, Madison County," Christmas said. "We beat them 34-12. That was what kick-started this and made people believe."

The next year the Trojans went 8-2 and began averaging about 10 wins a season.

"The first big game was in 2004. We played in the (state) quarterfinals against Washington County. There was just an absolutely huge crowd and an electrifying atmosphere. Then there were the quarterfinals in 2007. We played Perry High School and won that game in the last few seconds," Christmas said.

"North Hall is kind of a unique place. There's no town out here. The community kind of centers around the high school team. It's like the town square," Christmas said.

"It's the place people go Friday nights to socialize."

North Hall created a package for Touchdown Club members, where they received a reserved parking spot and seats for home games and the ability to bring their families to the new field house for pregame tailgating.

"We feed about 500 people there every Friday night before a game. That just added to the atmosphere," Christmas said.

Football Friday nights begin right after school ends. Players head to the field house as soon as the bell rings to have a team dinner and get ready.

"We walk the field at 5:30 and we play ‘Hell's Bells,' I think that's the song name," Christmas said. "Then after that the seniors have a huddle they do on the middle of the field. It's just them; I've never been out there.

Then the offensive line group gets together and does the same thing."

The Trojans boast several standouts from the Christmas era — Hunter and Dylan Wolf, Bobby Epps, TJ Pitts and Fabian Jackson, to name a few.

Hollander's older son, Devin, played football for North Hall and later went to Shorter College on a scholarship. He walked on to the University of Georgia team a year later and played for three years.

"I have no doubt in my mind that if Coach Christmas had not come, he would not have done that," he said.

Hollander said those who changed the way of the Trojans wanted something beautiful for their fans and families to be proud of.

"When you say ‘The Brickyard,' you have a sense of the music and the cheerleaders and the tailgating. You get started at 5:30 for a 7 o'clock game," Herdener said.

"This brought the community together. (Christmas) is a great coach, but he made us a pillar of the community. We'll be thankful for what he's done every day."