Profiles of the 16 head coaches whose teams reached state finals
The 16 head coaches in the state finals have won 1,704 games in Georgia, lost only 466, and have a winning percentage of .785. Ten have played for state titles as head coaches, and eight are former champions with claims to 20 titles overall.
It’s likely cyclical, but that’s a big contrast to last season, when the 16 coaches had only 993 wins and five total state titles.
Here’s a closer look at this year’s 16, which include a first-year coach, a former college All-American and national champion, an NFL draft pick from the 1970s, a former college golfer, a would-be banker and two alumni working at their alma maters.
Class 6A
*Santavious Bryant, Grayson: Bryant was a standout player on Wheeler high school football teams that won only five games in his career. He signed with Shorter in Rome and became a two-year starter as a defensive back. Bryant returned to Wheeler to begin his coaching career under his former coach, Michael Collins. He joined Grayson’s staff in 2019 as defensive backs coach, spent the 2022 season as Gainesville’s defensive passing game coordinator and defensive backs coach and returned to Grayson in 2023 to succeed Adam Carter, becoming a head coach at age 28. Bryant’s two-year record is 24-3 with state semifinal and final appearances.
*Joey King, Carrollton: King is a former Cedartown dual-threat quarterback who was a member of three South Atlantic Conference championship teams at Carson-Newman. He worked at Jacksonville State (2005-06), Sonoraville (2007) and Carrollton (2008-13) before getting his first head coaching job at Cartersville in 2014. His five Cartersville teams won state titles in 2015 and 2016, and King was the fastest in state history to reach 50 wins, in 52 games. King then spent two seasons in college football at Coastal Carolina and South Florida before taking the Carrollton job in 2021. His record is 51-5 at Carrollton, where he became the fastest coach to 100 wins, in 108 games. His career record is 118-9.
Class 5A
*Ben Reaves, Milton: Reaves played at Newton under his father, Ben Sr., and was a preferred walk-on wide receiver at Georgia in 2004 and 2005, finishing up the 2005 season as a student assistant. He’s been on high school staffs at Collins Hill, Berrien and Bay Shore in Florida. Milton hired him in 2017, and Reaves was the offensive coordinator on Milton’s 2018 Class 7A championship team that upset No. 1-ranked and previously unbeaten Colquitt County. Milton promoted him in 2022, when he became the first rookie head coach to reach a Class 7A semifinal. He won a 7A title in his second season. Reaves’ Milton teams are 37-6 with three region titles and one state championship.
*Daniel Williams, Hughes: Williams was a linebacker at Creekside who went on to play at Benedict College in Columbia, S.C. He gave up football after suffering his third ACL injury as a junior. Williams began coaching at Creekside in 2005 and was a defensive coordinator at age 23. He coached teams that featured future NFL star Eric Berry. In 2012, Williams moved over to Hughes, staying in south Fulton County, and became head coach in 2019. After a 2-8 start, Williams’ Hughes teams are 61-8 with three region titles and a 2022 Class 6A championship.
Class 4A
*Tyler Aurandt, North Oconee: Aurandt was a wide receiver at Greater Atlanta Christian, then at Valdosta State, where he won a national title as a sophomore player in 2004. He intended to go into the banking business, but Valdosta State coach Chris Hatcher offered him a spot as his wide receivers coach, and Aurandt stayed four seasons and won another national title in 2007. Aurandt then worked as an offensive coordinator at Grayson (2011-13), winning a state title in 2011, and at Parkview (2014-16). North Oconee hired him in 2017 to revive a program that had just finished 0-10. After a 1-9 start, Aurandt’s teams are 73-17 with four region titles. He has led North Oconee to its first championship game.
*Alan Chadwick, Marist: Chadwick, the state’s longest-tenured active coach and its second winningest coach all-time, was an all-state quarterback at Decatur who signed with Georgia but wound up starring at East Tennessee and getting drafted in the eighth round by the Chicago Bears in 1974. Chadwick didn’t play in the pros and was a graduate assistant at ETSU for two seasons, then joined Marist’s staff under Dean Hargis in 1976. Though Chadwick was an excellent college passer, he learned the option offense from Hargis and stuck with it when hired as head coach 1985. With a few tweaks, he’s ridden that offense to 445 victories (against just 80 losses), 23 region titles and Marist’s first three state championships (1989, 2003 and 2020).
Class 3A
*Travis Noland, Jefferson: Noland grew up in the North Carolina mountains and is a former quarterback at Pisgah High and Appalachian State. He was a head coach at Tuscola and Clyde Erwin in his native state before coming to Georgia in 2005. Noland has won three region titles at each of his three Georgia schools – Stephens County (2005-13), Oconee County (2014-21) and Jefferson (2022-present). His overall coaching record is 221-96. He is the president of the Georgia Football Coaches Association.
*Clay Stephenson, Calhoun: Stephenson was a wide receiver in the late 1990s at Upson-Lee, where he played for Hal Lamb, his mentor. Stephenson played golf, not football, at Shorter University and joined Lamb’s Calhoun staff in 2004. He remained Calhoun’s wide receivers coach until 2019, when hired as head coach to succeed Lamb upon his retirement. Stephenson has been part of 16 region titles and three state championships at Calhoun. His six-year head coaching record is 57-20 with two state title appearances. He is seeking his first championship as a head coach.
