John Ford, who led Roswell to consecutive state finals and Buford to a pair of region titles, is a head coach again, and South Gwinnett has made Tucker coach Bryan Lamar its first choice, but that hire awaits board approval.
Those are some of the latest moves in a football offseason that has seen more than 50 openings, about one-third of which have been filled.
Ford’s career record is 61-17 with two region titles apiece at Roswell (2013-16) and Buford (2017-18). He was let go at Buford despite a 21-5 record a region titles in each season. He was Bleckley County’s defensive coordinator last season.
Effingham was 43-42 in eight seasons under Buddy Holder, who will take another job in the school system.
At South Gwinnett, Lamar would bring a career 83-29 record after nine seasons at Tucker, where he won four region titles and led the Tigers to two state finals. South Gwinnett was 5-5 last season, the Comets’ best finish since 2016. Lamar would replace Steve Davenport, who is retiring.
Here are reported openings with hires noted in bold.
Alexander - Former coach: Matt Combs.
Appling County - Former coach: Rick Tomberlin.
Arabia Mountain - Former coach: Stanley Pritchett.
Banneker - Former coach: Lou George.
Blessed Trinity - Former coach: Tim McFarlin.
Bradwell Institute - Former coach: Kyle Adkins.
Carrollton - Former coach: Sean Calhoun. New coach: Joey King
Central Talbotton - Former coach: Cedric Stegall.
Crawford County - Former coach: Jhon Smith. New coach: Craig Puckett
Crisp County - Former coach: Brad Harber.
Dalton - Former coach: Matt Land.
Eagles Landing - Former coach: Shawn Jones.
East Forsyth - Former coach: New school. New coach: Brian Allison
Effingham County - Former coach: Buddy Holder. New coach: John Ford
Fellowship Christian - Former coach: Al Morrell.
Gilmer - Former coach: Kevin Saunders. New coach: Paul Standard
Grovetown - Former coach: Damien Postell.
Hardaway - Former coach: Michael Woolridge.
Harrison - Former coach: Matt Dickmann. New coach: Josh Cassidy
Heard County - Former coach: Tim Barron. New coach: Shane Lasseter
Monticello - Former coach: Roderick Jackson.
Jenkins - Former coach: Gene Clemmons.
Jordan - Former coach: Joseph Kegler. New coach: Dale Overton
Lake Oconee Academy - Former coach: New Program.
Lamar County - Former coach: Jeff Sloan.
Landmark Christian - Former coach: Mike Sherrard.
Locust Grove - Former coach: Clint Satterfield.
Long County - Former coach: John Pollock.
Monroe - Former coach: Charles Truitt.
Morgan County - Former coach: Bill Malone.
Mount Pisgah Christian - Former coach: Mike Forester. New coach: Ryan Livezey
North Springs - Former coach: Scotty Parker.
Oglethorpe County - Former coach: Ronnie Harris.
Osborne - Former coach: Russell Isham. New coach: Luqman Salam
Pickens - Former coach: Jeff Nelson. New coach: Grant Myers
Portal - Former coach: Matt Smith.
Rockdale County - Former coach: Derek Coggin.
Savannah County Day - Former coach: Jim Collis. New coach: Tyler Ward
Seminole County - Former coach: Trey Woolf. New coach: Cedric Stegall
South Cobb - Former coach: Terry Jones.
South Forsyth - Former coach: Jeff Arnette. New coach: Troy Morris
South Gwinnett - Former coach: Steve Davenport.
St. Pius - Former coach: Paul Standard.
Stockbridge - Former coach: Steve Boyd. New coach: Thomas Clark
Tift County - Former coach: Ashley Anders.
Towers - Former coach: Vonnell Carter.
Union County - Former coach: Brian Allison.
Villa Rica - Former coach: Christian Hunnicutt. New coach: Tim Barron
Walker - Former coach: Aaron Dobbins. New coach: Gary Nelson
Westside - Former coach: Jon Wiley.
Woodland (Stockbridge) - Former coach: Bryan Bailey.
Woodstock - Former coach: Brent Budde.
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