Brad Stephens, who led South Atlanta to its first region title and state-playoff victory last season, is the new football coach at Chapel Hill in Douglas County.
’'Chapel Hill just was a career move and an opportunity for me to grow as a coach,’' Stephens told the AJC on Monday morning. “It’s a great place to be, and I am excited about the opportunity.’'
Stephens led South Atlanta to playoff appearances in four of his five seasons at a city school that hadn’t enjoyed a winning season since 1995. The Hornets were 28-26 during Stephens’ tenure.
“We had a great five-year run at South Atlanta,’' Stephens said. “My goal there was to make it better. We did that. South Atlanta is a great place to be, great teachers and students, and A.D. Jasper Jewell (district athletic director) was great to me. We did things there that haven’t been done.’'
At Chapel Hill, Stephens inherits a program that’s been solid the past five seasons with a 28-24 record under Justin DeShon, who left to become head coach at Hillgrove in Cobb County. But Chapel Hill has only one playoff game in its history (2008).
There have been 87 reported openings for a head coach at the 426 football-playing schools in the Georgia High School Association. Eleven remain open. Those are Beach, Chamblee, Central-Talbotton, Claxton, Commerce, Griffin, LaFayette, Lithonia, Ola, Southeast Bulloch and South Atlanta.
The average turnover for the past decade is about 90 jobs, though it was only 77 last season.
Here are this offseason’s openings.
Alexander - Former coach: Matt Combs. New coach: Olten Downs
Appling County - Former coach: Rick Tomberlin. New coach: Jordan Mullis
Arabia Mountain - Former coach: Stanley Pritchett. New coach: Julian Washington
Banneker - Former coach: Lou George. New coach: Braxton Kelly
Beach - Former coach: Corey Phillips. New coach: Open.
Blessed Trinity - Former coach: Tim McFarlin. New coach: Tom Hall
Bradwell Institute - Former coach: Kyle Adkins. New coach: Deshon Brock
Camden County - Former coach: Bob Sphire. New coach: Jeff Heron
Carrollton - Former coach: Sean Calhoun. New coach: Joey King
Cedar Grove - Former coach: Miguel Patrick. New coach: John Adams
Central-Talbotton - Former coach: Cedric Stegall. New coach: Open
Chamblee - Former coach: Scott Schwarzer. New coach: Open
Chapel Hill - Former coach: Justin DeShon. New coach: Brad Stephens
Claxton - Former coach: Tony Welch. New coach: Open
Commerce - Former coach: Michael Brown. New coach: Open.
Crawford County - Former coach: Jhon Smith. New coach: Craig Puckett
Crisp County - Former coach: Brad Harber. New coach: Miguel Patrick
Dacula - Former coach: Clint Jenkins. New coach: Casey Vogt
Dalton - Former coach: Matt Land. New coach: Kit Carpenter
Douglass - Former coach: Rodney Cofield. New coach: Stanley Pritchett
Eagle’s Landing - Former coach: Shawn Jones. New coach: Markus Brown
East Forsyth - Former coach: New school. New coach: Brian Allison
East Hall - Former coach: Michael Perry. New coach: Matt Turner
Eastside - Former coach: Troy Hoff. New coach: Jay Cawthon
Effingham County - Former coach: Buddy Holder. New coach: John Ford
Evans - Former coach: Lemuel Lackey. New coach: Barrett Davis
Fellowship Christian - Former coach: Al Morrell. New coach: Tim McFarlin
Forsyth Central - Former coach: Frank Helper. New coach: David Rooney
Franklin County - Former coach: Paul Sutherland. New coach: Parker Martin
George Walton Academy - Former coach: Shane Davis. New coach: Logan Beer
Gilmer - Former coach: Kevin Saunders. New coach: Paul Standard
Griffin - Former coach: Kareem Reid. New coach: Open
