Football notebook: GHSA considers spring game; Swaney retires

By Todd Holcomb

April 14, 2016

(Jason Getz/AJC File)

Spring football games have long been high on the wish list of high school football coaches. They might be getting them soon.

The GHSA will allow spring games between two schools beginning in 2017 if a proposal is passed Monday at the association’s executive committee meeting in Macon.

‘’It would give players a purpose for a great spring practice, and it would excite the community while adding another gate to the athletic budget, which we all need,’’ Rabun County coach Lee Shaw said.

Lassiter’s Jep Irwin and others have echoed that remark for some time. ‘’It would make spring practice more meaningful, aid in recruiting for players and help schools financially,’’ Irwin said.

Current GHSA bylaws allow for 10 days of spring practice and intra-squad scrimmages, but scrimmages between two schools are not allowed until August.

There also are proposals before the executive committee to adopt the same contact limits for spring practice and summer camps as currently exist for preseason practice and to limit summer contact camps to three starting this summer.

Marion County coach retires

Mike Swaney, who led Marion County of west Georgia to its first state championship in football, announced his retirement this week. Swaney coached football for 31 seasons and never applied to be a head coach until the Marion County job opened in 2010. Until then, Marion had never won more than seven games against a full region schedule dating to the 1970s, when the school was part of Tri-County High. Swaney’s first team was 10-2. Over six seasons, Swaney’s teams were 65-10 and won the Class A public-school championship in 2013.

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Todd Holcomb

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Football notebook: GHSA considers spring game; Swaney retires

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