Class A Division I
Number of hires: 9
Best hire: Lee Shaw, Metter
Hardest to replace: Rodney Garvin, Metter
Best job: Metter
Toughest job: Crawford County
Most interesting: Lee Shaw, the coach who made Flowery Branch and Rabun County relevant on the state level before presumably retiring from public schools in 2018, is back in the game at Metter. He wasn’t fully retired, though. After taking one year off, he coached the past three seasons at Gainesville’s Lakeview Academy, a small private school that played last season in the GIAA. Shaw is a Rabun County native who has never coached in south Georgia, but he’s no stranger to the area, either. His son, Jaybo, was a quarterback at Georgia Southern, and Jaybo is now head coach at Wayne County, which is about an hour from Metter. The presence of two young grandchildren also factored in. Lee Shaw’s 175 victories rank 13th among active GHSA coaches.
Region 1
None
Region 2
*Jefferson County promoted defensive coordinator Marlo East to replace J.B. Arnold, who retired. East joined Jefferson County’s staff last season. He had been defensive coordinator at alma mater Washington County the previous 11 seasons. Jefferson County was 168-89-3 with seven region titles under Arnold.
Region 3
*Metter hired Lakeview Academy coach Lee Shaw to replace Rodney Garvin, who became head coach at Vidalia. Shaw built winning programs at Rabun County and Flowery Branch and spent the past three seasons at Lakeview Academy. He won five region titles at Rabun and had six 10-win seasons at Flowery Branch from 2002, when he started the program, to 2011. Metter was 52-12 in Garvin’s five seasons and won region titles and reached the state quarterfinals or better each of the past four seasons.
*Savannah hired May River (S.C.) assistant Anthony “Bud” Tolliver to replace Michael Moore, who is now Bryan County’s defensive backs and offensive line coach. Tolliver is a Virginia native who was on staffs at three schools in his home state before moving to the Savannah area in 2020. Savannah was winless in 2022 and has gone 6-41 over the past five seasons.
Region 4
*Crawford County promoted defensive coordinator Dusty Jump, an alumnus, to replace Craig Puckett, who is now Crawford County’s athletic director. Jump has coached at Crawford since 2018 and was on Macon County’s staff during its Class A championship season in 2016. He’s also Crawford County’s girls basketball coach.
Region 5
None
Region 6
*St. Francis promoted defensive coordinator Brian Dameron to replace Frank Barden, who became head coach at Christian Heritage. Dameron was Cherokee’s head coach from 2001 to 2011 and had two 10-win seasons and a 2002 region title. He was on staffs at Woodstock and North Forsyth before retiring from public schools and joined St. Francis’ staff in 2021. St. Francis, a 13-year-old football program, set school a record for wins (10) and claimed its first region title in 2022.
*Whitefield Academy hired Savannah Christian defensive coordinator Robert Walsh to replace Coleman Joiner, who is not coaching this fall. Walsh was at Savannah Christian for five seasons and had been Savannah Christian’s boys basketball coach through the 2022 season. He worked seven seasons prior at Savannah Country Day. Whitefield made the playoffs in each of Joiner’s five seasons and was 6-5 in 2022.
Region 7
*Armuchee hired Rockmart wide receiver and strength coach Eric Belew to replace Jeremy Green, who retired. Belew was on Rockmart’s staff for three seasons and was head coach for one, in 2019, at Cumberland County in Tennessee. Belew, 29, is the son of a high school coach, Vance Belew, who played at Tennessee Tech and North Alabama. He’s been on staffs at Lewis County in Tennessee and Landmark Christian. Armuchee was 12-35 in five seasons under Green and 3-7 in 2022.
*Chattooga hired Trion offensive coordinator Roone Gable to replace Shawn Peek. Gable was at alma mater Trion for seven seasons. He didn’t get into coaching until his late 30s when he joined the LaFayette staff of his father, Tab Gable. Chattooga was 2-8 in 2022 and 10-21 in three seasons under Peek, who is now on Dade County’s staff coaching defense and working with strength and conditioning.
*Darlington hired Rome defensive coordinator Wayne Groves to replace Tommy Atha, who retired at the private school where he’s worked for 30 years and is now Model’s offensive coordinator. Groves joined Rome’s staff in 2015 and also oversaw the program’s strength and conditioning. Groves had coached at Valdosta, North Paulding and Upson-Lee. He’s a Rome native who played at Pepperell.
Region 8
None
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