Jess Simpson, who won seven state championships at Buford, is leaving high school football to join the staff at Georgia State.

Buford has reached the state finals a state-record 10 straight times. The Wolves lost to Rome 16-7 in the Class AAAAA final last week.

Simpson’s Buford record is 164-12. Three of the losses were games that Buford won but were overturned by forfeit for the inadvertent use of ineligible players.

Simpson’s move continues a recent trend of successful high school coaches who have left for the college rankings. Others moving include Grayson’s Mickey Conn (Clemson), Valdosta’s Rance Gillespie (Georgia Southern) and Carver-Columbus’s Dell McGee (Georgia Southern and then Georgia).

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