When North Gwinnett athletic director Matt Champitto learned his head football coach of the last six years, Bill Stewart, would be leaving to take a job at Georgia Tech, he wanted to make sure to find a replacement who could keep the momentum Stewart had built with the Bulldog football program. He knew just the guy he wanted: Eric Godfree.
“Eric Godfree was our number one guy from the start,” Champitto said. “I’ve always liked the way he coaches and the way he communicates with his players. That was the type of coach we wanted to bring in here at North Gwinnett.”
Champitto worried that it might be tough to sway Godfree away from the place he had been since replacing legendary Parkview coach Cecil Flowe in 2014.
“We knew he had a great team returning this year, and of course the obvious success he had speaks for itself,” Champitto said.
That success Champitto was speaking of was Godfree’s 70-37 record as head coach of the Panthers in his nine seasons at the Lilburn school. Just as impressive, said the North Gwinnett AD, was how Godfree had turned things around at Parkview.
“They had leveled out a bit from their earlier success under Coach Flowe, but Coach Godfree came in and did a great job of getting them turned around,” Champitto said.
Godfree said he is excited about the opportunity to take over the program at North Gwinnett, but he admitted he wasn’t looking to leave the school that he played for and coached for.
“When Bill Stewart left to take the Georgia Tech job, Matt reached out to me and asked if I would come up there and check it out, which I told him I would,” Godfree said. “North Gwinnett and Coach Champitto are so well respected around the state, and Bill Stewart left the program in about as great a shape as anyone could there,” Godfree said. “But I loved what we had going at Parkview and knew we were going to have a really good group returning, so I was torn, no doubt. But I also viewed it as a win-win situation.”
Godfree led the Panthers to two region championships and three state quarterfinals appearances during his time as head coach, but the proud Parkview program had struggled in the years just before Godfree returned as head coach of his alma mater.
“Parkview actually had its worst season the year before we arrived there,” he recalled.
That was a 3-7 finish in 2013.
“We were able to step in and go through a bit of a rebuild before getting things turned around pretty quickly,” he said.
Now, Godfree turns his attention to his new team at North Gwinnett, and he likes what he has seen in his short time since officially taking over on Tuesday, February 7.
“I got to come in and address the team as they were working out,” the new Bulldogs head coach said. “I am very encouraged about the future of North Gwinnett football.”
