Turning Around North Gwinnett Football
Up until 2006, the North Gwinnett football program had been defined by mediocrity. Since its inception in 1961, the Bulldogs struggled on their path to success, reaching the playoffs only five times and never making it past the second round.
That changed in 2006 with the hiring of former Lexington Catholic (Kentucky) head coach Bob Sphire. In only his first season at North Gwinnett, he made it farther than any of his predecessors, reaching the quarterfinals on the back of an 11-win season. He followed this up with a 13-win season and a state championship berth in 2007, ultimately falling short to Randy McPherson and Lowndes.
Sphire and the Bulldogs rattled off a streak of nine consecutive playoff appearances from 2006 until 2014, reaching the state championship for the second time in 2013. In those seasons, he collected five region championships and a 99-18 record. What had been a program struggling to lift themselves off the ground was now a legitimate threat in the state’s largest football classification.
Sphire made North Gwinnett relevant on the national stage by attracting out-of-state competition. The Bulldogs didn’t fare well in their 2008 showdown with No. 8 Byrnes (South Caroline), losing 36-21.
That didn’t stop Sphire from scheduling the ninth-best team in 2008, Prattville (Alabama), for their 2009 season opener. North Gwinnett made a statement, knocking off the Lions 14-11 en route to an undefeated regular season.
The excellence did not end there, as the Bulldogs defeated De’Anthony Thomas and Crenshaw (California) 17-12 on ESPN the following year, solidifying their relevance nationally.
During Sphire’s time with North Gwinnett, the team had six wins and the sole loss to Byrnes against out-of-state teams, a remarkable accomplishment for a once disregarded program.
2015 and 2016 were not the most ideal years for North Gwinnett. They went 11-10 and even failed to make the playoffs in 2015. Bob Sphire’s career at North Gwinnett ended in 2016, as the Bulldogs lost in the first round to South Gwinnett.
To fill the head coaching vacancy, North Gwinnett hired rival Mill Creek defensive coordinator Bill Stewart in 2017. Stewart unbelievably filled the extremely large shoes left behind by Sphire, as he led the Bulldogs to a 14-win season and a 19-17 victory over the dynasty-minded Colquitt County Packers.
North Gwinnett kept up their success with a quarterfinals appearance in 2018 and a semifinals loss in 2019.
Coaching a playoff-caliber team has its challenges. Uplifting a program from the depths of irrelevancy takes “challenge” to new heights. Coach Bob Sphire set new standards for the Bulldogs and began the next, and more successful, chapter of North Gwinnett. His contributions were paramount to a football program that needed a compass to direct them in the right direction: up.
Written by: Dhruv Mohan
