Lanier hires Tyler Maloof as football coach

Lanier's Rylan Serna walks onto the field with a sledge hammer as teammates wait for him to plant it on the field before Friday's game against Dacula.

Credit: John Amis/Special to the AJC

Credit: John Amis/Special to the AJC

Lanier's Rylan Serna walks onto the field with a sledge hammer as teammates wait for him to plant it on the field before Friday's game against Dacula.

The Maloof coaching tree is branching out. Lanier, a Class 6A Gwinnett County school, hired Norcross offensive coordinator Tyler Maloof as its football coach Friday.

Maloof is the son of Keith Maloof, Nocross’ head coach since 1999, and is the grandson of the late George Maloof, who was St. Pius’ coach from 1958 through 1983.

Tyler Maloof played football at Norcross under his father and played baseball at the University of Georgia. He was a graduate and student assistant on Georgia’s football team for two seasons. He’s been on Norcross’ staff since 2014.

Lanier was 4-6 last season under David Willingham, the interim coach who had been the program’s defensive coordinator. Lanier’s head coach from 2014 to 2020 was Korey Mobbs, whose teams were 58-22 in seven seasons.

Lanier will do well if Tyler Maloof adds to his family’s legacy. Keith Maloof (207-92) and George Maloof (158-83-12) are one of only three father-son pairs to win GHSA state titles (along with Ray and Hal Lamb, and Rodney and Chip Walker), and Keith and Kevin Maloof (175-105-1) each are among fewer than 100 GHSA coaches in history with 175 victories or more. Kevin Maloof, best remembered for his time at Dacula, retired after the 2010 season.

A member of the Maloof family has been a Georgia high school football head coach each of the past 64 seasons except 1984.