GHSA FOOTBALL

 Written By Todd Holcomb High school athletes who change schools twice after the ninth grade will be ineligible for a year under new GHSA bylaws expected to get final approval in July. Other bylaw changes aimed at policing transfers would require schools to send the GHSA copies of driver’s licenses, utility bills and lease agreements from the families of transferring athletes to prove they have moved into their new school zones and relinquished previous residences. “We’re an education-based organization, and we want to make sure that when student-athletes move, they’re not moving for athletic purposes,” GHSA executive director Tim Scott said Monday. “Situations change, and families move due to job changes or whatever, so we’ve added a few things to make sure it’s not just for athletics.” One high-profile recent athlete who transferred twice as a high schooler was Jacob Wilkins, an incoming freshman at UGA and the son of Hawks legend Dominique Wilkins. Jacob Wilkins played at Herita...

 Written By Todd Holcomb Georgia ranks No. 1 nationally for policies that prevent and manage sudden death and catastrophic injury in high school sports, according to the Korey Stringer Institute at the University of Connecticut. The organization has been reviewing state high school sports safety policies since 2017 based on high school association bylaws and state laws that address heat acclimatization, emergency plans, coaching education, athletic trainers, health care and strength-and-conditioning programs for high school athletes.  For the first time, Georgia came out on top this week. Georgia policies met 93.7% of the Stringer Institute’s criteria. The median score was 49.9%. “Georgia does an amazing job,” said Christianne Eason, the Korey Stringer Institute’s president of sports safety and education. “They did their research, particularly in heat-illness prevention, to determine what some of the safety standards should be, and we’ve really adopted their model, especially ...

 Written By Todd Holcomb T. McFerrin, who won 341 games in 38 seasons as a head football coach and nurtured one of the more impressive coaching trees in Georgia history, died Tuesday. He was 83. McFerrin’s career record was 341-101-4. He won historic first state championships at Elbert County (1995) and Jefferson (2012) before retiring after the 2012 season. McFerrin is the only coach in Georgia history to lead seven schools to region titles, five to state semifinals or four to championship games. The eight Georgia teams that McFerrin coached improved from an average of 4.3 wins to 8.2 wins in his first seasons. His head coaching stops came at Lithonia (1968-70), Forest Park (1971), Sullivan Central, Tennessee (1972-75), Peachtree (1976-82), Southeast Whitfield (1984), Tucker (1986-89), Elbert County (1990-96), South Gwinnett (1998-2004) and Jefferson (2009-12). Shannon Jarvis, a 20-year former Georgia head coach and now Elbert County Schools’ assistant superintendent, played for M...

  The Georgia High School Association’s proposed competitive-balance reclassification model is dead for now, and the Class 3A-A private playoff division that curtailed private-school sports domination is alive until at least 2028, pending final approval this fall. The GHSA’s reclassification committee voted 13-5 on Wednesday at a meeting in Thomaston to table any further discussion of competitive balance, a model that proposed to move schools up and down in class based on their sports success instead of their enrollment numbers, until next year. WATCH VIRAL VIDEOS :  CLICK HERE   “It was time to move forward and start clearing the table of stuff that people weren’t interested enough in,” GHSA reclass committee chairman Curt Miller said. “There were several proposals that just never got enough steam.” After four reclass meetings this year that were designed to hear other proposals, Miller said the committee now will focus on tweaking the current model, which covers the 202...

  When former Hughes coach Daniel Williams took the Northside-Warner Robins job in January, he left his former team primed for another title run. He had just taken Hughes to the Class 5A championship game. Before he left, Williams helped the Panthers one last time. He assisted the Hughes administration in the search for a successor and recommended Andrico Hines, his offense coordinator from two years earlier. Hines had coached at Berkmar for two seasons.   “He (Hines) came and, in one season, did what nobody in the state could do, because we broke the scoring record with his offense,” Williams said of Hines. “When I say one of the best guys for the job, I mean professional, understands the game and understands how to run the program.” Hines - a former star quarterback for Riverdale, Middle Tennessee and arena leagues - was named Hughes’ head coach on Jan. 31. He first came to Hughes in 2022. Hughes went 15-0 that year, winning its region and the Class 6A championship, Hug...

