Appling County football turns to Lowndes to find next head coach
Appling County has both lost and gained a head coach from South Georgia’s stacked Region 1-6A this month.
The school, which lost Tucker Pruitt to Camden County on Jan. 14, dipped into Lowndes’ pool of assistants for its next head coach.
Appling County alumnus and Lowndes quarterbacks coach John David Sellers was announced as the program’s new leader Monday night. Sellers was an AJC all-state honorable mention quarterback at Appling County in 2004 before playing at Austin Peay.
Sellers coached at Austin Peay from 2007-14 and then spent two years at Clarksville Academy in Tennessee before returning to Georgia. He was an assistant at Bacon County and Grayson before taking the Lowndes job in March 2023.
Sellers helped develop Lowndes quarterback Jayce Johnson into a 4-star talent over the past three seasons. The junior is ranked as the No. 7 quarterback in the country in the 2027 recruiting class by the 247 Composite Rankings.
Lowndes’ offense returned to a dominant level over the past two seasons. The Vikings averaged 34.7 points per game in 2024 and 36.2 points per game in 2025. Lowndes made the second round of the playoffs before losing to No. 1 seeds both years.
Sellers looks to bring some stability to Appling County as its third head coach in the past three years. The Pirates won consecutive region championships in 2022 and 2023 before being forced to forfeit all 10 of their 2024 wins because of the use of an ineligible player. The program moved on from then-coach Jordan Mullis and hired Pruitt in April 2025.
Forfeitures aside, Appling County has been one of South Georgia’s most consistent winners since 2019. The Pirates have won three region championships and made the state semifinals three times.
Sellers is the 22nd coach in Appling County’s 73-year history.
About the Author
Jack Leo is a sports writer and reporter for the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. Jack worked for the AJC throughout his four years studying journalism and sports media at Georgia State University and the University of Georgia. He's now focused on telling stories in the grassroots: bringing comprehensive coverage of high school sports for AJC Varsity.
