Thirty-one first-year coaches won their openers last week. Notable among those are Providence Christian’s John Russ, whose team beat 2022 Class A Division I semifinalist St. Francis; Blessed Trinity’s Ed Dudley, whose unranked team beat No. 4 Calhoun of Class 5A; and Burke County’s Franklin Stephens, whose team beat defending Class 2A champion Thomson.
Cody Neal, Alexander
Eric Belew, Armuchee
Ed Dudley, Blessed Trinity
Franklin Stephens, Burke County
Umbrah Brown, Central (Carroll)
Drew Carter, Coahulla Creek
Wayne Groves, Darlington
Uyl Joyner, Dougherty
Frank Killingsworth, Early County
Loren Purvis, Effingham County
John Thompson, Fellowship Christian
Chad Pickett, Forsyth Central
Korey Mobbs, Jackson County
Lawrence Pinkney, Josey
Adam Carter, Lowndes
Olten Downs, New Manchester
Josh Skelton, Newton
Ben Bailey, Northside (Warner Robins)
Joe Sturdivant, Parkview
David Bell, Pataula Charter
John Russ, Providence Christian
Austin Crisp, Ringgold
Kenderrick Bonner, Rockdale County
Anthony Williams, Rutland
Darius Smiley, Sandy Creek
Marion Bell, Southwest DeKalb
Buddy Martin, Toombs County
Rodney Garvin, Vidalia
T.J. Anderson, Walker
Chad Campbell, Westwood
Britt Ingle, Wheeler County
Robert Paxia, Winder-Barrow
Produced by Georgia High School Football Daily, a free e-mail newsletter. To join the mailing list, click here.
About the Author