  New Dutchtown coach Kevon Glynn has known what he wanted to do for a living for a long time. “I always said as a kid, once I was done playing football and retired, whether it was college or the NFL, I wanted to be a coach,” he said. The dream came true quicker than he must’ve imagined. At age 24, Glenn is one of the youngest head football coaches in Georgia. He’s so young that his little brother, senior cornerback Jayden Glenn, is one of his new Dutchtown players. Glenn enters this new phase of his life with hope and purpose and with his best friend – NFL star and former Dutchtown teammate Will Anderson Jr. - rooting him on. Anderson remains close to the program. On Saturday, he ran the second annual Will Anderson Jr. Youth Football Camp at Dutchtown, working with 100 kids.  WATCH VIRAL VIDEOS :  CLICK HERE   “My boy Kevon Glenn and I grew up together and played football together, and it is great that he opened up the stadium for us to do this this year,” Anderson ...

  Lenny Gregory wasn’t looking for a change this winter. He was settled and building at Gordon Central, where he ended the program’s 31-game losing streak last season and finished with a historic playoff berth. In January, out of the blue, he received a call. It was from Commerce, and when he thought about the rich tradition there and the new facilities, he was hooked. Commerce is building a $9 million multi-level fieldhouse with a state-of-the-art indoor practice facility and weight room. The facility will rival some college programs, with a player lounge, coaching offices, meeting rooms and a modern locker room.  “To see that investment and then be able to go to work for a school that’s the 16th-winningest program in the state of Georgia, and this is going to be the 100th season in Commerce football, it really excited me,” Gregory said. WATCH VIRAL VIDEOS :  CLICK HERE   Commerce has played 99 seasons and won 660 games, claimed 19 region titles (tied for 27th) and ...

  Milton is coming off back-to-back state championships and and a 15-0 finish to the 2024 season that made the Eagles the consensus No. 2 team in the nation.  With 17 starters and nine major Division I signees graduated, Milton’s current seniors inherited the high expectations of 38-6 record during their three years, same as their coach, Ben Reaves Sr., who was promoted before the 2022 season.  “They (seniors) know that they are going to be overlooked,” Reaves said. “They know that they’re going to be the underdog. They know that they’re playing, arguably, the toughest schedule we’ve ever had here at Milton. But all they want to do is go out and play hard and prove everybody wrong and continue the success and traditions we’ve had here.” WATCH VIRAL VIDEOS :  CLICK HERE   This year’s schedule starts with a road game against Buford, then a trip to Florida to take on The First Academy. Here in Georgia, we know about Buford, but The First Academy has five committed ...

  Over the past nine years, Fellowship Christian has gone 94-22 with seven region championships, including the past six in a row, and holds an active 36-game winning streak against region opponents.  Coming off a Class 3A-A Private runner-up finish last season and a seven-point loss to eventual champion Hebron Christian, Fellowship hopes to break through with its first state championship this season with a team that coach John Thompson believes has more good players and camaraderie than any Paladins team he's coached. “We're going to have more quality depth than we've ever had since I've been here,” Thompson said. “When I say quality depth, I'm saying you don't go from A to C or D player. If the A player is out, you go from A just to B.” Thompson says there are more than 60 players he trusts to go out and do the things necessary to win. Thompson says that even though some of their best players will play both ways, “if we want to, we could put 22 starters out the...

  Parkview turned heads this spring when it hired Adam Clack as its eighth head coach. Clack is known for jumpstarting the Milton dynasty and winning that school’s first state championship in 2018 before leaving in 2021 to explore other career options. It’s a legacy to Clack that Milton is coming off consecutive state titles under his successor, Ben Reaves Jr., who built onto Clack’s model for success. Parkview, meanwhile, is coming off a 3-7 season and its lowest win total in 11 years.  An assistant from last year’s Parkview staff probably put everything into perspective during a recent talk with Clack. While Clack was outlining his vision, the coach interrupted: “With all due respect, I looked at your résumé,’’ the assistant said. “You’ve never lost (had a losing season). You think you can do this?” WATCH VIRAL VIDEOS :  CLICK HERE   Clack laughed and wondered if he could, then affirmed that he genuinely did believe he could win and would make sure to hold himself ...

