Bryan Love, who inherited an 0-10 Westlake team in 2013 and won two Region 3-AAAAAA championships, is the new head coach at Lamar County, a Class AA school in Middle Georgia.
Love’s Westlake teams were 5-6, 9-2 and 10-3. The Lions reached the AAAAAA quarterfinals in 2015, the best finish since 1999 (11-2), exceeding the success of the era of Cam Newton a decade before. Westlake had only one all-state player since Newton in 2006 until Love took over. There have been seven since.
Love’s move is striking similar to that of Franklin Stephens, who took the Lamar County job in 2012 after Leading Tucker to a 15-0 finish in 2011. Stephens is now at Ware County.
Coincidentally, Love was hired to replace Stephens but later declined the position over a contract issue. He instead wound up as defensive coordinator at Shiloh for a season before taking the Westlake job.
"I think Lamar County is a hidden gem and I want to take the program to next level,’’ Love told The Herald-Gazette of Barnesville.
Love also has served as defensive coordinator during stops at Camden County (2008-11), McEachern (2003-07) and Spruce Creek (2000-02).
Lamar County has averaged 10.3 wins the past five seasons and reached the Class AA final under Stephens in 2013. The team was 7-4 last season under Jamie Abrams.
Paulding County hires McEachern’s Spence
Paulding County has hired McEachern offensive coordinator Van Spence as its head coach. Spence has been a McEachern assistant for 14 seasons, the past five as offensive coordinator. Spence was hired to McEachern by Jimmy Dorsey, now McEachern’s athletics director. Dorsey, who got his head-coaching start at Paulding County in the 1980s, encouraged Spence to take the Paulding job. Paulding County was 7-3 in 2015 – the Patriots’ first winning season since 2003 – under Scott Hamilton.
Former Dutchtown coach lands at Gilmer
Gilmer has hired former North Forsyth and Dutchtown coach Jason Galt to replace Zach Grage, who took the head-coaching job at Thomasville. Galt was 36-27 in six seasons and Dutchtown and led the school to an 11-2 finish in 2010. He was 10-21 in three seasons at North Forsyth. He led the Raiders to the playoffs in 2013. A California native and former Georgia player, Galt has been an assistant at Cedar Shoals (1995), Clarke Central (1996-98), Cartersville (1999), Liberty County (2002-04) and Carrollton (2005-06).
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