Mill Creek beat Carrollton 70-35 in the final Georgia high school football game of the 2022 season. In the 234 days since nearly a quarter of the GHSA’s 413 teams have hired new head coaches. The next championship games will be played on a Monday in Mercedes-Benz Stadium under the scrutiny of video replay for the first time. Here are the ten most significant stories of the offseason.
1. Let’s go inside: On Dec. 15, the GHSA announced it was moving the football championship games back to Mercedes-Benz Stadium, where they were played in 2017 and 2018. The 2023 finals are scheduled for Dec. 11-13. That’s a Monday-Wednesday schedule because Mercedes-Benz didn’t have practical weekend dates available. In 2018, the finals were played midweek at the Benz because of a soccer conflict, but they still drew 40,462. The outdoor Georgia State stadium averaged 27,443 over its four-year run. The GHSA moved out of Mercedes-Benz in 2019 largely to save money. Mercedes-Benz rent at the time reportedly was around $500,000, or as much as four times the cost Georgia State offered. The GHSA got a better deal this time, though details have not been reported.
2. Change is inevitable: On Dec. 20, Lowndes hired Grayson’s Adam Carter (left) in what might’ve stood as the most newsworthy of 100 offseason GHSA coaching changes. Or perhaps it was Peach County’s hiring of Warner Robins’ Marquis Westbrook on Jan. 9. The 100 hires sound like a lot, but it’s not especially unusual. The number was 97 last year. The record was 109 for the 2017 season. GHSA Daily will chronicle all 100 hires with the new coaches’ backgrounds and the 2023 whereabouts of the former head coaches over the next several days, starting today with Class 7A.
3. Back to college: In January, Georgia Tech coach Brent Key hired Tim McFarlin of Blessed Trinity and Bill Stewart of North Gwinnett, two of the state’s most successful coaches. McFarlin is Tech’s director of high school relations, and Stewart is a defensive analyst for linebackers. They are among more than a dozen high school coaches who have taken college jobs after winning GHSA titles in the past 15 years. They also include Clemson’s Mickey Conn (Grayson), Georgia’s Dell McGee (Carver of Columbus), Arkansas’ Jimmy Smith (Cedar Grove), and Miami’s Jess Simpson (Buford).
4. Going out on top: On Feb. 13, Brett Garvin joined a short list that includes Wright Bazemore and T. McFerrin, that is, GHSA coaches who retired after winning state championships. Garvin led Sandy Creek to the Class 3A title. Other retiring head coaches this offseason included Eric Parker, a 208-game winner who led Burke County to a 2013 state title; Gary Varner, who started Allatoona’s program in 2008 and won state in 2015; Tommy Atha, who won 179 games at Darlington; J.B. Arnold, who won 168 games at Jefferson County; Tim Barron, a 176-game winner who won a 2018 state title at Heard County; and Sid Fritts, a 263-game winner whose 2021 region title at Washington-Wilkes made him the 11th GHSA coach to win region championships at four schools.
5. Upon further review: The GHSA on April 17 approved video review for the 2023 football championships, making Georgia one of fewer than 20 states to employ it. The catalyst for change was a play in the 2022 Class 3A final in which a Sandy Creek player was credited with the winning touchdown with 55 seconds left despite TV replays showing him stopped a yard short on third down. The GHSA rules allow the head replay official to call for reviews at any time. Head coaches are limited to one challenge per half. The rules will be tested during the Saturday games of the Corky Kell Dave Hunter Classic on Aug. 19 at Mercedes-Benz Stadium. Replay won’t be used for other playoff rounds or other sports for now. “One step at a time,” GHSA executive director Robin Hines said.
6. Georgians in the NFL Draft: Five former Georgia high school players were first-round NFL Draft picks April 28, and 25 went overall, both exceeding state averages, but the most remarkable story came out of Gwinnett County, which claimed nine picks by itself. The Gwinnett nine exceeded the totals of 42 states, including Ohio (eight), Pennsylvania (six), Alabama (four), Oklahoma (four) and Tennessee (two). The Gwinnett nine were D.J. Turner and Josh Downs of North Gwinnett, Wanya Morris and Owen Pappoe of Grayson, Colby Wooden of Archer, Terrell Smith of South Gwinnett, Payne Durham of Peachtree Ridge, Kendall Williamson of Brookwood and Robert Beal of Norcross. Georgia’s five first-round picks were tied for second-most all-time for the state. There were six in 2021 and five in 2005. This year’s five were Dutchtown’s Will Anderson, Dalton’s Jahmyr Gibbs, Lithonia’s Broderick Jones, Hillgrove’s Myles Murphy and Calvary Day’s Nolan Smith. The 25 Georgia draft picks overall are the fourth-most all-time. Georgia had 30 in 2022 and 2015 and 29 in 2017. The 25 ranked third nationally behind Florida’s 36 and Texas’s 30.
