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Monday, September 22, 2008
Take 10: Georgia’s football coaches who could win titles at two different schools
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
There are 13 coaches in GHSA history who have won state championships at two Georgia schools. Which coach is most likely to be the 14th on that list? At Take Ten, we think we know. Vote which coaches are Hot or Not in our photo gallery.
But first, here are the 13 who have done it: Charlie Brake (Morgan County, Westminster), Gene Brodie (Central Macon, Tift County), Buzz Busby (Kendrick, Statesboro), Wayman Creel (Northside, Lakeside), Jeff Herron (Oconee County, Camden County), Dwight Hochstetler (Bowdon, Greenville), Mike Hodges (West Rome, Thomasville), Jim Hughes (Thomasville, Colquitt County), Ralph Jones (Bainbridge, Cairo), Ray Lamb (Warren County, Commerce), Milt Miller (Worth County, Lowndes), Jerry Sharp (East Rome, Darlington) and Charlie Winslette (West Rome, Greene-Taliaferro).
Who’s next? The drum roll, please …
Tie-10: Mike O’Brien, Woodstock - It’s not going to happen, but what a story it would be. Valdosta fired O’Brien four years after winning the school’s last state title, in 1998. Valdosta was 70-20-1 under O’Brien and is 39-27 since. Woodstock was 15-47 before O’Brien and is 25-29 since.
Tie-10: John Starr, Chattooga - Starr’s Indians are 3-0, but they’ve never been out of the first round in Starr’s 12 seasons in Summerville, and they’re never going to have the talent Starr had with Deon Grant and Josey in 1995.
9: Blair Armstrong, Banks County - The former Peachtree Ridge coach left Gwinnett for the green acres of Banks, a Class AA program with some promise but no history of winning. Armstrong has been coaching close to 30 years, and the 4-6 record in 2007 was only his third losing season. Don’t put it past Armstrong, who also won a state title in Florida in 1982, but the clock is ticking on a long career. Note that Buzz Busby is the only coach to win titles at two Georgia schools and another in a second state (Alabama).
8: Mike Earwood, Starr’s Mill - Won with Cartersville in 1991. Time might be running out on Earwood, too, but he’s been close a couple of times, reaching the semifinals in 2000 and the quarters in 2005. Starr’s Mill is 0-4 this season, however.
7: Lee Campbell, Dodge County - Dodge is 0-4, a disappointment in Campbell’s first season, but the coach of Hawkinsville’s state champs in 2002 and 2003 is young enough, and Dodge has been a solid program for years, so the potential is there.
6: Charlie Flowers, Dougherty - A 2000 champion at Shaw, Flowers is in his second season at Dougherty, which won Class AAA in 1998 and made the final in 2005. But Dougherty is down, and it’s going to take time to fix.
5: Erik Soliday, Turner County - Turner is ranked this week after a big victory against Brooks County. Soliday, who also coached Turner from 1989 to 1996, won with Americus in 2000 and 2001 with John Harris and Leonard Pope. He’s definitely got a shot.
4: Ed Pilcher, Bainbridge - Pilcher surprised many when he left Thomas Central after 17 seasons. He won five state titles at TCC, all in the 1990s. Bainbridge’s support for football is at an all-time high, but losing to Harris County last week was sobering.
3: Rick Tomberlin, Valdosta - Tomberlin won state titles at Washington County in 1994, 1996 and 1997 with Takeo Spikes and Terrence Edwards. Tomberlin has things turned around at Valdosta after a 1-9 start in 2006, but times have changed, and state titles are no longer a matter of time in Valdosta.
2: Robert Davis, Westside-Macon - Davis won three titles at Warner Robins (1976, 1981, 1988). He’s now the second-winningest coach in Georgia behind Lincoln County’s Larry Campbell. Westside is 4-0 and ranked No. 2 in Class AAAA. This would be the No. 1 choice, except that Davis is in his 36th year. This might be Davis’s last good shot.
1: Rayvan Teague, Carrollton - Teague won at Swainsboro in 2000, and he’s averaged more than 10 victories in six seasons at Carrollton, which won a title under the late Ben Scott in 1998. Teague should have many years left in coaching. He’s the odds-on favorite.
Photos: Vote which coaches are Hot or Not!
Go on. Take Ten. Which of these coaches would you love to see go head-to-head in a dream title matchup? And name some other Georgia coaches you think could win anywhere, anytime.
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