ITG-SG / September 2016
It has been a really wild offseason for Georgia high school football.
There’s been another classification added (We now have 7A with eight title games in December at the Georgia Dome.) and another round of single-a playoffs added to give them action in the first playoff week alongside everyone else for the first time in a few years.
With 406 schools playing football in the state, we’ve gotten a few new ones coming to the party (Discovery and Fulton Leadership), and the turnover rate for high school coaches is pretty constant as 70 coaches had vacancies created and filled.
One of the larger hires is with the winningest program ever in Valdosta. Alan Rodemaker takes over for Rance Gillespie, who moved on with Valdosta State head coach David Dean, to run the Wildcats program in 6A.
Yep, you read that right. The ‘Cats are in 6A, not in the newest, highest classification of 7A.
But the new classification has created some headaches when it comes to non-region scheduling. If there are four teams in a region (like the new 1-7A), not all four are guaranteed to make the post-season. The two lettered phrase “Power Rankings” comes into play at the top AND the bottom (Class A) with the public and private split of almost 90 schools.
With regions that small, schools have had to resort to REALLY long road trips to fill schedules. Tift, as an example, has to travel to Orlando. Greater Atlanta Christian has decided to take a game in Colorado. Camden County even plays their first three games in the state of Florida. I’m fairly sure that head coach Welton Coffey’s relationships in his old state of Florida came in REALLY handy.
Speaking of Camden County, their former coach, Jeff Herron, has a new job at Grayson. THEIR schedule is bordering the crazy, hosting IMG Academy, Deerfield Beach of Florida, Birmingham-Ramsay High of Alabama, and AT Hoover (for their next to last game of the year in the regular season). They’re chasing that mythical “national title” if ever anyone ever was.
So, Dear Reader, it’s that time. I have a question, and I would like to make this a two-way conversation for 2016.
What’s the biggest change you have seen in this topsy-turvy offseason?
Let us know here at In the Game Magazine and at GPB Sports on Facebook (on both the ITG and GPB Sports pages), Twitter (my handle is @OSGNelson for those of you who haven’t followed me yet), or whichever way is your favorite.
The answers will be a part of our conversation next month!
Strap in, folks. This season should be a blast!
Play it safe, everyone. I’ll see you at the stadium.
ITG Web Content
Racking Up The Miles
By Jon Nelson
