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Snackin' & Yakkin'
Some people show up with food. Coach Chef Frank showed up with hot dogs, a flat top, a great story, and enough flavor to make the room smell like summer.
This episode of Snackin’ & Yakkin’ wasn’t only about food. It was about coaching kids, building something from scratch, and proving that a good idea hits harder when it’s tied to real work.
Coach Chef Frank came with more than hot dogs
Frank is from Cross, South Carolina, proudly called the “big city of Cross,” and that hometown pride is baked right into Dirt Road Grub. Before food moved to the front, he spent about six years with the South Carolina Department of Juvenile Justice, first as a juvenile probation officer, then running a Scared Straight prevention program in Columbia.
That job taught him something fast. By the time a kid reaches the system, you’re reacting. So he backed up the timeline. He taught elementary school for a year, moved into substitute teaching, mostly at the middle school level, and kept coaching football.
Middle school, in his view, is the fork in the road. That’s where a kid can still hear the right voice at the right time.
If you’ve got time, schools need substitute teachers.
That wasn’t fluff. It was a real ask from somebody who’s in those classrooms and sees the gap.
Kentucky sharpened the coach and the cook
Frank’s football background isn’t a side note. He played wide receiver at Georgetown College in Kentucky, and after college he worked in the cafeteria while it was run by Sodexo. He treated that job like a paid internship, learning around chefs, sous chefs, and cooks instead of pretending he already had it figured out.
Kentucky left its mark in other ways, too. He talked about catering events at places like Buffalo Trace and how that part of the country fed his love of bourbon. Food, football, bourbon, teaching, none of it felt separate. It all sounded like the same guy building different skills in different rooms.
The conversation drifted into stand-up, acting dreams, and podcasting, too. Frank grew up loving TV and film, and he made the point that people are tired of hearing the same celebrity stories recycled over and over. They want regular people with something real to say.
The Gleezy way and the Dirt Road way
Then came the main event, Gleezy’s double-smoked beef brisket hot dogs out of Charlotte. These weren’t bargain-bin mystery dogs. The casing had bite, the smoke came through, and Frank kept saying the same thing because it was true: the dog is the star.
First came the Gleezy way, built on a steamed, lightly toasted potato roll with white onions, cheddar, and a tangy Carolina-style sauce. Then Frank went off-script in the best way possible and built one Dirt Road style, turning a sausage roll into French toast, adding egg, cheese, a butterflied dog, and syrup.
Here’s the cleanest way to picture it:
| Style | Build | What it felt like |
|---|---|---|
| Gleezy way | Potato roll, white onions, cheddar, Carolina-style sauce | Tangy, simple, dog-first |
| Dirt Road way | French-toasted roll, egg, cheddar, butterflied dog, syrup | Breakfast chaos, in a good way |
There was even talk of Gleezy’s “Attaboy” lager with High Wire Brewing, but when that couldn’t be found locally, a cold Yuengling stepped in and held up its end.
Family recipes, late nights, and what’s next
The best part of Dirt Road Grub is that it doesn’t feel borrowed. It feels inherited. Frank talked about his mom spending nearly 30 years at Food Lion, with people saying they wouldn’t touch the hot bar if she wasn’t back there. He talked about his grandmother cooking at Hill’s Landing in Cross for 53 years. That’s not a hobby. That’s a lifetime.
That family line runs straight into his jerk chicken roots, his planned Dirt Road Franks and Tings concept, and his upcoming Smakkin Jerk Sauce, made with help from his sister, who has a PhD in pharmaceutical science from the University of South Carolina. He also wants to name future dogs after influential Lowcountry people, which fits the whole spirit of the brand.
He was honest about the grind, too. This is one-man-band work. Long nights. Constant prep. Real discipline. It’s not about follower count, it’s about whether the thing is good and whether you can keep showing up.
Frank also teased a future “Pregame Meal Show” and even the possibility of a Gleezy food cart.
What sticks after the last bite
What stayed with me wasn’t only the hot dog, though that thing was ridiculous. It was the fact that Coach Chef Frank is building Dirt Road Grub the same way he coaches and teaches, with patience, detail, and a whole lot of care.
That’s the part people remember. Passion is nice. Passion with discipline, family history, and food that backs it up, that’s when something starts to look real.
