Two big football coaching changes took place Thursday as Cedartown fired Jamie Abrams, who won 50 games and three region titles in his five seasons, and Flowery Branch hired Michael Perry, a Hall County native who led Union County the past four seasons.
By far more surprising was Cedartown’s decision to part ways with Abrams, whose five-season record was 50-14, with three region titles and a Class 4A runner-up finish in 2022. In the five seasons before Abrams was fired, Cedartown was 27-28.
“It’s a little tough to take,” Abrams told the AJC. “I’ve done nothing to breach my contract. It wasn’t because we weren’t winning. It wasn’t because we weren’t getting players into school (college). I believe in effort, and we talk about relentless effort all the time, and I feel that we did that. Others didn’t quite see it that way.”
Abrams said that he relished his time in Cedartown and praised the community.
“Cedartown has been great to me and my family,” he said. “I would like to thank the entire community in Cedartown for making Friday nights special the last five years. There’s no ill will.”
Cedartown was 9-2 in 2024 with losses to Cartersville and Cambridge, teams that reached the state quarterfinals. Cedartown’s top player, Tae Harris, signed last month with Georgia Tech. Cedartown had 13 players on college rosters this season.
Abrams previously coached at Lamar County, where his record was 15-7 in two seasons. He was defensive coordinator at McEachern when Cedartown hired him in 2020. His 2022 Cedartown team lost to Benedictine 14-13 in the state finals. Cedartown has not won a state title since 1963.
Also Thursday, Flowery Branch approved the hiring of Perry, who will return to Hall County. Perry was East Hall’s coach in 2019 and 2020, was a former Gainesville High player and was the offensive coordinator for Deshaun Watson on Gainesville’s 2012 state championship team.
Perry’s Union County teams were 23-22 in four seasons. He was head coach at Centennial for 8-4 and 7-3 teams in 2017 and 2018, respectively.
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