A closer look at the 32 semifinal coaches
Here are some facts and figures about the 32 head coaches in tonight's semifinals, with their high school and college alma maters below.
*Two semifinal coaches are Brookwood alumni. Those are Philip Jones of Brookwood and John Ford of Buford.
*Six are coaching at their alma maters, including Rabun County's Lee Shaw and Brooks County's Maurice Freeman, whose teams face each other tonight. The others are Jones, Clinch County's Jim Dickerson, Tucker's Bryan Lamar and St. Pius' Paul Standard.
*Fifteen of the 32 coaches are not from Georgia. The longest away from home is Mary Persons' Brian Nelson, who is from West Burlington, Iowa, about a 13-hour drive to Thomaston. (See the other 14 below.)
*Three are in their first seasons as head coaches at their schools. They are Buford's Ford, North Gwinnett's Bill Stewart and Mount Zion's Brad Gordon. Twelve have been at their schools at least 10 seasons, headed by the 33-year tenure of Marist's Alan Chadwick.
*Four went to West Georgia: Calhoun's Hal Lamb, Heard County's Tim Barron, Mount Zion's Brad Gordon and Warner Robins' Mike Chastain. Two went to The Citadel. They are St. Pius' Standard and Eagle's Landing Christian's Jonathan Gess.
| School | Year | Coach | High school alma mater | College alma mater |
| Athens Academy | 3 | Josh Alexander | Morrow | Georgia |
| Blessed Trinity | 7 | Tim McFarlin | Milton | Georgia College |
| Brooks County | 10 | Maurice Freeman | Brooks County | Florida A&M |
| Brookwood | 3 | Philip Jones | Brookwood | South Carolina |
| Buford | 1 | John Ford | Brookwood | Clemson |
| Calhoun | 19 | Hal Lamb | Commerce | West Georgia |
| Carver (Atlanta) | 13 | Darren Myles | Douglass (New Orleans, La.) | Purdue |
| Cedar Grove | 5 | Jermaine Smith | Darlington (S.C.) | Tennessee State |
| Clinch County | 14 | Jim Dickerson | Clinch County | Valdosta State |
| Coffee | 6 | Robby Pruitt | Southside Christian (Gainesville, Fla.) | Liberty University (Va.) |
| Colquitt County | 10 | Rush Propst | Ohatchee (Ala.) | Jacksonville State |
| Eagle's Landing Christian | 11 | Jonathan Gess | Clover (S.C.) | Citadel |
| Emanuel County Institute | 7 | Chris Kearson | Ware County | Union College (Ky.) |
| Glynn Academy | 4 | Rocky Hidalgo | Denham Springs (Baton Rouge, La.) | Rhodes College (Miss.) |
| Greater Atlanta Christian | 6 | Tim Hardy | Newton-Conover (N.C.) | Wheaton (Ill.) |
| Hapeville Charter | 7 | Winston Gordon | Clewiston (Fla.) | Savannah State |
| Heard County | 16 | Tim Barron | Pebblebrook | West Georgia |
| Irwin County | 4 | Buddy Nobles | Temple Christian (Jacksonville, Fla.) | North Florida |
| Lee County | 9 | Dean Fabrizio | Lake Howell (Winter Park, Fla.) | Central Methodist (Mo.) |
| Marist | 33 | Alan Chadwick | Decatur | East Tennessee State |
| Mary Persons | 6 | Brian Nelson | West Burlington (Iowa) | Wartburg College (Ill.) |
| McEachern | 10 | Kyle Hockman | Harrison (Cincinnati, Ohio) | Bowling Green State (Ohio) |
| Mount Paran Christian | 10 | Mitch Jordan | Darlington | Georgia Tech |
| Mount Zion (Carroll) | 1 | Brad Gordon | Central (Carroll) | West Georgia |
| North Gwinnett | 1 | Bill Stewart | Armwood (Seffner, Fla.) | Central Florida |
| Peach County | 11 | Chad Campbell | Hawkinsville | Georgia Southwestern |
| Prince Avenue Christian | 2 | Greg Vandagriff | Halls (Knoxville, Tenn.) | Tennessee Wesleyan |
| Rabun County | 6 | Lee Shaw | Rabun County | Western Carolina |
| Rome | 3 | John Reid | Warren Harding (Fort Wayne, Ind.) | Ball State |
| St. Pius | 17 | Paul Standard | St. Pius | Citadel |
| Tucker | 6 | Bryan Lamar | Tucker | UTC |
| Warner Robins | 2 | Mike Chastain | Northside (Warner Robins) | West Georgia |
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