The past week was busy for football coaching changes as Colquitt County filled its opening with Justin Rogers on Monday and Jones County replaced Rogers just two days later with Mike Chastain, who had led Warner Robins to the Class AAAAA championship game the past two seasons.
The Warner Robins job is now the biggest on the board although Class AAA champion Cedar Grove hasn’t replaced Jimmy Smith yet. Smith is now on Georgia State’s staff.
The Warner Robins and Cedar Grove openings are among five this off season at programs that reached the finals in 2018. The others are Colquitt County (Rush Propst forced out), Cartersville (Joey King to College of Charleston) and Clinch County (Jim Dickerson retired). Two others that reached the 2017 finals — Rabun County’s Lee Shaw and Calhoun’s Hal Lamb — also have retired.
Here are other recent coaching changes, including a pair in south Fulton County, where four of the five public schools have made coaching changes.
• Tri-Cities hired former Newton coach Terrance Banks to replace Innis Claud. Banks' record was 38-27-1 in six seasons at Newton, which won a region title in 2015. Banks stepped down days prior to Newton's first-round playoff game last season.
• Westlake promoted Bobby May to replace Kareem Reid, who took the head coaching job at Griffin. May was Westlake’s offensive coordinator for one season. May was head coach at Suncoast in Florida and had led it to its best season in 13 years (6-3 record) before coming to Georgia. May also has coached at Pal Beach Lakes and Palm Beach Gardens.
• Dade County coach Bradley Warren has left his alma mater for McIntosh County Academy on the Georgia coast. Warren’s record is 106-111 in 21 seasons as a head coach, and he had his most success at McIntosh County in his first stint there. He led the Buccaneers to 8-3, 11-3 and 8-5 finishes in 1999-01. The program had won only eight games in the three seasons before he arrived. The 11 wins in 2000 remain a school record.
• Norris Vaughan was hired as head coach at Arnold in Panama City, Fla. Vaughan had moved back to Georgia this off-season and was looking in state, but wound up heading south. He led South Forsyth, North Springs and Heard County to 10-win seasons before heading to Arizona, where he built state powers at Wickenburg and Mountain Pointe and won a state title in 2013 and reached the semifinals or better 11 times in 13 seasons.
• Ridgeland has hired Kip Klein to replace Cortney Braswell, who joined the quality control staff at the University of Louisville. Klein has been on Ridgeland’s staff the past 25 seasons.
• Johnson of Gainesville has hired Habersham Central offensive coordinator Stan Luttrell to replace Jason Roquemore, who took the Towns County job. Luttrell was head coach at another Hall County school, Chestatee, from 2016 to 2013 and compiled a 46-38 record. He then joined staffs at Buford and later Gainesville. He son, Tre, was an all-state quarterback as a senior for Habersham last season.
Below are reported openings since the end of the 2018 season. There have been 91 among GHSA schools, a high number, yet well below the record 111 in 2017.
Alcovy - Former coach: Chris Edgar … New coach: Jason Duke
Americus-Sumter - Former coach: Larry Harold … New coach: Ross Couch
Bacon County - Former coach: Kyle Langford … New coach: Keith Gosse
Banneker - Former coach: Mario Allen … New coach: Lou George
Bradwell Institute - Former coach: Ross Couch … New coach: Kyle Adkins
Buford - Former coach: John Ford … New coach: Bryant Appling
Calhoun - Former coach: Hal Lamb … New coach: Clay Stephenson
Campbell - Former coach: Kyle Adkins … New coach: Howie DeCristofaro
Cartersville - Former coach: Joey King … New coach: Conor Foster
Cedar Grove - Former coach: Jimmy Smith … New coach: Open
Centennial - Former coach: Michael Perry … New coach: Shane Sams
Chamblee - Former coach: Curtis Mattair … New coach: Scott Schwarzer
Charlton County - Former coach: Rich McWhorter … New coach: Russ Murray
Clinch County - Former coach: Jim Dickerson … New coach: Don Tison
Colquitt - Former coach: Rush Propst … New coach: Justin Rodgers
Cook - Former coach: Bobby Jones … New coach: Jimmy Rodgers
Creekview - Former coach: Adam Carter … New coach: Trevor Williams
Cross Keys - Former coach: Mark Adams … New coach: Open
Dade County - Former coach: Bradley Warren … New coach: Open
Dodge County - Former coach: Rex Hodges … New coach: Ken Cofer
Dooly County - Former coach: Corey Jarvis … New coach: Ashley Harden
Dougherty - Former coach: Damien Gary … New coach: Johnny Gilbert
Drew - Former coach: D.Lyles … New coach: Steve Robinson
