Oconee County football coach Travis Noland, who took the Warriors to Class 3A championship games two of the past three, is the new coach at Jefferson.
Noland told his players Monday morning, and Jefferson announced the news around 2 p.m. Monday.
Noland’s record at Oconee County was 70-27. The Warriors hadn’t had a winning season over the previous nine years until Noland’s first team, which went 8-4 in 2014. Oconee County won region titles in 2015, 2019 and 2020.
Notable players have been quarterback Jake Johnson and tight end Max Johnson, both now with Texas A&M, and West Weeks, who played last season at Virginia, and Whit Weeks, a junior three-star prospect. Noland’s son Zeb had a few starts last season, including one against Georgia, as South Carolina’s quarterback.
JCS is proud to announce that Travis Noland has been hired as the Head Football Coach at JHS. After 7 winning seasons as the head football coach at Oconee County High School, JCS is excited to see what he will accomplish with our Dragons. Welcome, Coach Noland! pic.twitter.com/X6HAPf4CYL
— Jefferson City Schools (@JeffCitySchools) February 7, 2022
We are thrilled to announce that Coach Travis Noland has been named our Head Coach!!
In addition to being a Championship coach, he is an even better role model!
No coach in Georgia is more respected as evidenced by his role as President of the GA Football Coaches Association! pic.twitter.com/KpDiQZSHML
— Jefferson 🏈 Football (@JeffersonFootba) February 7, 2022
Jefferson was 9-2 last season and 49-11 the past five seasons under Gene Cathcart, who took a job in his native South Carolina.
Jefferson was the Class 4A runner-up to Marist in 2020 with five-star recruit Malaki Starks, now at Georgia, as its quarterback. The Dragons are moving up to Class 5A next season. They will return another blue-chip recruit, rising junior Sammy Brown, who plays linebacker and running back.
Noland also has been head coach at Stephens County, where he won three region titles, and Tuscola and Clyde Erwin in North Carolina.
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