7. Hall of Fame worthy: The Georgia High School Football Hall of Fame announced its second class in May. Among the 40 to be inducted Oct. 21 are 22 former Georgia players and eight from Georgia Tech. The leading vote-getters were Dan Reeves, the former Atlanta Falcons coach who starred as a quarterback for Americus High, and Jon Stinchcomb, a former Parkview, Georgia and NFL offensive lineman. Each got 81.6% of the vote among the 38 board members that include GHSF Daily’s Todd Holcomb, Chip Saye and Ted Langford. Stinchcomb leads a Georgia contingent that features current offensive coordinator Mike Bobo, a standout quarterback at Thomasville in the 1990s, and former Georgia head coach Ray Goff, once a Moultrie quarterback and the 1976 SEC offensive player of the year. The Hall of Fame’s new Bulldogs cover nearly 100 years from the 1920s with Vernon “Catfish” Smith of Macon’s Lanier High to 2012 SEC defensive player of the year Jarvis Jones of Carver of Columbus. Georgia Tech’s eight new inductees will be headlined by Brown High alumnus Pepper Rodgers, a 1950s quarterback and 1970s head coach who will be joined in the Hall of Fame by three of his former Tech players – Lucius Sanford of West Fulton, Eddie Lee Ivery of Thomson and Mackel Harris of Americus. For a list of the 40 selected for induction, click here.
8. New football czar: Jay Russell became the GHSA’s football coordinator officially in June, replacing Kevin Giddens, who stepped down after four years. Russell formerly worked with the GHSA and was second in command behind executive director Gary Phillips in 2017, when the Georgia legislature forced Phillips out. Russell helped new executive director Hines through the transition, then left the next year. Russell was a longtime former football coach and school administrator and is a son of former Georgia and Georgia Southern football coach Erk Russell. One of the GHSA’s longest-serving employees, Ernie Yarbrough, is retiring. He began with the association in 1992 and will stay on part-time and assist with lacrosse, officials and event management. He was replaced by Darrell Lane, a 30-year basketball official.
9. The Prep Super League: In June, former USFL president Brian Woods announced plans to include Atlanta in a 12-team national high school football league to be played over a six-week season April 19-May 24. It’s called the Prep Super League, and Woods is seeking major Division I prospects hoping to raise their recruiting stock and maximize their name, image and likeness potential. Georgia coaches have largely panned the idea. “Kills spring sports, higher injury risks, burnout risks, struggling to find some positives for the kids,” Milton coach Ben Reaves told GHSF Daily. Said Norcross coach Keith Maloof, “Why would I want my best athletes playing in another league and risking injury when they’re already working hard on their own?” The GHSA’s Hines said, “I don’t feel it’s in the best interest of the athletes.” Woods countered the criticisms. “It’s not meant to be antagonistic to traditional high school football. We should be viewed quite the contrary, as a supplemental platform or a complementary entity. And I’m going to take the position that our league is going to be safer than traditional high school football. That I can guarantee.” Woods has not announced coaches, venues or tryout information but said many Georgia parents had contacted him.
10. Raiola to Buford: On June 22, the consensus No. 1 recruit in the nation enrolled at Buford. Dylan Raiola is a quarterback from Arizona, where he had attended three high schools. He was uncertain if Arizona rules would allow him to be eligible for the full season in that state, so he decided to get closer to the University of Georgia, where he is committed. Buford’s 2022 quarterback, Dylan Wittke, graduated after signing with Virginia Tech. Raiola is the son of Dominic Raiola, a former NFL player. Dylan gives Buford a third senior five-star recruit. That’s the most for a school in state history. The others are defensive back K.J. Bolden and defensive lineman Eddrick Houston. Buford opens the season at home Aug. 18 against St. Frances Academy (Md.) in a game between teams with top-10 national rankings.
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