Ryan Herring: Change Good for Pierce County Football

Ryan Herring was at home and had it made.

He was the head coach of the Oxford Yellow Jackets, and was having great success.

It’s where he played his high school football and won a state championship in 1993 with his father, who was the head coach of that state championship team.

And now here he was, the head coach at the program that loved him, and his family.

He coached winning teams during his tenure at Oxford, finishing 50-21.

But at the end of the 2018 season, after leading Oxford to a 10-3 season, Herring stunned everyone when he announced that he would be leaving to take the head coaching job at Pierce County, Georgia.

Where?

“That seemed to be what everyone was asking me,” said Ryan Herring with a hearty laugh. “You will forgive most of the faithful in Oxford for asking that question, and you can probably forgive most of the folks in Georgia for asking exactly where Pierce County was located.”

After all, Blackshear, Georgia wasn’t exactly the destination for winning high school football coaches.

“I can remember everyone from coaches, to football people that I knew telling me that you don’t leave a place like Oxford, Alabama to come to Pierce County, Georgia,” Herring recalls. “They thought I was crazy.”

But, Herring knew a little bit about Pierce County.

He had coached there before in 2002-2003 as the team’s defensive coordinator.

“I loved it when I was there before,” said the Bears head coach. “We had great kids then, and still do. I loved the way the kids there are raised and how they love to play the game of football. Their whole approach just reflects the community around them. It’s just a blue collar, hard working group of people in Pierce County.”

Still, people were telling Herring that he was making a mistake.

“I really prayed about it,” Herring admits.

But, Herring and his family followed their calling, and in just his second season as head coach at Pierce County, Ryan Herring led the Bears to the state championship in Class AAA.

Read the rest in our Georgia February/March 2021 magazine right here for FREE! This issue features Jabari Smith from Sandy Creek, Matthew Cleveland from Pace Academy, and more great athletes.

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