Grovetown - Former coach: Damien Postell. New coach: Cory Evans
Hardaway - Former coach: Michael Woolridge. New coach: Corey Thompson
Harrison - Former coach: Matt Dickmann. New coach: Josh Cassidy
Heard County - Former coach: Tim Barron. New coach: Shane Lasseter
Hillgrove - Former coach: Byron Slack. New coach: Justin DeShon
Jasper County - Former coach: Roderick Jackson. New coach: Aaron Pitts
Jenkins - Former coach: Gene Clemmons. New coach: Tony Welch
Jordan - Former coach: Joseph Kegler. New coach: Dale Overton
Lafayette - Former coach: Paul Ellis. New coach: Open
Lake Oconee Academy - Former coach: New program. New coach: Drew Anthony
Lamar County - Former coach: Jeff Sloan. New coach: Travis Ellington
Landmark Christian - Former coach: Mike Sherrard. New coach: Tommy Lewis
Lithonia - Former coach: Marcus Jelks. New coach: Open
Locust Grove - Former coach: Clint Satterfield. New coach: Mark Miller
Long County - Former coach: John Pollock. New coach: Mike Pfiester
Manchester - Former coach: James Moore. New coach: Steven Holmes
McDonough - Former coach: Eric Solomon. New coach: Rodney Cofield
Miller Grove - Former coach: Lee Hannah. New coach: Melvin Brown
Mitchell County - Former coach: Deshon Brock. New coach: Dondrial Pinkins
Monroe - Former coach: Charles Truitt. New coach: Lacey Herring
Morgan County - Former coach: Bill Malone. New coach: Clint Jenkins
North Springs - Former coach: Scotty Parker. New coach: Jeff Phillips
Northview - Former coach: James Thomson. New coach: Scott Schwarzer
Oglethorpe County - Former coach: Ronnie Harris. New coach: Michael Holland
Ola - Former coach: Jared Zito. New coach: Open
Osborne - Former coach: Russell Isham. New coach: Luqman Salam
Portal - Former coach: Matt Smith. New coach: Jacon McEachin
Our Lady of Mercy - Former coach: Mark Miller. New coach: Shawn Cahill
Pelham - Former coach: Dondrial Pinkins. New coach: Shawn Sutton
Southeast Bulloch - Former coach: Barrett Davis. New coach: Open
Pickens - Former coach: Jeff Nelson. New coach: Grant Myers
Rockdale County - Former coach: Derek Coggin. New coach: Lee Hannah
Savannah Country Day - Former coach: Jim Collis. New coach: Tyler Ward
Seminole County - Former coach: Trey Woolf. New coach: Cedric Stegall
South Atlanta - Former coach: Brad Stephens. New coach: Open
South Cobb - Former coach: Terry Jones. New coach: Thomas Hanson
South Forsyth - Former coach: Jeff Arnette. New coach: Troy Morris
South Gwinnett - Former coach: Steve Davenport. New coach: Bryan Lamar
Southeast Bulloch - Former coach: Barrett Davis. New coach: Jared Zito
Spencer - Former coach: Robert Sanders. New coach: Joseph Kegler
St. Pius - Former coach: Paul Standard. New coach: Chad Garrison
Stephenson - Former coach: Ron Gartrell. New coach: Marcus Jelks
Stockbridge - Former coach: Steve Boyd. New coach: Thomas Clark
Therrell - Former coach: Greg Sullivan. New coach: Broderick Jamison
Tift County - Former coach: Ashley Anders. New coach: Noel Dean
Towers - Former coach: Vonnell Carter. New coach: Michael Johnson
Tucker - Former coach: Bryan Lamar. New coach: James Thomson
Union County - Former coach: Brian Allison. New coach: Michael Perry
Villa Rica - Former coach: Christian Hunnicutt. New coach: Tim Barron
Walker - Former coach: Aaron Dobbins. New coach: Gary Nelson
Washington - Former coach: Derrick Avery. New coach: Justin Rivers
Westover - Former coach: Olten Downs. New coach: Adam Miller
Westside - Former coach: Jon Wiley. New coach: Lee Hutto
Woodland-Stockbridge - Former coach: Bryan Bailey. New coach: Julian Hicks
Woodstock - Former coach: Brent Budde. New coach: Troy Hoff
