Brunswick, Camden County among top jobs for new head football coaches
Dozens of Georgia high schools are looking for a new head football coach to lead their programs into the 2026 season.
While Georgia remains one of the top states for attractive head coaching opportunities, it also seems to be one of the leading states as far as vacancies are concerned, as is evident with the annual turnover that occurs after each regular football season.
The number of openings among Georgia high school head football coaching positions generally averages 75 to 100 at the start of the calendar year, as many schools wait for the completion of the playoffs and state finals to begin the search for potential candidates to consider for their program vacancies.
So far, 2026 is no different.
As most schools get back to normal following the long winter break, football programs are entering 2026 searching for head coaches to lead their programs. At the start of the new year and as of Jan. 1, approximately 55 head coaching jobs were available following the end of the 2025 season. Some of those positions were filled within days, but others remain vacant, and more openings could be announced.
Southeast Georgia Openings
Among the openings are Southeast Georgia programs Brunswick and Camden County.
The Pirates job opened up when Garrett Grady resigned from his position at Brunswick following the fallout from a bench-clearing brawl in the GHSA Class 5A football state playoffs against Gainesville.
It was an unfortunate and somewhat surprising end to what had been an otherwise stellar coaching performance by Grady. In his four seasons as head coach, he had led the Pirates to a 36-10 record, which included three region championships.
Grady spent four years as an assistant on the Brunswick staff before being named head coach in 2022.
His Pirates teams made the playoffs each year, including the 2025 season, as his team finished with a 9-3 record.
Many consider the Brunswick opening one of the most attractive jobs available.
That’s also the case with the Camden County head coaching position, which has now opened up twice since the end of the 2025 season.
Initially, the job opened up when the decision was made not to retain Travis Roland, who led the Camden County football program as its head coach in 2024 and 2025. Roland’s teams finished 7-4 and 6-4, missing the playoffs this past season.
Camden County wasted no time in naming former Camden County assistant coach Jon Lindsey as its new head football coach on Nov. 14.
With less than two months on the job, Lindsey took everyone by surprise when Camden County Schools announced in a press release that he would not be taking the head coaching position after all.
So it’s back to square one for Camden County.
While many schools are seeking new head coaches to come in and rebuild struggling programs, the Camden County and Brunswick jobs will present coaches with the opportunity to inherit programs that have enjoyed recent winning seasons with above-adequate facilities and solid middle school feeder programs.
Other Notable Openings
Irwin County is seeking a new head coach after Larry Harold is out following just one season as the Indians’ head coach.
Irwin County suffered through one of its worst seasons in program history with a 1-9 finish this past season.
The Indians were coming off a 12-2 season with a semifinal appearance in 2024, but the loss of several key players as well as the resignation of head coach Casey Soliday forced Irwin County to look for a new head coach. That led to the hiring of Harold, formerly of Central Gwinnett.
Harold’s attempt to change the Indians’ run-heavy offensive attack to a spread formation with many new faces did not end well for the Ocilla, Georgia, program.
Whoever takes over the Irwin County program will be facing big expectations to return the Indians to their winning ways of the past decade prior to 2025.
One of the surprises among schools looking for a new head football coach is Mitchell County, which has decided to go in a new direction from Dondrial Pinkins. The former quarterback for Mitchell-Baker (when the two counties were combined) had finished with a 49-39 overall record in two separate stints as head coach at the Camilla, Georgia, school. He first served as head coach of the Eagles from 2008 to 2012 before returning in 2021.
“After five seasons at Mitchell County High School, I have been informed that the school has decided to move in a different direction with its football program,” Pinkins said. “Over the past five years, we encountered a lot of adversity. However, it was a privilege to work alongside a group of dedicated coaches and, most importantly, the young men in this program.”
Additional Coaching Vacancies
Other Georgia high school football programs looking for a new head football coach include:
- Allatoona
- Alpharetta
- Bradwell Institute
- Discovery
- Druid Hills
- Fannin County
- Gordon Central
- Hart County
- Johns Creek
- Morrow
- Mountain View
- Northgate
- Northside (Columbus)
- South Paulding
- Southeast Bulloch
- Temple
- Union Grove
- Vidalia
- Walker
- Warren County
- Washington County
- West Forsyth
- Westside Macon
- Wheeler
- Wilkinson County
- Winder-Barrow
ITG Next will continue to provide updates on Georgia high school head football coaching changes.
