Gainesville Head Football Coach Josh Niblett Resigns, Clinch County’s Jim Dickerson Steps Down

ITG Next confirmed late Monday afternoon that two of Georgia’s most successful high school head football coaches, Josh Niblett of Gainesville and Jim Dickerson of Clinch County, have announced their resignations.

Niblett won six state championships in 14 seasons as head coach at Hoover High School in Alabama before being hired as the head coach at Gainesville in 2022. He led the Red Elephants to two state title games in just four seasons as their head coach.

Dickerson won five state titles as head coach of the Clinch County Panthers.

In separate text and phone messages with ITG Next on Monday afternoon, Gainesville head football coach Josh Niblett and Clinch County head football coach Jim Dickerson each confirmed that they had resigned their positions effective immediately.

Gainesville head football coach Josh Niblett resigns after 4 seasons, 2 state finals appearances

Niblett is leaving Gainesville High School after serving as the Red Elephants’ head football coach for the past four years. He led Gainesville to the GHSA Class 6A state title game in 2022, his first year as head coach, and again in 2025, which turned out to be his final season at Gainesville.

Niblett said via text message late on Monday that he was leaving Gainesville but did not want to say anything further until he had a chance to talk with his team on Tuesday morning.

There are unconfirmed reports that Niblett will be joining the University of Colorado football coaching staff as the Buffaloes’ tight ends coach.

When Niblett was hired at Gainesville in 2022, he was taking over a program that had finished 5-5 the previous year while missing the playoffs. He immediately made his mark on the team by leading the Red Elephants to a 14-1 overall record, including a perfect region mark of 6-0 and the region championship. Niblett then led Gainesville to the 2022 GHSA Class 6A state title game against Langston Hughes, where they lost their only game of the season 35-28.

The next year resulted in another one-loss season, a 12-1 campaign that included a second straight region championship and another perfect region record at 6-0.

Gainesville endured its worst season under Niblett in 2024 with a 7-4 overall record and a quick exit from the state playoffs, a first-round loss to Sequoyah 38-28.

Niblett used that 2024 season as a motivator to get his team’s swagger back, and it worked. 

In ITG Next’s 2025 preseason report on Gainesville, Niblett said: “We look forward to the opportunity as we own last year in order to earn the right to chase best this season. We expect to be playing for championships around here.”

Niblett led the Red Elephants to a 12-3 record and a second trip in four years to the state championship game, where they unfortunately fell once again on Class 5A’s biggest stage. Gainesville lost to Thomas County Central 62-21, but Niblett has put Gainesville in a good spot for continued success.

Clinch County head football coach Jim Dickerson steps down after 5 state championships

Dickerson confirmed that he is stepping away from his post as head coach of the Clinch County High School football team.

“It was time to step away,” Dickerson said Monday afternoon on a phone call, explaining that his return to coaching at Clinch County was always supposed to be temporary.

Dickerson came out of retirement from a previous stint as head coach from 2004 to 2018, during which time he led Clinch County to five state championships and seven region titles.

He came back and served as Clinch County’s head football coach for two seasons, finishing 11-2 in 2024 and 13-1 in 2025. He led Clinch County to the region championship this past season with an undefeated 5-0 record and came within a game of returning to the state finals. Both seasons ended with a loss against eventual state champion Bowdon.

Dickerson leaves with a career record of 126-47-1.

“I took the job on an interim basis at the end of May last year with the intention of coaching for just one year,” Dickerson said. “I struggled with the decision to return this year, but they wanted me back, and I truly enjoy coaching here, always have. But I was getting very decisive about whether I wanted to continue coaching, so I felt the best thing to do was to go ahead and step down. I just felt it was the right thing to do at the right time.”

Dickerson said he was grateful to all those who supported him during his entire career at Clinch County.

“I want to thank the Clinch County Board of Education and especially our superintendent, Lori James, for their support and confidence in me,” he said.