Veterans gets successful experience with naming of Milan Turner

By Michael A. Lough

The Sports Report

centralgasports@gmail.com

          Milan Turner loves coaching, regardless of his position, title, or duties.

          But after four years as an assistant, he’s ready to retake the big whistle again.

          And he’ll do that at Veterans, having been chosen as the program’s second head football coach and athletics director after four seasons as an assistant at Coffee.

          Turner was approved Tuesday at the Houston County Board of Education monthly meeting after being presented as the top choice by Veterans principal Chris Brown.

          Brown said he received nearly 40 applications, whittled that down to 11 for the interview process that included teachers and the higher-ups in the Houston County board office, including Superintendent Mark Scott.

          He said he didn’t post the job until the initial week of the GHSA state championships.

          “I wanted to hold off until the end (of the season) to get a state championship-caliber coach,” Brown said. “Coach Turner has (coached) in six state championships at five different schools.”
          Including last month, when Coffee battled Lee County in the GHSA Class 6A title game, Lee County winning 28-21 in overtime.

          And he was a defensive coach and led the strength and conditioning program at Warner Robins 2003-04, the Demons going undefeated and winning the GHSA Class 4A title in 2004.

          Ironically, his “boss” on defense then is the man he’s replacing, David Bruce.

          Bruce was released in late October after the end of the season. Bruce was 31-54 in eight seasons, starting with the school’s first year of football in 2010.

          Veterans finished 2-8 in 2017 and 0-4 in Region 2-4A.

          Turner is 89-22 in nine seasons as a head coach. He was 65-12 at Emanuel County Institute, winning the GHSA Class A title in 2007 and reaching the championship game a year later. He then went 24-10 in three seasons at Thomson, succeeding legendary head coach Luther Welsh.

          He left Thomson after the 2013 season, his only losing year at 3-7, resigning in March of 2014. Turner joined the Coffee staff of head coach Robby Pruitt, the two reuniting after having worked together at Fitzgerald.

          Turner, who graduated from Georgia Southern, has been an assistant at Screven County and Southeast Bulloch. He was also a candidate for the opening at Thomas County Central, which will apparently go this week to Ashley Henderson of Valwood.

          Turner was the choice over a pair of Central Georgia coaches. John Milledge head coach J.T. Wall, a former Georgia player, and Peach County offensive coordinator Todd Cooper were reportedly the other two finalists.

          Wall is 76-13 in seven seasons at John Milledge, a GISA Class AAA school, with four semifinal trips and a state title. Cooper has been at Peach County for several years and been part of the Trojans’ success as a regular state title contender and offensive powerhouse.

          “Obviously all three of them have very impressive resumes, and they’re great football coaches,” Brown said. “They’ve been around the game for a long period of time at different levels.”

          Brown said that he took the Christmas break to look further at each coach and his background before finally deciding, upon more consultation, on Turner.

          “For me, what I had to look at was the person that fit best for my leadership style and for the school,” Brown said. “It all comes down to fit. It was a hard decision. The three (finalists) all bring a lot to the table.”

          Turner met with the team on Wednesday, and then returned home, the first of many long round-trip drives he’ll be making until finding a house.

          Turner is the latest new head coach in Houston County.

          He was linked as a finalist for the Perry opening that went to former Northside and Houston County assistant Kevin Smith about a year ago.

          Warner Robins’ Mike Chastain just finished his second year leading the Demons, and Ryan Crawford completed his first season as head coach at Houston County. And Westfield’s Jamey Watson just completed his second season with that GISA school in Perry.

          The lone veteran is Northside’s Kevin Kinsler, with eight seasons under his belt as head coach at his alma mater.

          Turner has familiarity with Central Georgia, in addition to the two seasons at Warner Robins. He received his specialist degree from Georgia College.

          And while at Coffee, he has visited Warner Robins the past two seasons, the Trojans being in the same region as Northside and Houston County, and playing the Demons in 2017 at McConnell-Talbert.

          Brown was intrigued by Turner’s background in the weight room, and the impact that should have on the Warhawks.

          “He’s got a background in strength and conditioning,” Brown said. “He does a tremendous job of taking the talent that he’s been given and developing those guys and building around that successful offense, defense, and special teams.”