Jeff Herron, a 300-game winner and the only Georgia football coach to win state championships at three schools, announced his retirement Friday.
The school announced it late Friday morning on X, formerly known as Twitter.
Herron led Camden County to a surprise Class 7A semifinals finish and upset victory over No. 1-ranked Mill Creek in the quarterfinals this season in his third year back at Camden County, which he built into a state power earlier in the century.
Herron’s Camden County teams won state titles in the highest classification in 2003, 2008 and 2009. Herron also won state championships at Oconee County in 1999 and Grayson in 2016.
Herron previously announced a retirement in 2019 following his second season at a South Carolina school, T.L. Hanna. He later revealed the decision was health-related. He took a year off and spent the 2020 season on the staff at Tennessee Tech.
Herron came back to Camden County, a coastal school on Georgia’s southeast corner. Camden had just finished 5-6 and hadn’t advanced past the second round since his final team in 2012. This season, Camden County rekindled its old glory, finishing 10-4, its first 10-win season since 2013, and stunned undefeated and defending champion Mill Creek 39-20 in the quarters.
Herron’s coach record is 334-69 overall over 32 seasons and 309 in Georgia. His teams won 19 region titles and five state championships.
Herron’s 309 Georgia victories rank 10th in GHSA history. His .822 winning percentage ranks sixth among coaches with at least 200 victories. Herron won 245 games in Georgia’s highest classification. Only Robert Davis (316) and Billy Henderson (285) topped 250.
A Virginia native, Herron started his career as an assistant coach at Paulding County under Jimmy Dorsey, whom he followed to McEachern. Herron’s first head coaching job was at Walton in 1989. He also coached at Cedar Shoals (1990-93), Walton (1995-96) and Prince Avenue Christian (2013-15).
“He’s the GOAT,” said former Oconee County player Tyson Browning, who scored 39 touchdowns for the ‘99 state champs and later played at the University of Georgia. “He believed in me. That still to this day is what I remember about coach Herron.”
- Staff writer Fletcher Page contributed to this report.
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