  At Cartersville, success isn’t just expected — the football program is 162-14 since 2012, best record over that time in the state – but it’s embedded in the program’s DNA. And that pursuit extends beyond the field into the classroom and the community.  “We can get hung up on talking about winning state championships,” said Conor Foster, a Cartersville alumnus in his seventh season as head football coach. “But we believe that if we’re building a championship program and continuing to pursue excellence in every endeavor, then individual championships will come.” This year, Cartersville launched a new fundraiser called Mission in Nutrition. While raising funds for their own meals, the players and staff also generated enough support to donate 20,000 meals to help fight hunger in Liberia. Over the past four seasons, the Purple Hurricanes have partnered with Pritchard Injury Firm for a canned food drive during their annual blackout game. It’s also the one night a year the Hurrican...

  Twenty-one years after opening its doors, North Oconee won its first state championship. Coach Tyler Aurandt (pronounced “aren’t”) led the team, but it was his 10 seniors who remained resilient for four years and, finally, reached their dream. Going into the 2024 season, North Oconee had just come off its second undefeated regular season in a row, only to lose in the playoffs again.  With 27 seniors gone — the largest graduating class in school history — the 2024 team entered the season with doubters. Losing that much experience and talent can be difficult, and many players were playing under the Friday night lights for the first time. The Titans opened against a good Oconee County team, winning 21-10. After that, they were ready. North Oconee cruised through another unbeaten regular season — its third straight — showing the Titans hadn’t missed a step. Having made the playoffs every year at North Oconee except his first, Aurandt took a different approach that offseason, hop...

  Before Jaybo Shaw ever called a play, he was learning the game with a football tucked under his arm and his dad’s voice ringing in his ears. Now, Dawson County’s new coach, Shaw says football isn’t just in his blood — it’s in his bones. The Shaw name is synonymous with football across the state. Jaybo’s dad, Lee Shaw, owns a 190-119 record over 28 seasons as a Georgia head coach. He’s currently at Metter, where his team finished 10-2 last season. Lee Shaw is also known for his 10 season at Flowery Branch, where he coached his sons, Jaybo and Connor Shaw, and for his seven years at Rabun County, which he built into a state power. “We were both fortunate enough to play for him, my brother and I,” Jaybo Shaw said. “That was really, really special. You know, we always enjoyed getting coached by him. He held us to a very high standard.” Flowery Branch was a 3-year-old school without a winning season until 2005, when the Connor brothers took over the quarterback position for the next f...

  When Tucker Pruitt left Fitzgerald to take the Appling County job, it shocked the high school football landscape. Fitzgerald was now on the clock, needing to find a coach to replace Pruitt – in May. In less than two weeks, Fitzgerald announced the hiring of Wesley Tankersley from Stephens County.  Tankersley owns a 114-75 career record with four region titles, two apiece at Ridgeland (2016, 2017) and Stephens County (2022, 2023). He had coached at Gilmer and Ridgeland before arriving at Stephens County in 2018. “It's hard (to leave) anytime you invest a lot of energy and time into a program and into the kids in the program, it's hard,” Tankersley said. “It's always kind of a bittersweet thing because you invest a lot in them and you care for them, but you also have to do what's best for your family at the same time.” Tankersley has two sons in college and another graduating from high school this year, but he says the most challenging conversation he had to have was wi...

Collins Hill is looking to build on an inspiring 11-2 season, one that ended a two-year run of losing campaigns following the 2021 Class 7A championship. The Eagles started 2024 on the road against eventual Class 6A champion Grayson, winning 20-19 with a two-point conversion to end the game. They had a rematch in the quarterfinals and lost 38-14. Collins Hill coach Drew Swick says his new team reminds him of the 2021 team that won it all with state player of the year and future Heisman Trophy winner Travis Hunter.  “Going into this season, everybody is talking about going 15-0,” Swick said. “We talk about ‘we over me’ and holding each other accountable.” Collins Hill returns two players looking to have a massive impact at the next level.  One is 6-foot-2, 275-pound four-star defensive lineman Deuce Geralds. As of April 10, Geralds had trimmed his recruitment to 10 schools - Georgia Tech, Ohio State, Michigan, Florida State, Miami, Ole Miss, LSU, Clemson, Oklahoma and Oregon. W...