2016 was a crazy season for high school football in Southeast Georgia, almost to the point of bizarre. A tropical storm and a hurricane played havoc with the schedules of every team in the 20-county area of the Georgia coast. The offseason beckons to be as raucous with a large movement of coaches in Southeast Georgia this season. No less than nine programs in the SEGA area had head coaching openings this year.
“Ever since I have been in Georgia, it seems that every two to four years the coaching carousel takes place,” Brandon Derrick, Frederica Academy head football coach, said. “As a coach, we are always reevaluating our programs every year, and we know if we have a shot to compete or not. I think coaches and society get caught up in winning way too much and sacrifice the betterment of kids just to win.”
Camden County’s Welton Coffey is moving into the athletic director’s position next season, which left the Wildcats with a head football coach opening that garnered a lot of attention. Though the wing-T offense served the Wildcats well, the new head football coach at Camden is North Gwinnett’s Bob Sphire. Sphire took a medicore Bulldog’s program and turned it into a powerhouse using the air raid offense. It’s a fast-paced offense that Camden County will learn by doing, but the Wildcats have always had speed and skill players, and that offense will utilize those, according to Sphire.
Longtime Pierce County coach Sean Pender will find himself in a different blue this spring now that he is the head football coach at Brunswick. Pender takes over for Larry Harold, who resigned shortly after last season. Though the Pirates did graduate Georgia signee offensive lineman D’Ante Demery and Virginia signee Shawn Smith, Pender will still have plenty of weapons left to put in his system.
Pierce hired Jason Strickland from Fitzgerald High School. He was a head coach at Lamar County and an assistant at Jefferson County, Westside-Macon, and Charlton County.
Brunswick will not be the only Region 3-AAAAAA team to have a new head coach. Ross Couch, who was a defensive coordinator at Swainsboro and assistant head coach at Bradwell Institute for two seasons, is coming back to Bradwell Institute for his first head coaching job. Last season, Couch was the defensive coordinator at Windsor Forest.
“I’m in sort of a unique situation here, where I’m not exactly new to the program,” Couch said. “I was gone from Bradwell for nine months, almost to the day. When I showed up on campus – I think it was a Wednesday – it was like I’d only been on vacation. The faculty, administration, and players all welcomed me back immediately. I could tell there was definitely some excitement there, especially on the players’ part.”
Couch was hired by Bradwell Institute earlier this year and started in his new position in February.
“Our players will be disciplined, on and off the field,” Couch said. “We are going to do things the right way, no matter what. Ken Eldridge is one my mentors, and I’m lucky enough to be bringing him on staff with me here to run our defense, but he really preached to me a while back that football was one of the last avenues for us to teach boys to become men, to teach them to deal with and overcome adversity, and to mold them into quality husbands, fathers, and citizens. I think all of that starts with discipline. If we don’t do the little things right, and if we don’t do everything the right way, we won’t find any lasting success.”
Long County also changed coaches this season. Eric McNair, who was one of the youngest head coaches in the state when he took over the Blue Tide two seasons ago, resigned at Long County to take a coordinator position at Metter. The opening gave J.T. Pollock, long time Appling County coach, an opportunity to continue coaching in Region 2-AAA for Long.
Appling filled their opening with Jon Lindsey from East Paulding High School. He coached at Irwin County and Cook County and has an overall record of 41-25-1.
Wayne County was led by Derek Chastain, who came into the Yellow Jackets program in June of last year after the school system had problems trying to hire a replacement for Jody Grooms, who resigned in May because of legal problems. Chastain led the Yellow Jackets through a tough non-conference schedule. Wayne County finished 3-8 overall and 3-1 in region play and lost to Jones County in the first round of AAAAA state playoffs. The Yellow Jackets went across state lines to South Carolina, hiring Ken Cribb, who made the program at Bluffton High School a state power.
The other Yellow Jackets in Jeff Davis County had to replace Ed Lovvorn, who resigned after one season. They hired Lance Helton, the assistant head coach of the Dublin Fighting Irish. He also coached at Coffee County.
McIntosh County Academy, who lost to Macon County in the Class A-Public championship game this past season, will have a new coach. During the season, MCA head coach Robby Robinson was under investigation for possible hazing allegations. This past March, Robinson was charged with two misdemeanors for hazing and a second-degree felony for child endangerment. Upon Robinson’s resignation, the school board promoted defensive coordinator Terel Toomer to head football coach and promoted Scott Broker, middle school principal, to Athletic Director.
Southeast Georgia hasn’t seen this kind of movement in many years.
“Overall, it is human nature to try to better yourself, but I have been coaching now for 20 years, and you also have to know what is best for your family and your mental and physical health,” Derrick said. “As the great Ed Dudley once told me, ‘If the grass looks greener on the other side, you probably need to water your own darn grass!’”
SE-SF-0417-Coaches
By John Wood
U-Haul Season for Football Coaches in Southeast Georgia
