Number of hires: 7
Best hire: Phillip Ironside, Worth County
Hardest to replace: Lee Chomskis, Vidalia
Best job: Vidalia
Toughest job: KIPP Atlanta Collegiate
Most interesting: Shannon Jarvis and Phillip Ironside, two longtime metro Atlanta coaches who built winners in the highest classification, have moved out to the country. Jarvis started Mill Creek’s program in 2004 and reached the big-class semifinals in 2015 and 2016. He has gone home to Elbert County, where he played quarterback for the northeast Georgia school in the early 1990s. Jarvis’ brother Jon is the superintendent of Elbert County Schools. “There’s a lot to be said for raising kids the way I was raised,” said Jarvis, who has two daughters who’ll attend Elbert County. “It’s a different way of life, and I’m excited for my wife and kids to experience that.” Ironside, who started Hillgrove’s program in 2006 and coached four future NFL players, has gone down to south Georgia and Worth County, a school that has won only three games the past three seasons. “My wife and I had talked about a change,” Ironside said, “and the stories that you hear about small-town football, it’s something we wanted to try.”
Region 1
*Worth County hired Hillgrove head coach Phillip Ironside to replace Frankie Carroll, who remained as athletic director. Ironside started Hillgrove’s program in 2006 and fashioned a 109-46 record with four region titles over 14 seasons. Ironside, a Tennessee native, also was head coach at Campbell from 2002 to 2005. Worth County was 2-8 last season.
Region 2
*Vidalia hired Jenkins head coach Jason Cameron to replace Lee Chomskis, who became head coach at Lincoln County. Cameron’s three-year record at Jenkins was 33-7. Jenkins was 12-2 last season and became the first Savannah public school to reach the state semifinals since 1969. Cameron, a New Jersey native, was Jenkins’ offensive coordinator in the five seasons before becoming head coach.
Region 3
None
Region 4
None
Region 5
None
Region 6
*KIPP Atlanta Collegiate hired Tucker offensive line coach Coy Brown to replace James Briscoe. Brown, a Tennessee native, has been on staffs at Northeast and Shiloh. KIPP, an Atlanta charter school, has won more than two games only once in its eight seasons.
Region 7
*Chattooga hired South Pittsburg (Tenn.) defensive coordinator Shawn Peek to replace Charles Hammon. Peek was head coach at North Jackson in Alabama and had a 50-13 record over five seasons. He also has been a head coach at Pisgah and North Sand Mountain in Alabama and Dade County in Georgia during a 31-year coaching career. Chattooga was 37-32 in six seasons and 5-6 in 2019 under Hammon, who has joined Dade County’s staff.
*Coosa hired Marion County (Tenn.) head coach Joey Mathis to replace Todd Wheeler. Mathis’ teams at Marion were 26-23 in four seasons, each ending in the playoffs. He’s a former Calhoun quarterback who also has coached at Adairsville, Pepperell and Shorter University. Coosa was 31-43 in Wheeler’s seven seasons, 1-9 in 2019. Wheeler retired as a head coach and teacher and is now Pepperell’s defensive line coach.
*Dade County promoted assistant head coach Jeff Poston, a Dade alumnus, to replace Dale Pruitt, who became head coach at Marion County (Tenn.). Poston had coached the middle school team for six seasons, the last three as head coach, before taking the role as Pruitt’s top assistant last season. Poston has been the school’s wrestling coach. Dade was third in the AA traditional meet with two individual champions in February.
Region 8
*Elbert County hired former Mill Creek coach Shannon Jarvis to replace Brad Waggoner. Jarvis is a former Elbert County quarterback who played for coach T. McFerrin and joined his staff at South Gwinnett after college. Jarvis started Mill Creek’s program in 2004 and coached through 2018, compiling a 102-68 record with region titles in 2015 and 2016. He was Mill Creek’s athletic director last season. Waggoner, who resigned in April after one season at Elbert, is now the defensive coordinator at South Pittsburg in Tennessee, replacing Shawn Peek, who became Chattooga’s head coach. Elbert was 6-5 last season.
Coming Tuesday: Class A Private
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