Three recent 7A-championship coaches change jobs in offseason

Number of hires: 13

Best hire: Kareem Reid, McEachern

Hardest to replace: Adam Carter, Grayson

Best job: Lowndes

Toughest job: Berkmar

Most interesting: The coaches of three of the past six Class 7A champions left their schools this offseason, each in unusual ways. Bill Stewart, who won at North Gwinnett in 2017, became an analyst at Georgia Tech. Grayson’s Adam Carter, the 2020 winner, jumped to Lowndes, another Class 7A school. Collins Hill’s Lenny Gregory, citing philosophical differences with his new administration after winning in 2021, resigned and landed at Gordon Central. It’s a trend with no apparent meaning, but it runs deeper than just this season. Recall that Adam Clack, who won at Milton in 2018, made big news last year when he stepped down with no job in sight. He’s now the offensive coordinator for the Paris Musketeers of the European League of Football. The trend-setter was Jeff Herron, who resigned at Grayson after winning the 2016 title to take a job at T.L. Hanna in South Carolina. He returned to Georgia and Camden County in 2021. The most newsworthy change occurred in 2019, when Colquitt County fired Rush Propst despite his 2014 and 2015 titles. Propst, 65, is back in the game this season, hired at Pell City in his native Alabama. The only state-winning coaches in the highest classification since 2014 who are still at their jobs are Josh Lovelady (2022 Mill Creek) and Richard Morgan (2019 Marietta).

Region 1

*Lowndes hired Grayson coach Adam Carter to replace Zach Grage, who is now Valdosta's offensive coordinator. Carter’s Grayson teams were 45-9 in four seasons and won Class 7A in 2020. Carter, a Paulding County native, was 12-1 in one season at Creekview. He was an assistant coach at Marietta and Camden County. Lowndes is coming off a 5-6 finish, its first losing campaign since 1994, which led to the surprise ousting of Grage after one season.

Region 2

*Campbell hired North Springs coach Jeff Phillips to replace Howie Decristofaro, who is now Lassiter’s offensive line coach and weight room coordinator. Phillips inherited winless North Springs and went 1-9 and 4-6 in two seasons. He was Wheeler’s offensive coordinator in 2020 and head coach at Austin East in Knoxville, Tenn., from 2013 to 2019, compiling a 55-28 record with two region titles. Campbell was 1-9 in 2022 and 6-33 in four seasons under DeCristofaro.

*Pebblebrook hired South Atlanta coach Michael Woolridge to replace Leroy Hood, who became head coach at Salem. Woolridge led South Atlanta to two region titles (the first ones in school history) and a 22-3 record in two seasons. He had come from Hardaway, where he took that Columbus program to three consecutive playoff appearances after a 10-year drought. Pebblebrook has made the playoffs six of the past seven seasons but advanced only once.

Region 3

*McEachern hired University of Florida quality control assistant Kareem Reid to replace Franklin Stephens, who became head coach at alma mater Burke County. Reid was head coach at Griffin (2019-20) and Westlake (2016-18) before taking college jobs at Central Florida in 2021 and Florida last season. He was director of player development at Central Florida, his alma mater, under Gus Malzahn. Florida’s Billy Napier hired him last year. Reid led Westlake to three region titles in three seasons and Griffin to the Class 5A quarterfinals in 2019. He coached his high school alma mater, Coconut Creek in Florida, from 2013 to 2015. McEachern was 27-19 in four seasons under Stephens, 4-6 in 2022.

Region 4

*Grayson hired Gainesville assistant Santavious Bryant to replace Adam Carter, who became head coach at Lowndes. Bryant was on Grayson’s staff from 2019 to 2021 as defensive backs coach and held the same role, plus that of defensive pass game coordinator, for Gainesville, which reached the Class 6A championship game last season. Bryant is a Wheeler graduate who played at Shorter. He coached at Wheeler in 2017 and 2018. Grayson was 45-9 in four seasons under Carter and won the Class 7A title in 2020.

*Newton promoted offensive coordinator Josh Skelton to replace Camiel Grant, who remained at Newton as a teacher and assistant athletic director. Skelton is a former defensive back at Stephenson and Jacksonville State who came to Newton in 2012 out of college. Newton was 6-5 in 2022 and 21-20 in four full seasons under Grant.

*Parkview hired Providence Christian coach Joe Sturdivant, an alumnus, to replace Eric Godfree, who became head coach at North Gwinnett. Sturdivant was at Providence Christian for one season and two years prior at Rabun Gap, a northeast Georgia boarding school that was runner-up twice in a North Carolina independent school league. Sturdivant previously coached for four years in Germany and Belgium. He was IMG Academy’s defensive coordinator in 2013 and 2014. He began his coaching career as a student assistant at SMU, where he played. Sturdivant was an outstanding player on Parkview’s 2000-02 state championship teams. Parkview was 8-4 last season.

Region 5

None

Region 6

*Forsyth Central hired Denmark offensive coordinator Chad Pickett to replace David Rooney, who retired from coaching and remains a teacher at the school. Pickett helped start the Denmark program in 2018 and previously was offensive coordinator and strength coach at Archer and alma mater Brookwood. Rooney’s teams were 2-8 both seasons.

Region 7

*Berkmar hired Hughes offensive coordinator Andrico Hines to replace interim coach Michael Madden, who remains on staff. Hines is a former Riverdale, Middle Tennessee and Arena League quarterback who ran Class 6A champion Hughes’ offense that scored a state-record 792 points and finished 15-0 last season. Hines also was co-offensive coordinator on Creekside’s 2013 state championship team. He has coached at Greene County, Riverwood, Alexander and Ware County. He was at Hughes one season. Berkmar was 3-7 in 2022 under Madden, who took over for Cole Meyer after two games. Meyer is now offensive coordinator at Heritage in Conyers.

*Discovery hired Central Gwinnett offensive line coach Roy Groshek to replace program starter Efrem Hill, who is now Dacula’s assistant head coach and receivers coach. Groshek came to Georgia from Wisconsin in 2008 and coached at Collins Hill (2008-16) and Meadowcreek (2017-21) before coming to Central last season. Discovery is 15-58 in its seven seasons. It was 3-7 in 2022.

*North Gwinnett hired Parkview coach Eric Godfree to replace Bill Stewart, who joined Georgia Tech's staff as an analyst. Godfree’s Parkview teams were 70-37 in nine seasons and 8-4 in 2022. Parkview beat North Gwinnett 48-21 in the regular season. Prior to Parkview, his alma mater, Godfree was 53-50 in 10 seasons at Loganville. North Gwinnett was 60-19 with a 2017 state title in Stewart’s six seasons.

Region 8

*Collins Hill promoted defensive coordinator and alumnus Drew Swick to replace Lenny Gregory, who became head coach at Gordon Central. Swick is a former Collins Hill linebacker and captain. He joined the Eagles’ staff in 2015 and was part of the 2021 Class 7A championship team. Gregory’s record was 46-28 in six seasons and 4-6 in 2022.

*Dacula hired McEachern assistant and former Peachtree Ridge head coach Reggie Stancil to replace Casey Vogt, who is on the staff at Randle High in Texas. Stancil was Peachtree Ridge’s head coach for five seasons, compiling a 13-36 record before going to McEachern for a season. He was on Norcross’ staff the previous 11 seasons. Stancil is a former Colquitt County and Jacksonville State quarterback who has coached at Morrow, Lithonia and Northside of Warner Robins. Dacula was 9-5 and 3-8 under Vogt.