GHSF Daily has been chronicling the many coaching changes in the offseason. We conclude today with Class A.
Number of hires: 12
Best hire: Quinn Gray, Whitefield Academy
Hardest to replace: Randy Grace, Pacelli
Best job: Athens Academy
Toughest job: Lanier County
Most interesting: Josh Alexander left Archer, where he ran the offense for the Class AAAAAA runner-up in 2014, for Athens Academy, a longtime force in Class A football but slumping the past couple of seasons. Alexander is one of nine coaches who were assistants in Gwinnett County last year who now are Georgia head coaches.
Region 1
*Miller County hired Brent Miller to replace Jeremy Rayburn, who left to become offensive coordinator at Thomasville. Miller, who sat out 2014, believing he was retired, has been a head coach for 10 schools in 24 seasons. He has led eight programs to the playoffs, most recently Southwest Georgia Academy of the GISA in 2013. Miller's first coaching job came at Miller County as an assistant from 1984 to 1986. Rayburn was 2-8 in one season.
Region 2
*Atkinson County promoted defensive coordinator David Parker to replace Kipp Hall, who left after two seasons to join Rocky Hidalgo's staff at Glynn Academy. The 6-5 finish in 2014 marked the school's first winning record since 2001. Parker is a 20-year coaching veteran who has worked in nine school systems.
*Lanier County hired personal trainer and former NFL wide receiver Carl Parker to replace Phillip Johnson, whose record was 3-17 in two seasons. Parker played at Lowndes and Vanderbilt before joining the Cincinnati Bengals in the late 1980s. He played in the CFL, the World League of American Football and the Arena League in a career that ended in 2004. Johnson is now an assistant at Wayne County.
*Turner County promoted defensive coordinator Ben Simmons to replace John Gamble, who joined Rance Gillespie's staff at Valdosta. Simmons was Tift County's defensive coordinator from 2005 to 2010. He was head coach at his alma mater Raines in Jacksonville for two seasons (2003-04) and defensive coordinator there for several seasons under current Camden County head coach Welton Coffey. Turner County was 8-13 in Gamble's two seasons.
Region 3
*Wheeler County hired Pacelli coach Randy Grace to replace Dennis Logue, who was 13-37 in five seasons. Grace's record as a head coach is 29-43 overall, but 7-4 each of the past two seasons at Pacelli, which had won only seven games total the previous four seasons. Wheeler County has not had a winning season since 2003.
Region 4
*Brookstone promoted assistant and strength-and-conditioning coach Scott Pethtel, former head coach at North Park University in Chicago, to replace Brad Dehem, who became athletics director of Mount Vernon Presbyterian. Pethtel, in his third season at Brookstone, coached college ball for 35 years with stops at Ball State, Cincinnati, Buffalo and alma mater Adrian College in Michigan. He coached at North Park from 2006 to 2012.
*Pacelli promoted offensive coordinator Alan Griffin to replace Randy Grace, now head coach at Wheeler County. Griffin has been at Pacelli since 2007. He also is the school's athletics director and boys basketball coach. Pacelli's pair of 7-4 seasons is the best two-year run since 2003-04.
*Taylor County hired Bryan County coach Mark Wilson to replace Chris Kirksey, the region's longest-tenured coach who was 50-62-1 in 11 seasons. This will be the sixth program for Wilson, an Americus native. He has led four of five to the playoffs. Kirksey, a Taylor County graduate who had worked at his alma mater since 1995, is now an assistant coach at Marion County.
Region 5
*Mount Vernon Presbyterian hired Westminster offensive line coach Wayne Dabbs to replace Ryan Zimmerman, whose teams were 3-17 in two seasons. Dabbs was head coach of an eight-man football state championship team in 2011 at Tabernacle Christian in Alabama. Mount Vernon has had one winning season (2010) and no playoff appearances in its 10-year history. Zimmerman has left coaching and works as an innovation coach for a company called Process by Design.
Region 6
*Whitefield Academy hired Florida A&M offensive coordinator Quinn Gray to replace Jimmy Fields, now head coach at Trinity Christian in Dublin. 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. Gray was a head coach at Andrew Jackson High in Jacksonville for one season before joining Florida A&M's staff, on which he spent the past four seasons. Whitefield Academy was 4-6 last season and 43-42 in eight seasons under Fields.
Region 7
*Twiggs County hired Jefferson County cornerbacks coach Ashley Harden to replace Dexter Copeland, now head coach at Macon County. Harden was head coach at Jenkins County (2012-13) and Butler (2009-11). His Butler teams were 7-3 and 8-3 after ending a 41-game losing streak.
Region 8
*Athens Academy hired Archer offensive coordinator Josh Alexander, allowing one-year interim coach Don Chuboff to return to his role as an assistant. Alexander previously has assisted at Washington-Wilkes, Parkview and Clarke Central. Athens Academy made the playoffs each season from 1993 to 2012, all under coach Michael Gunn, but missed the past two seasons, including Gunn's final season. Athens Academy was 4-5 in 2014.
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