Class 2A
*Pierre Coffey, Carver (Columbus): Coffey was a linebacker at Central of Talbotton in the 1990s and went to Alabama’s Tuskegee University, but did not play football there. He was on staffs at Greenville under Jeremy Williams (2006-10) and Carver under Dell McGee (2011-14) before his first head coaching job at Spencer (2015-17). With a new-born daughter, he became assistant principal at Baker Middle in Columbus for two years and planned to be done with coaching. But Chattahoochee County hired him as coach and athletic director (2020-21). He took the Carver job and athletic directorship in 2022. His Carver record is 32-8 with quarterfinal, semifinal and final appearances.
*Franklin Stephens, Burke County: Stephens was an all-state offensive lineman for Burke County in 1990 and became a three-year starting center at Georgia Southern and won a Southern Conference title in 1993. Stephens played two seasons of arena football before starting his coaching career at Burke County. He made a name for himself as Jeff Herron’s defensive coordinator at Camden County, where he won a state title in 2003. As a head coach since 2007, Stephens has worked at five schools – Tucker (2007-11), Lamar County (2012-13), Ware County (2014-18), McEachern (2019-22) and Burke County (2023-24) – leading all five to region titles, four to semifinals and three to finals. He won state titles at Tucker in 2008 and 2011. Stephens is one of two state finals coaches working at his alma mater. The other is Northeast’s Jeremy Wiggins.
Class A Division I
*Buddy Martin, Toombs County: Martin was a lineman at Bartow High in central Florida and at the Cumberlands in Kentucky. He then became a graduate assistant at Shorter (2006-07) before joining the staff at Hardee Senior in Wauchula, Fla., for eight seasons, the final six as a head coach with a 40-25 record. Martin came to Georgia in 2016 to become Toombs’ defensive coordinator/strength coach under coach Richie Marsh. Martin became athletic director in 2022 and had coach in 2023. He is 23-3 in his two seasons and the first Toombs coach to lead the Bulldogs to a state final in the school’s 38 varsity seasons.
*Jeremy Wiggins, Northeast: Wiggins was a two-time all-state defensive back at Northeast in 2001-22. In a 2017 article by GHSF Daily that named the all-time best player at every GHSA school, Wiggins was the choice for Northeast. Wiggins went on to play for Appalachian State, where he would be named an All-American twice and win two FCS national titles (2005-06).
Wiggins coached at a middle school before joining Northeast's staff in 2011. He's remained at his alma mater except for the 2017 season, which was spent with Warner Robins’ Class 5A runner-up team. Wiggins became head coach in 2018. His record is 54-28 while leading Northeast to its first quarterfinal (2022) and final (2024) in the school’s 55-season history. Wiggins is one of two state finals coaches working at his alma mater. The other is Burke County’s Franklin Stephens.
Class A Division II
*Richard Fendley, Bowdon: Fendley is the son of Richard Findley Sr., a longtime defensive coordinator and for five seasons the head coach at Warner Robins. Fendley Jr. played center for Warner Robins and was a sophomore on the Demons’ 1988 Class 4A championship team. He then played four seasons at tackle at West Georgia. Bowdon hired Fendley as head coach in 2018. He had been an assistant at Heard County from 2008 to 2016, when he also headed up the Braves' weightlifting teams that won three state titles. Fendley’s Bowdon teams are 67-42 despite a 1-9 first season. The 2022 state title was the school’s first since 1992. Fendley can become the 10th coach in GHSA history to win three straight championships, joining the likes of Wright Bazemore, Larry Campbell and Jess Simpson.
*Josh McFather, Brooks County: McFather was a quarterback at Lanier County under his father, Daniel McFather, a 25-year Georgia head coach who retired earlier this year. Josh McFather went to Valdosta State but didn’t play there. He has coached only at Brooks County – three years as wide receivers coach, two as offensive coordinator and one as head coach. The only first-year coach in the finals, McFather can become the ninth GHSA head coach in the past 60 years to win a state title in his rookie season.
Class 3A-A private
*Jonathan Gess, Hebron Christian: Gess, a native of South Carolina, was a walk-on player and three-year starting center at The Citadel who went into the Air Force and was stationed at Robins Air Force Base in Warner Robins. While there, he began helping First Presbyterian Day's middle school and then high school team and eventually got a full-time job on the staff. Eagle’s Landing Christian hired him as head coach in 2007 at age 27. His 15-year record with the Chargers was 160-39 with six state titles. He took the Hebron Christian job in 2022, and this season, he led the Lions to their first state championship game. His Hebron record is 26-10 at a program that was 7-14 the two seasons prior.
*Greg Vandagriff, Prince Avenue Christian: Vandagriff played wide receiver and free safety at Halls High in Knoxville, Tenn., and at Tennessee Wesleyan. He came to Georgia in the 1990s as Wheeler’s defensive coordinator, then was head coach at Campbell (1999-2001) and Kell (2003). He was Woodward Academy’s defensive coordinator for 12 seasons before Prince Avenue hired him as head coach in 2016. Vandagriff’s nine-season record at Prince Avenue is 107-15 with five region titles and three state championships. He can become the 16th coach in GHSA history to win four state titles.