Number of hires: 8
Best hire: Lee Shaw, Lakeview Academy
Hardest to replace: Jeff Saturday, Hebron Christian
Best job: Tattnall Square
Toughest job: Loganville Christian
Most interesting: Lee Shaw and Terry Crowder recently retired from public schools, but they’re not ready to go fishing yet. Shaw, who won six region titles and 149 games in 18 seasons at Flowery Branch and Rabun County, is now at Lakeview Academy. That’s in Hall County near where Shaw first made his mark at Flowery Branch. Shaw was out of football for one season, giving way to his son Jaybo at Rabun, before getting the itch again. “I started out watching games from the stands, then I ended up standing along the fence, then I was on the field, then I ended up in the coaches box,” Shaw said. “And the night I tried to call a timeout, I figured maybe it was time to get back into coaching.” Crowder won a state title at Chattahoochee in 2009 and most recently started Denmark’s program in Forsyth County. Denmark made the playoffs in its second season last year. Crowder is at King’s Ridge Christian in Alpharetta. King’s Ridge started football in 2008, Lakeview Academy in 2007. Neither has made the playoffs.
Region 1
*Deerfield-Windsor hired Providence Christian (Fla.) offensive coordinator Jake McCrae to replace Allen Lowe, who retired as coach and became the school’s headmaster. McCrae spent the 2017 season on the University of Florida’s support staff. He has been a head coach at Bartow and Bishop Snyder in Florida. Deerfield-Windsor, a new GHSA member, played the past 31 seasons in the Georgia Independent School Association. Lowe won 215 games as head coach, with state titles in 2002, 2008, 2010 and 2012.
*Tattnall Square hired Jones County outside linebackers coach John Abernathy to replace Chance Jones. Abernathy lettered in three sports at Mount de Sales and played football at Mercer, primarily as a long snapper. He coached one season at Tattnall while working on a master’s degree and spent the past three seasons on Jones County’s staff. Tattnall was 30-15 in four seasons under Jones, 5-5 in 2019. Jones is now Stratford Academy’s running backs coach.
Region 2
None
Region 3
None
Region 4
None
Region 5
*Hebron Christian hired Johnson (Gainesville) head coach Stan Luttrell to replace Jeff Saturday. Luttrell’s team was 4-6 and won its first region game since 2010 in his only season at Johnson. Luttrell from 2006 to 2013 compiled a 46-38 record at Chestatee, a school that otherwise is 21-81. Saturday, a former NFL player with the Colts, remains an NFL analyst with ESPN and intends to watch his son, Jeffrey, play at North Carolina, his alma mater. Hebron went 8-5 in 2019.
*Providence Christian hired former Childersburg (Ala.) head coach Jonathan Beverly to replace Parker Conley. Beverly has been a head coach for five seasons in Alabama. He has a 16-35 record in rebuilding situations. Conley is now at Holy Innocents'.
Region 6
*King’s Ridge Christian hired Denmark head coach Terry Crowder to replace Jeff Pickren. Crowder led 2-year-old Denmark of Forsyth County to a 7-3 record and playoff berth in 2019. He is 103-70 as a head coach and led Chattahoochee to a Class AAAA title in 2010. Pickren, who started the King’s Ridge program, is now coaching the defensive line at Mount Pisgah Christian.
*Lakeview Academy hired former Rabun County head coach Lee Shaw to replace Matthew Gruhn, who started the program in 2007. Shaw’s record in 22 seasons at three schools is 163-94. Shaw’s teams won five region titles at alma mater Rabun County and one at Flowery Branch, a program he started. Lakeview has never won more than three games while playing a region schedule. Former coach Gruhn now coaches Cherokee Bluff’s safeties.
Region 7
*Walker hired Clarke Central offensive coordinator Michael Gunn to replace Matt Casper. From 1991 to 2013, Gunn was head coach at Athens Academy, where he won seven region titles with a 194-72-1 record. Walker was 4-6 last season under Casper, 20-42 overall. Casper is on staff at Lovett, where he also coached from 2010 to 2013.
Region 8
*Loganville Christian hired Archer assistant Tim Wellmaker to replace Patrick Stewart. Wellmaker has worked at Grayson and Archer since 2002 specializing in feeder programs and was most recently Archer’s eighth-grade head coach. Loganville Christian, a new member of the GHSA, had hired Shiloh offensive coordinator Adam Miller in February, but Miller decided to return to Shiloh amid COVID-19 concerns. Wellmaker was announced as head coach in May. Loganville Christian was 5-7 in one season under Stewart, now on staff of new Region 8 rival George Walton Academy.
Coming Wednesday: Class 1A Public
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