Putnam County’s Pope retiring; 2 more schools seeking new head coaches

Putnam County’s Shaun Pope is retiring after five seasons as head coach and leading the War Eagles to a region title and three playoff victories.

Pope’s record was 38-19. His 2021 team was 12-1 and made the quarterfinals for the first time since 1996. This season’s team finished 9-3 and lost to Class 2A finalists Fitzgerald and Thomson and 3A semifinalist Oconee County.

Pope had been Putnam’s defensive coordinator and a head coach at Chattahoochee County and Montgomery County.

“I’m the kind of guy who if I can’t give something my whole heart and mind, then I will just not do it,” Pope told Lance McCurley of the Eatonton Messenger. “I was getting to the point where I didn’t feel like I was giving our kids and coaching staff everything that I could. It’s just also that my time is valuable. I am 50 years old, and I have two small children. I just want to spend time with them.”

Pope plans to teach four more years.

Briefly ...

Tri-Cities and Treutlen are looking for new coaches. Tri-Cities, a south Fulton County school in Class 5A, was 6-22 in three seasons under Cuevas Dargan and 0-10 the season before Dargan was hired. Treutlen, a southeast Georgia school in Class A Division II, was 9-39 in five seasons under Steve Versprille.

Click here for a complete list of head coaching openings.