Number of hires: 13
Best hire: Paul Sutherland, Franklin County
Hardest to replace: Mark Walker, Brantley County
Best job: Cherokee Bluff
Toughest job: Johnson (Savannah)
Most interesting: Paul Sutherland won four region titles and never had a losing season in his 17 at Pendleton High in South Carolina. Now, Sutherland has moved across the Georgia border to Franklin County, which has had only two winning seasons in those same 17 years. And those were 6-5 finishes in 2011 and 2015. Georgia is known to pay coaches better than South Carolina, especially now that South Carolina has eliminated a program called Teacher and Employee Retention Incentive (TERI). Under TERI, a retired teacher such as Sutherland could earn his regular paycheck while putting retirement pay in escrow without paying taxes on it. Without that, Sutherland reportedly would've made less than $20,000 to stay on.
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*Dougherty hired UNC-Charlotte receivers coach Damien Gary to replace Corey Joyner, who took the Carver (Columbus) job. Gary is a former University of Georgia player and Super 11 high school player at Clarke Central. He had coached at UNC-Charlotte since 2012 and worked prior at Mars Hill College. Dougherty was 2-9 last season and has not finished with a winning record since 2008.
*Worth County hired its athletics director, Frankie Carroll, to replace Ben Simmons, who was 0-10 in his only season. Carroll was head coach at Pelham (2011-14) before taking the Worth A.D. job in 2015. Carroll won a Florida state title at Madison County in 2007 and was 89-12-1 in nine seasons there. Simmons in now on Valdosta's staff.
*Appling County hired Rick Tomberlin to replace Jon Lindsey, who was 3-6 in one season. Tomberlin has stepped away from coaching twice, most recently last year because of health concerns. His record in 31 seasons as a head coach is 246-119. He retired the first time after the 2012 season at Effingham County and returned in 2016 to lead Calvary Day to a region title. Lindsey is now on Coffee's staff.
*Brantley County hired Allatoona assistant Geoff Cannon to replace Mark Walker, who resigned after eight seasons to take time away from football and won't be coaching this fall. Cannon was offensive coordinator at Frederica Academy in St. Simons from 2003 to 2016 and coached for seven seasons prior at Glynn Academy. Brantley was 1-9 last season and 27-52 overall under Walker.
*Johnson (Savannah) hired Burke County secondary coach Kenderrick Bonner to replace David Jackson. A Burke County native, Bonner also has coached at Arlington Christian. The Atom Smashers were 1-28 under Jackson, who stayed at Johnson as a teacher.
*Savannah promoted assistant Rebel Green to replace David Roberson, who was 6-5 in one season. Green had coached at Luella for 11 seasons and was offensive coordinator there for six. He didn't plan to coach last year because of a newborn boy but ended up the voluntary offensive line coach and soccer coach. Roberson is now the offensive coordinator at Mundy's Mill.
*Southeast Bulloch hired Lakeside (Evans) defensive coordinator Barrett Davis to replace Steve Pennington, who retired. Davis was at Lakeside for four seasons and at Burke County the previous five, including the 2011 state runner-up team.
*Central (Macon) promoted defensive coordinator Joaquin Sample, a Central alumnus, to replace Larry Harold, who took the Americus-Sumter job. Sample has been at Central since 2012 and previously coached at Howard and Baldwin.
*Kendrick hired Americus-Sumter defensive coordinator Andre Slappey to replace Cedric Ware, whose teams were 4-26 in three seasons. Slappey, a former Division II All-America defensive lineman at Albany State, worked at Americus-Sumter for 10 seasons. He also ran the defenses for Albany's Indoor Professional Football League team. Ware is now on Spencer's staff.
*Redan hired Redan Middle School head coach and former NFL tight end K.D. Dunn to replace Roderick Moore, whose teams were 12-28 in four seasons. Dunn, a graduate of old Gordon High in DeKalb County, played on both a college national championship team (1981 Clemson) and an NFL Super Bowl winner (1987 Redskins). He has been an assistant at six Georgia high schools, most recently Chattahoochee. Redan last had a winning season in 2007 (6-5). Moore is now an assistant at Stockbridge.
*Cherokee Bluff, a newly opened school in Hall County, hired Dacula head coach Tommy Jones to start its program. Jones was 37-22 in five seasons at Dacula. He was Lumpkin County's head coach for the seven seasons prior. Cherokee Bluff, nicknamed the Bears, is playing a full region schedule.
*Fannin County hired Banks County defensive backs coach Chad Cheatham to replace Jim Pavao, who took a job on Coffee's staff. Cheatham had been named Banks County's head coach in December but changed course in March when given the chance to coach at Fannin, his alma mater. Cheatham has coached for 24 seasons but never as a head coach. Fannin was 12-28 in four seasons under Pavao, 2-8 last year.
*Franklin County hired Pendleton (S.C.) head coach Paul Sutherland to replace Jerry Underwood, whose teams were 17-36 with three playoff appearances in five seasons. Sutherland was 122-67 without a losing season in 17 seasons at Pendleton. Underwood is now on Stephens County's staff as offensive line coach.
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