Offseason high school football coaching changes churn at near record pace

Coaching changes in Georgia high school football are on near record pace, with 74 openings this offseason. That’s the most openings through Jan. 31 this decade, according to Atlanta Journal-Constitution research.

And it’s hardly finished. More than a third of openings since 2020 have occurred after Jan. 31, often from a domino effect.

Bowdon became open surprisingly last week when Richard Fendley, who had led the Red Devils to four straight Class A titles, took the Rockmart job. Bowdon promoted defensive coordinator Jamie Abrams.

Seventeen of the 74 openings have been filled by other Georgia head coaches. There are 21 jobs still unfilled.

If the post-Jan. 31 patterns hold, there will be 101 coaching changes before the first kickoff this fall.

That’s higher than normal, but not the record. There were 109 changes in 2017, according to the Georgia High School Football Historians Association. There are 413 football-playing schools in the Georgia High School Association.

The most recent week was eventful.

Hebron Christian’s Kenny Dallas stepped down after winning the Class 3A-A Private championship to enter the ministry full time. He was replaced by Quintin Davie, who will be a head coach for the first time.

Rome, a Class 5A semifinal team last season, replaced the retiring John Reid, who won two state titles, with Bill Stewart, who won a state title with North Gwinnett in 2017.

The most newsworthy coaching change this offseason is probably Santavious Bryant’s decision to leave Grayson, where he won the Class 6A championship in 2025. Gainesville, which pays substantially more, hired Bryant to replace Josh Niblett, who left to become an assistant coach at Colorado.

Some of the more notable unfilled openings are at Allatoona, Chattahoochee, Charlton County, Northgate, Washington and Washington County.

It’s too early to draw any firm conclusions about this offseason.