Football: 12 best coaches to build program from scratch

OK, so you’re the principal of a brand new high school in Georgia. You have a bottomless budget and you’re task is to find the perfect coach to build your football program. Who would it be?

You’d want someone who has proven he can succeed; someone who not only will develop great football players, but great students and great people who will succeed in college and after; someone with great communication skills and someone who has a solid game plan that can adapt to the ever-changing personnel. And last but not least, someone who can get the community to rally behind his football team.

As principal, your list of possible candidates is any active high school coach in Georgia. So, who would it be?

PrepCounty.com has assembled a list of 12 top coaches you’d want to hire to  build a program from scratch.

Bob Sphire, North Gwinnett: The Bulldogs’ student section — the Bob Squad, is even named after him. In four seasons at North, the Bulldogs have reached heights never before seen at the school and are 46-8 with three trips to the AAAAA quarterfinals and one championship game appearance. A marketing guru, Sphire has brought in some of the top teams in the country to the Progressive Football Challenge and landed his team a spot in the early season Kell Classic at the Georgia Dome.

Jeff Herron, Camden County: Herron has won everywhere he has been — Camden County, Oconee County, Cedar Shoals and Wheeler. His teams have won 10 games or more 11 times in the past 12 seasons. He has won state titles at Camden and Oconee. Herron has won 84 percent of his games over a 20-year career and is 209-40.

Mickey Conn, Grayson: Conn has already accomplished the feat, leading Grayson to a 75-33 record in 10 seasons, with six playoff appearances in eight eligible seasons. The Rams are 35-5 over the past three seasons.

Ron Gartrell, Stephenson: Gartrell also has built Stephenson from scratch. In addition to winning 71 percent of his games with the Jaguars, he helped send 29 players to college on football scholarships in 2009.

Randy McPherson, Lowndes: Three state titles in the past six seasons in Georgia’s highest classification has elevated the Vikings’ program to a new level. McPherson’s teams have lost only 15 times in eight seasons and have mad The Concrete Jungle an impossible place to play for opposing teams.

Buck Godfrey, Southwest DeKalb: The dean of DeKalb County has not let the game pass him by in 27 seasons. Godfrey is noted for sending a slew of players to college, and most of the players leave with their degrees. His resume includes 250 wins and a state title.

Larry Campbell, Lincoln County: Georgia’s winningest coach has worked magic in Lincolnton, constantly churning out state champions and playoff contenders. The Red Devils have seven straight double-digit win seasons with the most recent state titles in 2005 and 2006. Campbell has 437 wins and a winning percentage of 85.1

Alan Chadwick, Marist: Chadwick has developed a culture of winning at the Atlanta private school. he has won 85 percent of his games in 25 seasons and made the War Eagles almost unbeatable at home.

Dell McGee, Carver Columbus: Before McGee’s arrival, the Tigers had won only 39 percent of their games in the program’s history. Since his arrival, McGee has turned the program around, going 52-14 in five seasons with a state Class AAA championship.

Mike Parris, Jackson: the Red Devils had posted nine wins or more in a season only four times in 48 seasons before Parris’ arrival. Since he took over the program in 1996, Parris has led the Red Devils to nine wins or more eight times in 14 seasons. He has won 70 percent of his games and should reach the 150-win milestone this season.

Hal Lamb, Commerce: Outside of Lincolnton and Folkston, no other town epitomizes small-town Georgia football like Calhoun. And the folks there can thank Lamb, who has led the Yellow Jackets to at least 10 wins in nine straight seasons. The team has won two straight Class A state titles.

Rich McWhorter, Charlton County: McWhorter immediately changed the Indians from an inconsistent program to consistent winners when he took over in 1990. He has won four state titles and 83 percent of his games in 20 seasons.

Related Posts:

• Football: Weekly Coaches Polls Released
• Football: AAAAA 2nd round previews
• Football: Six teams with at least 20 straight playoff seasons
• Football: Final Regular Season Poll Released
• Football: Most pivotal matchup by region – AAAAA

Tags: calhoun, camden county, Carver Columbis, charlton county, grayson, Jackson, Lincoln County, lowndes, marist, north gwinnett, southwest-dekalb, stephenson

This entry was posted on Tuesday, June 15th, 2010 at 10:48 pm and is filed under Georgia. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed.