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AJC Varsity

History-making Sumter County coach resigns to care for mother in Atlanta

‘It was tough telling the players,’ Will Rogers says.
Sumter County coach Will Rogers was hired in 2023, inheriting a team that had won one game each of the previous three seasons. (Jason Getz/AJC file)
Sumter County coach Will Rogers was hired in 2023, inheriting a team that had won one game each of the previous three seasons. (Jason Getz/AJC file)
Todd Holcomb
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Will Rogers, the football coach who led Sumter County to its best season in history when the Panthers made the Class 2A semifinals in 2025, has stepped down be closer to his mother, who is having health issues, Rogers confirmed Thursday to AJC Varsity.

Rogers’ parents live in Atlanta, where Rogers grew up and played at Creekside. Sumter County is in Americus in South Georgia.

“This was really hard because we have a really good team coming back, but what can you do?” Rogers said. “It was tough telling the players, and the parents wanted to know what they could do to get me to stay. But my mom (is ill) and my dad can’t take care of her.”

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Rogers was hired in 2023, inheriting a team that had won one game each of the previous three seasons. His teams quickly improved to 6-4, then to 10-2 and to 12-2.

The 2024 team was the first in program history (dating to 2004) to win 10 games. The 2025 team was the first to advance to the quarterfinals or beyond.

Rogers won the Georgia High School Football Daily Class 2A Improvement Tracker coach of the year award for 2024.

This season’s team, starting several sophomores, finished 3-7.