A successful and well-rounded high school athletics program takes talent, leadership, and consistency across all teams within the program.
At Appling County High School in Baxley, Georgia, the athletics program has been able to do that just as well as any school in South Georgia, or even in the state of Georgia for that matter, over the past four seasons under Jordan Mullis, who has served as both the head football coach and athletic director.
Appling County’s teams have finished at or near the top of their region standings with several region titles, runner-up finishes, and state championships since Mullis assumed his athletic director duties.
Despite the success, Mullis decided to step away from the demanding schedule that is required to oversee an athletic department of 19 varsity teams. He resigned his post as athletic director effective Jan. 1 of this year, but remains the head football coach at Appling County.
Seth Taylor was promoted to the role of athletic director at the high school after previously serving as Appling County Middle School’s athletic director.
Still, there’s no denying the accomplishments of Appling County Pirates athletics under Mullis.
According to Mullis, the Appling County football team has played in 14 rounds of state playoffs, winning their region title in three of the last four seasons. They advanced to the semifinals three times over that four year stretch, losing to the eventual state champion each time.
The Appling County baseball team has won an average of 21 games each season over the past four seasons. During that time, the team finished as region champions twice and as region runners-up twice, made two state semifinals appearances, and finished as the state title runner-up once.
The Appling County softball team has won three region titles and captured two state championships over the past four years. They advanced to a third state championship game and finished as the state runner-up.
The Appling County boys soccer team enjoyed its best season in four years in 2024, finishing 15-6 overall, including a 9-5 region mark and a No. 3 seed in the state playoffs.
Mullis agreed that the athletics program’s success comes from the leadership, talent, and consistency of each of the school’s teams, but he said the most important ingredient behind Appling County’s athletic success can be described with one word: investment.
“There’s been three keys to our success here at Appling since I took over here as the athletic director four years ago, and each one required an investment of some kind from everyone,” Mullis said.
Mullis explained those three key points and how each has contributed to the success of Appling County athletics.
“Number one has been an investment in our weight room and the strength and conditioning program,” Mullis said. “We converted our old gymnasium into a new weight room, which more-than-doubled the size of the weight room facility. Every athlete benefits from strength training and conditioning, both physically and mentally. I wanted to improve on the discipline of our student-athletes.”
The second key point for Mullis was investing in people, mostly with coaches.
“Interviewing and making a commitment to hiring better and more capable coaches was important to us,” he said.
The third key point was an investment in the athletic facilities, which have undergone a major facelift under Mullis.
“Four years ago, we were significantly behind with our athletic facilities, so we made a major investment in upgrading just about every area of our athletics,” Mullis said.
Those improvements included resurfacing the track, putting down new turf on the football field, and installing new lights at the football stadium.
One of the more noticeable additions is a new concessions pavilion, which was constructed in 2023, just outside the west end of the football stadium. It provides fans with a large seating area, complete with tables, to enjoy food while being able to view the game.
Mullis said the improvements were all completed over a 36-month period at an investment of between $6 million to $8 million.
There’s no question that Appling County High School is invested in athletics.
