Number of hires: 10
Best hire: Ed Dudley, Winder-Barrow
Hardest to replace: Bruce Miller, Gainesville
Best job: Gainesville
Toughest job: Osborne
Most interesting: Heath Webb left Winder-Barrow, which he took to new heights in his four seasons, for Gainesville, a region rival. Gainesville's 2017 quarterback, Tre Luttrell, transferred to another region Region 8 rival, Habersham Central, which coincidentally is Webb's alma mater. Tre Luttrell's father, Stan Luttrell, was the defensive coordinator at Gainesville last season. Stan Luttrell is now on Benji Harrison's staff at Habersham.
Region 1
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Region 2
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Region 3
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Region 4
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Region 5
*Northgate hired East Coweta assistant coach and former Newnan head coach Mike McDonald to replace Kelsey Dalrymple, who stepped down after going 6-4 in his only season and remains at Northgate as a teacher. McDonald, who now will have worked at all three Coweta County public schools, was 56-37 in eight seasons at Newnan from 2009 to 2016 and 19-15 at Union Grove from 2004 to 2006. Dalrymple had replaced Tommy Walburn, who at 52-27 is the school's winningest coach.
*South Paulding hired Johns Creek defensive coordinator Jason Thompson to replace Ed Koester, who retired in December after five seasons. Koester's team won a school-best 10 games in 2013 but had fallen off the past two seasons, going 2-8 and 1-9. Thompson was a longtime North Gwinnett assistant coach before moving to Johns Creek for one season.
*Tri-Cities promoted assistant coach Innis Claud to replace Kenneth Miller, who remained as athletics director after 10 seasons as head coach. Miller's 10 seasons and 46 victories rank No. 1 in program history. Claud was on Miller's staff during that time. This will be his first head coaching job.
Region 6
*Creekview hired Valdosta defensive coordinator Adam Carter to replace Terry Crowder, who left after five seasons to start the program at the new Denmark High in Forsyth County. Carter has made several stops as a high school assistant (Marietta, Camden County, Bradwell Institute) and at the college level (South Carolina State, Reinhardt). He was a head coach for one year at Bradwell, going 4-6 in 2013.
*Osborne promoted defensive coordinator Russell Isham to replace Richard Helton, who was 0-9 in one season at one of the state's toughest places to win. Isham has been an assistant in Georgia for 25 years at North Cobb, Centennial, Pebblebrook and South Cobb. Helton, a former Walton assistant, has moved to Tennessee to care for an ill family member.
Region 7
*North Atlanta hired Pope defensive coordinator Sean O'Sullivan to replace Jeremy Gainer, who remained at the school as a teacher after posting an 8-22 record in three seasons. O'Sullivan previously has coached at Mount Vernon Presbyterian, Westminster (during its 2015 state-championship season), Southeastern Louisiana (during its 2014 Southland Conference championship), Delta State and alma mater Mars Hill College. North Atlanta has had just two winning seasons and one trip to the state playoffs (1996) since the program began in 1991.
Region 8
*Apalachee hired West Hall head coach Tony Lotti to replace Steve Sims, who stepped down in December after compiling a 3-26-1 record in three seasons at a school that has had just four winning seasons in its 14-year history. Lotti was 35-31 in six seasons at West Hall, leading the Spartans to their first region title (2014) in school history and first playoff win (2016) since 2000. Sims is now on the staff at Dacula, his alma mater.
*Dacula promoted defensive coordinator Clint Jenkins to replace Tommy Jones, who was hired in December to start the football program at new Hall County school Cherokee Bluff. This is Jenkins' first head coaching job. A former Marine, Jones had run Dacula's defenses the past seven seasons and coached previously at Morgan County and North Forsyth. Jones led the Falcons to three region titles in five seasons and compiled a record of 37-22.
*Gainesville hired Winder-Barrow head coach Heath Webb to replace Bruce Miller, who retired after 16 seasons. Miller had a record of 225-126 overall, making him the fourth-winningest active coach in the GHSA last year. He was 157-46 at Gainesville, where led the Red Elephants to eight region titles and the 2012 Class AAAAA championship. Webb inherited a Winder-Barrow team that had gone 6-54 the previous six seasons and went 26-19 with four playoff berths in his four seasons. Webb also founded the program at North Paulding in 2008 and coached it for four seasons.
*Winder-Barrow hired Wesleyan offensive coordinator Ed Dudley to replace Heath Webb, who took the head coaching job at Gainesville. Dudley is 193-87 in 24 seasons as a head coach (eighth-most wins among active GHSA coaches) with stops at Carrollton (2014-15), Ware County (2009-13), Walton (1995-2008) and Buford (1992-94). His Ware County team was the Class AAAAA runner-up to Gainesville in 2012.
Coming Friday: Class AAAAA
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