Over the next several issues, GHSF Daily will chronicle the many coaching changes in the offseason. We begin with Class AAAAAA.
Number of hires: 13
Best hire: Ashley Anders, Tift County
Hardest to replace: Mark Crews, Brookwood
Best job: Brookwood
Toughest job: Osborne
Most interesting: Mark Crews spent 27 seasons at Brookwood, the final 13 as head coach. He won 112 games, lost 48 and claimed a state title in 2010. Crews announced his retirement at the end of the 2014 season. Brookwood stayed in house and picked Philip Jones, a member of the 1996 state-title team, as Crews' successor.
Region 1
*Tift County promoted defensive coordinator Ashley Anders to replace John Reid, who took the head coaching job at Rome after a three-season stint in which he led Tift to a winning record (7-4) and the playoffs for the first time since 2008. Anders, an Arizona native, was Murray State's defensive coordinator before coming to Tifton in 2013. He has spent most of his coaching career in the college ranks with stops at Auburn as a graduate assistant, Holmes Community College, Valdosta State and Georgia Southern.
Region 3
*Pebblebrook hired Cross Keys head coach Kevin Saunders, who won a state championship at Gretna, Va., in 2011. Saunders' record is 145-81 overall, 49-15 at Gretna. Cross Keys was 1-4 playing a split varsity/JV schedule in 2014. Saunders came to Georgia last year to be nearer his father in metro Atlanta. Former coach Tommy Macon, who was 5-25 in three seasons, remained at Pebblebrook as head track and field coach.
Region 4
*Osborne hired Troy Jones, its coach from 2005 to 2009, to replace Byron McCall, who joined Kennesaw Mountain's staff as an assistant. Jones has been out of coaching since 2009 while teaching special education at the Intown Academy in Atlanta. He was 7-43 in his five seasons at Osborne but gave the program stability it hasn't had since the early 1990s. The school has had eight coaches since 2000 and not won more than three games (3-7 in Jones' last season) since 1994 (9-2). McCall was 2-7 in one season.
Region 5
*Pope hired Shaw coach Kyle Adkins to replace Matt Kemper, who took the Johns Creek head coaching job. Adkins' Shaw teams were 14-17 in three seasons during which Shaw moved up in classification. Adkins, an Americus native, had been an assistant at Twiggs County, Jefferson County, Ware County and Howard before taking his first head-coaching job in 2012.
Region 6
*Centennial hired Grayson defensive coordinator Lenny Gregory to replace Jeff Carlberg, who was 9-21 in three seasons. Gregory had been an assistant at Grayson since 2008, the past two as defensive coordinator. He also assisted at Chattahoochee, South Forsyth and Northview. Gregory was a standout noseguard at Brigham Young in the early 1990s and worked in the hardwood lumber industry before coming to Georgia and getting into coaching. Carlberg has joined Bob Sphire's staff at North Gwinnett.
*Habersham Central hired Jackson County coach Benji Harrison to replace Michael Pollock, who joined Mickey Conn's staff at Grayson. Harrison led Jackson County to its first playoff appearance in 20 years in 2012 and first back-to-back playoff appearances in school in school history in 2012-13. Harrison was offensive coordinator at Flowery Branch when hired at Jackson County. A former Stephens County quarterback, he also has coached at Franklin County and Elbert County. Habersham was 1-19 in Pollock's two seasons.
*Johns Creek hired Pope coach Matt Kemper to replace Mike Cloy, who started the Johns Creek program in 2009. Pope was 39-35 in seven seasons under Kemper, peaking at 10-2 in 2011. Kemper previously was head coach for five seasons in Florida at Lake Howell and St. Cloud. Under Cloy, Johns Creek was 25-34 in six seasons, but 1-19 the past two after 9-2 and 8-3 finishes in 2011 and 2012. Cloy has joined Tim McFarlin's staff at Blessed Trinity.
Region 7
*Duluth promoted defensive coordinator Bob Swank to replace Jason Conner, who was 5-15 in two seasons. Swank was Pope's head coach from 2005 to 2007 (8-22 record) but left coaching for five years before joining Duluth's staff. He was a former head coach of Buffalo State and assisted at Midwestern State in Texas, Methodist in North Carolina and Toledo in Ohio. Conner has joined Kevin Reach's staff at Collins Hill.
*Meadowcreek hired Stockbridge quarterbacks coach Jason Carrera to replace George Pugh, who was 2-18 in two seasons. Carrera did not coach for 20 years out of college (Chattanooga) before joining Henry County's staff in 2004. He also has coached at Eagle's Landing Christian, where he was offensive coordinator for a time, and Flint River Academy, where he was 15-8 as head coach (2012-13). Pugh remained at Meadowcreek and is assistant athletics director.
*Mountain View hired its 2014 defensive coordinator, Nick Bach, to replace Doug Giacone, who was 7-23 in three seasons. Bach was hired as Dunwoody's head coach earlier in the year but stepped down when offered the Mountain View job. Bach coached for 10 years in college at Otterbein, East Stroudsburg, Johns Hopkins and Buffalo. Giacone has joined the staff at Newnan.
Region 8
*Berkmar hired Kenan Dever, the offensive coordinator at Highlands in San Antonio, Texas, to replace Jonathan Sanks, who resigned after five seasons and became an assistant at Grayson. Dever, 40, was at Highlands for seven seasons and Bowie of Arlington, Texas, for four years. Berkmar will be his first head-coaching job. He was a tight end at Sam Houston State. Berkmar was 9-41 under Sanks and last had a winning season in 2007 (6-4).
*Brookwood promoted assistant Philip Jones to replace Mark Crews, who retired after 13 seasons as head coach. Jones was a member of Brookwood's 1996 Class AAAA championship team and an assistant from 2002 to 2005 and returned to Brookwood again two seasons ago after a two-year run as Banks County's head coach. Jones also has assisted at Walton and Ware County. Crews' teams were 112-48 in 13 seasons and won a state title in 2010.
*Shiloh hired Marietta defensive backs coach Ryan Andrews to replace Troy Hobbs, who resigned after three seasons. Andrews was head coach at his alma mater, Banneker, in 2013 and finished 5-5-1 and made the playoffs for the first time in four years. Andrews was a Banneker assistant for the previous six seasons. Hobbs, whose teams were 11-19, is now wide receivers coach at North Gwinnett.
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