Number of hires: 8
Best hire: Daniel Dorsey, Hephzibah
Hardest to replace: William Harrell, Hephzibah
Best job: Harlem
Toughest job: Coahulla Creek
Most interesting: Coahulla Creek promoted an assistant coach who has won state titles as a head football coach, assistant football coach and head baseball coach. He has also been a high school principal, and he’s a member of the sports halls of fame of his high school alma mater and home county. All that happened in Tennessee, so Danny Wilson isn’t a household name in Georgia, but he’s got another chance to be a head coach in his 34th season on football sidelines.
Region 1
*Tattnall County hired Windsor Forest head coach Ike Ferrell to replace Nick Tatum, who retired from coaching. Windsor Forest was 6-5 in one season under Ferrell. He had come from Toombs County, where he was defensive line coach. Ferrell, a Northside (Warner Robins) alumnus and former all-conference lineman at Georgia Southern, has been on staffs at Cairo, Thomasville and Peach County and was head coach at Lithia Springs in 2004 and 2005. Tattnall was 7-24 in three seasons under Tatum, 1-9 in 2019. Tatum, a Tattnall alumnus, continues to teach at his alma mater.
Region 2
None
Region 3
*Beach promoted offensive line coach Corey Phillips to replace Ulysses Hawthorne, who retired after 21 seasons. Phillips has been with Beach since 2016. Beach announced the hiring of Michael Thompson in April but made the change to Phillips over the summer. Beach was 0-9 last season, though five wins were declared forfeits.
*Savannah hired former New Hampstead head coach Michael Moore to replace Rebel Green. Moore was head coach at New Hampstead, in 2017 and 2018, going 7-5, but was fired after two games in 2018. A Savannah State alumnus, Moore was an assistant at Johnson in Savannah for eight seasons prior. Savannah was 2-8 last season under Green, who is now at Rome but not coaching football.
*Windsor Forest hired Jenkins offensive coordinator Jeb Stewart to replace Isaac Ferrell, who became head coach at Tattnall County. Stewart ran Jenkins’ offenses the past two seasons. The 2018 team, a Class 3A semifinalist, set a school record by averaging 37.9 points per game. Stewart was a head coach at Terrell County (2012-13) and assisted at Camden County, Centennial and seven smaller schools in middle and south Georgia through a 25-year career in the state. Stewart is the son of Jimmy Stewart, a former head coach at Crawford County, Macon County and Southwest of Macon. Windsor Forest has gone 6-5 each of the past two seasons.
Region 4
*Harlem promoted offensive coordinator Mark Boiter to replace Todd Booker, who stepped down to become assistant principal. Boiter is a Harlem alumnus who has coached at his alma mater for 14 seasons, taught there for 10 and served as athletic director for five. Harlem has finished 7-4 each of the past three seasons, its best three-year run in nearly 40 years.
*Hephzibah hired Toombs County offensive coordinator Daniel Dorsey to replace William Harrell, who became head coach at Johnson in Gainesville. Toombs beat Hephzibah 37-34 in the first round of the playoffs last season. Dorsey, an Augusta native who played at Westside High, was at Pelham from 2015 to 2018, also running the offense, and coached at Thomasville. Hephzibah was 22-29 under Harrell, though 15-6 the past two seasons after the school was moved down to Class 2A.
Region 5
*Redan promoted offensive line coach Derek Vaughn to replace Rahman Sparks, who is now assistant head coach at Druid Hills. Vaughn, a former Morehouse player, is entering his fifth season at Redan. He previously coached at his alma mater, Olympic in Charlotte. Redan was 4-6 in Sparks’ lone season.
Region 6
*Coahulla Creek promoted defensive coordinator Danny Wilson to replace Caleb Bagley, who is now Rome’s offensive line coach. Wilson first coached in 1987. He won state titles at South Pittsburg in Tennessee as a baseball coach (1996) and football coach (1997). He was South Pittsburgh’s defensive coordinator for another state title in 2010. He also was head coach at his alma mater, Heritage of Maryville, Tenn., and led it to its first playoff appearance in 16 years in 1999. Wilson was the principal at South Pittsburg before coming to Coahulla Creek in 2017. Coahulla Creek, opened in 2012, has not won more than two games in a season.
Region 7
None
Region 8
None
Coming Monday: Class 2A
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