Creekside on Wednesday hired Valdosta offensive line coach Will Rogers, a Creekside alumnus, as its head football coach.
Rogers will replace Olten Downs, who left for a football staff position at the University of Georgia after two seasons, during which Creekside won the Class AAAAA championship in 2013.
Rogers was an outstanding lineman for Creekside through the 1999 season under Amos McCreary and was an assistant under McCreary at Whitewater from 2009 to 2013 before heading to Valdosta for a season.
Rogers, 33, said he wasn’t necessarily looking to be a head coach so soon but jumped at the chance at returning to his old high school.
‘’That was a huge part of it,’’ Rogers said. “I had no intentions on leaving Valdosta, but when found out about this job, I had to think about. I’ve got a lot of Creekside pride. It’s a big deal to go back to my old school.’’
Rogers said he would retain offensive coordinator Andrico Hines, the former Arena League quarterback who ran the offense for the 2013 championship team. Rogers said there will be a new defensive coordinator, but no hire has been made.
Creekside was 9-3 last season and returns what will be a three-year starter at quarterback, Felix Rogers.
In other recent coaching moves:
-Whitefield Academy on Wednesday hired Florida A&M offensive coordinator Quinn F. Gray Sr. as head coach. Gray is a former quarterback for Florida A&M, where he set several school records. He played six years in the NFL, mostly with the Jacksonville Jaguars, and in NFL Europe.
-Jonathan Sanks resigned this week as coach at Berkmar. His teams were 9-41 in his five seasons. Berkmar has not made the playoffs since 2005.
-Pelham hired Thomasville assistant Dondrial Pinkins to replace Frankie Carroll, who resigned to become athletics director at Worth County. Pinkins is a former South Carolina quarterback who led Mitchell County to a 9-2 finish in 2010.
-Turner County promoted defensive coordinator Ben Simmons to replace John Gamble. Turner was 4-6 last season. Gamble remained as athletics director.
