Lenny Gregory, who led Collins Hill to the Class 7A football championship with Heisman Trophy winner Travis Hunter as his star player in 2021, is Commerce’s choice as head coach and expected to get board approval Monday night.
Gregory was head coach at Gordon Central in northwest Georgia the past two seasons. He inherited a team on a 20-game losing streak and led the Warriors to their first playoff appearance in 12 years last season. The 4-7 record also marked the most wins for the program in 12 years.
Gregory led Collins Hill in Gwinnett County for six seasons and won two region titles. The 2021 team went through its Georgia schedule 15-0 and beat Milton 24-8 for a state title. Hunter, playing wide receiver and safety as he did for Colorado the past two years, was the AJC’s all-classification player of the year.
Gregory is a California native who played at Brigham Young. He got into coaching late, after moving to Georgia. He was on Grayson’s staff for a 2011 state championship and was Centennial’s head coach in 2014-15, when he broke a nine-year slide of losing seasons with an 8-3 finish.
Commerce reached the Class A Division I second round last season under Mark Hollars, who was let go despite a 31-16 record over four seasons.
Commerce has reached the playoffs each season since 1997. The program won state titles in 1981 and 2000 and ranks 16th in victories all-time with 660.
More than 70 applied for the Commerce job.
