Metro, state football coaches to resign

By GHSF Daily Staff

For the AJC

Editor’s note: A previous version of this story stated that Americus-Sumter coach Mark Wilson has left the Panthers. But the superintendent of Sumter County Schools said no decisions have been made about Wilson’s job status. "I would be surprised if Mark would resign and not tell me about it,'' Dennis McMahon told the Americus Times-Recorder. "No decisions have been made about any of our coaches.'' See story here

If there's a question about whether Savannah schools plan to continue playing in Class AAAAA despite smaller enrollment numbers, Windsor Forest coach Mike Martin has provided a hint.

Martin resigned last week after taking Windsor Forest to its fourth consecutive playoff appearance in AAAAA. The coach said Windsor Forest would have trouble improving on his record as long as the school is required to play in the highest classification despite AAA enrollment numbers.

"I think the kids are missing out on opportunities if we were in a different classification," Martin told Rich McGowan of the Savannah Morning News. "There's a lot of issues in Savannah that haven't been addressed and need to be addressed and I just don't see it changing much."

Martin was 29-25 in five years at Windsor Forest, a middle-sized school that plays in Region 3-AAAAA. Windsor Forest, with projected enrollment of 1,300 students for the 2010-11 academic year, lost to Union Grove 47-20 in the first round this season.

There are 20 head coaching vacancies in Georgia. In addition to the Windsor Forest opening, here are the four most recent that have been reported.

Cedartown: Mark Loudermilk is finished after four seasons and an 11-30 record. Cedartown, a northwest Georgia school, was 2-8 this season. The program won at least 10 games and reached the quarterfinals each season from 1999 to 2002 but has not won a playoff game since. Loudermilk will remain as athletics director.

Forest Park: Rod Perrymond has resigned after seasons of 1-9 and 2-8. Forest Park, a Clayton County school, has not had a winning season since 2000. Perrymond is a former all-class player of the year in Georgia who had been a longtime assistant at metro Atlanta schools.

Metter: Clay Hill is out after a 3-7 finish in 2009 and a four-year record of 7-33. Metter, a southeast Georgia school, reached the Class A semifinals in 2002 under Robby Robinson and the quarterfinals in 2003 under Shane Dular but has not had a winning season since. Hill has a 19-year Georgia record of 92-116-1. He was head coach at Crisp County from 1991 to 2005 and led Crisp to a Georgia Dome semifinal in 1995.

South Forsyth: Wendell Early has stepped down after two seasons in which his teams went 3-7 and 1-9. South Forsyth has not had a winning season since 2003, the last year under Norris Vaughan. Early had coached at Berkmar from 2003 to 2007 and had three winning seasons at a program that had struggled for years.