Duluth - Former coach: Bob Swank … New coach: Cam Jones
East Hall - Former coach: Scott Patrick … New coach: Michael Perry
East Jackson - Former coach: Scott Wilikins … New coach: Cameron Pettus
Elbert County - Former coach: Sid Fritts … New coach: Brad Waggoner
Fayette County - Former coach: Mike Davis … New coach: Nick Davis
Forest Park - Former coach: Martez Edwards … New coach: Gerren Griffin
George Walton Academy - Former coach: Don Williams … New coach: Shane Davis
Gilmer - Former coach: Casey Wingard … New coach: Kevin Saunders
Gordon Central - Former coach: Corey Nix … New coach: T.J. Hamilton
Grayson - Former coach: Christian Hunnicutt … New coach: Adam Carter
Greenville - Former coach: Vex Farley … New coach: Tyler Wynn
Griffin - Former coach: Antoino Andrews … New coach: Kareem Reid
Groves - Former coach: Michael Martin … New coach: Open
Hawkinsville - Former coach: Will Connor … New coach: Shane Williamson
Jackson County - Former coach: Brandon Worley … New coach: Rich McWhorter
Jenkins County - Former coach: Charley Waters … New coach: David Johnson
Johnson (Ganesville) - Former coach: Jason Roquemore … New coach: Stan Lutrell
Jones County - Former coach: Justin Rodgers … New coach: Mike Chastain
Josey - Former coach: Marcus Jackson … New coach: John Starr II
Lakeside (Atlanta) - Former coach: Zack Edwards … New coach: Open
Lamar County - Former coach: John Flath … New coach: Jeffrey Sloan
Landmark Christian - Former coach: Joe Scott … New coach: Mike Sherrard
Laney - Former coach: Rodney McFadden … New coach: Rashad Dunn
Langston Hughes - Former coach: Wille Cannon … New coach: Daniel Williams
Lassiter - Former coach: Jep Irwin … New coach: Sean Thom
Lithia Springs - Former coach: Kevin Hill … New coach: Corey Jarvis
Lithonia - Former coach: Dave Edwards … New coach: Marcus Jelks Interim
Lumpkin County - Former coach: Shane Williamson … New coach: Open
McIntosh County Academy - Former coach: Tony Glazer … New coach: Bradley Warren
Henry County - Former coach: Mo Starr … New coach: Eric Solomon
McEachern - Former coach: Kyle Hoffman … New coach: Frank Stephens
Mill Creek - Former coach: Shannon Jarvis … New coach: Josh Lovelady
Model - Former coach: Gordon Powers … New coach: Jeff Hunnicutt
New Hampstead - Former coach: Thomas Tedder … New coach: Kyle Hockman
New Manchester - Former coach: Myron Terry … New coach: Kevin Whitley
Newton - Former coach: Terrence Banks … New coach: Camiel Grant
Pacelli - Former coach: Mark LeGree … New coach: Dwight Jones
Pebblebrook - Former coach: Kevin Saunders … New coach: Leroy Hood
Pickens - Former coach: Chris Parker … New coach: Jeff Nelson
Pierce County - Former coach: Jason Strickland … New coach: Ryan Herring
Rabun - Former coach: Lee Shaw … New coach: Jaybo Shaw
Randolph-Clay - Former coach: Harvey Smith … New coach: Open
Redan - Former coach: K.D. Dunn … New coach: Open
Ridgeland - Former coach: Cortney Braswell … New coach: Kip Klein
River Ridge - Former coach: Tyler Wynn … New coach: Mike Collins
Rutland - Former coach: Mark Daniel … New coach: Rusty Easom
Savannah Country Day - Former coach: Dennis Coyle … New coach: Jim Collis
Seminole County - Former coach: Wes Williams … New coach: Open
Shiloh - Former coach: Ryan Andrews … New coach: Tino Lerulli
South Effingham - Former coach: Donnie Revell … New coach: Nathan Clark
Spalding - Former coach: Nick Davis … New coach: Jeff Hammonds
Spencer - Former coach: Justin Newman … New coach: Robert Sanders
Stewart County - Former coach: Ashley Harden … New coach: Open
Stockbridge - Former coach: Kevin Whitley … New coach: Steve Boyd
Stone Mountain - Former coach: James Collier … New coach: James Lal
Terrell County - Former coach: William Huff … New coach: Jack Harris
Towns County - Former coach: John Cornett … New coach: Jason Roquemore
Tri-Cities - Former coach: Innis Claud … New coach: Terrance Banks
Turner County - Former coach: Leroy Hood … New coach: Nick Hayes
Villa Rica - Former coach: Rico Zachery … New coach: Christian Hunnicutt
Ware County - Former coach: Frank Stephens … New coach: Jason Strickland
Warner Robins - Former coach: Mike Chastain … New coach: Open
Washington-Willes - Former coach: Chad Alligood … New coach: T.C. Jay
Westlake - Former coach: Kareem Reid … New coach: Bobby May
Westside (Augusta) - Former coach: Scott Tate … New coach: John Wiley
Wheeler - Former coach: Mike Collins … New coach: Bryan Love
Windsor Forest - Former coach: Gregg Busby … New coach: Ike Ferrell
Woodland (Stockbridge) - Former coach: Bryan Love … New coach: Antonio Andrews
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