Five frenetic months of the carousel

Feb. 5 Tattnall’s Whetsel leaving for GICAA job
March 2 Coaching legend steps down, almost nobody outside of Wilkinson County knew
March 4 Westfield’s new head coach is a familiar name
March 13 Jones County adds another Harris to hoops
March 15 Opening at Dooly County; bomb dropped at Colquitt, movement in the area
March 19 Lamb takes over softball at Houston County

April 2 Tattnall picks familiar name to take over girls basketball
April 9 Big Central Georgia BKB coaching shoe drops: Darrell Lockhart at U-L
April 9 Dodge County’s Hodges resigns; changes at Hawkinsville, Dooly, and statewide
April 13 Jones County’s Rogers headed to Colquitt County
April 15 Rogers approved at Colquitt County
April 17 Breaking: Jones County hires Mike Chastain
April 29 Dublin’s Williams to Trinity Christian, succeeded by a big Irish name
April 29 Former star approved at Dublin

May 1 WR promotes Westbrook
May 10 Help wanted, Upson-Lee (all over), Dodge County, MdS; jobs filled
May 20 Retired to superindent? Help wanted at GMC and Tattnall

By Michael A. Lough

The Sports Report

centralgasports@gmail.com

Tattnall hires former Georgia College standout

Jeremy Mayweather’s basketball career at Georgia College was a memorable one in just two seasons.

He was the Peach Belt player of the year in 2005-06, and helped the Bobcats to the NCAA Southeast Region title that season. He eventually returned to Milledgeville as a women’s assistant.

Now, Tattnall hopes he can bring that same touch to the Trojans’ boys basketball program. The school announced his hiring on Wednesday, to replace Jarvis Smith, who left for East Jackson.

Tattnall also announced that Ian Hayley is replacing Robert Ochieng as boys soccer head coach. Hayley comes from Stratford, from which he separated this spring and was replaced by Mount de Sales head coach and Stratford alum Iain Jones.

The school will host a meet-and-greet for Mayweather on June 26 at 6:30 p.m. and for Hayley a day later at 6:30 p.m.

FPD makes some changes

The departure of Denny Bryant in May as head baseball and head softball coach created a couple openings that were filled nearly two weeks ago.

Lisa Spear takes over as head softball coach and Jason Godbee moves up from his assistant spot to take over the top baseball job.

Spear will start her 25th year at FPD in the fall, a long span that has included stints as head girls basketball and girls track coach. She’ll continue in current roles as an assistant in girls basketball and girls soccer.

Godbee is also FPD’s dean of students, coming to the school in 2017 as an assistant in baseball and football, having been a head coach at Landmark Christian and Whitefield Academy.

Perry loses, gains, including FPD’s Bryant

Perry has added Bryant, whose tenure at FPD as head baseball and softball coach ended in May.

Bryant became FPD’s head boys baseball coach at the start of the 2014 season, to succeed Jim Turner, who was retiring after that season. He served as softball head coach from 2017-19.

The Vikings reached the GHSA Class A Private baseball Final Four three times

The Windsor grad played a year of baseball at Mercer and transferred to Valdosta State.

He spent a decade at Jones County as an assistant baseball coach, and two as assistant girls basketball coach in that span, before going to FPD. He has also coached at Westside.

He’ll coach the secondary, and also be an assistant baseball coach.

“I was very fortunate to land him,” Smith said. “The amount of people who called me to hire him … I’m not talking about little Johnnys. All kinds of people. A lot of people think the world of him.”

Bryant returns to coaching football, and will be a baseball assistant.

Montay West left Perry a few months ago for Griffin, leaving a football opening as well as that of head girls basketball coach.

Sherry Richards, who has more than 20 years of experience at Evans, Tattnall County, and Jeff Davis, takes over for West.

Smith, a softball dad and softball fan, was thrilled to note an addition to the softball staff.

Sierra Stella, who was a major player in the Warner Robins Little League softball team that went to the World Series in Portland, Ore. in 2009 is now a coach.

“I’m excited about that,” said Smith, whose daughter Sarah was a standout at Houston County and is now playing at Radford University in Virginia.

Send updates, additions, subtractions, corrections to centralgasports@gmail.com.

GMC wastes little time

It didn’t take long for GMC Prep to find a new head football coach.

Only a few weeks after Steven Simpson’s announcement in May that he was leaving to take the defensive coordinator job at Warren County, GMC reached across campus to the junior college and hired Lee Coleman.

Coleman has been on Bert Williams’ staff since 2014, coaching wide receivers.

The East Hall and Northwestern grad has worked on college staffs at Pittsburgh, Arizona, and Arizona State, and had an internship with the Oakland Raiders.

The Bulldogs remain quite shortstaffed in football. Veteran coach Tommy Howell is the only full-time staff assistant.

The school also promoted Allen Simmons to take over Simpson’s athletics director duties. But Simmons had to give up his position as head softball coach, and he’s replaced by Jennifer Deason, moving up from the middle school.

Upson-Lee finally full

It started in the middle of February, this odd sudden exodus from Thomaston.

Upson-Lee athletics director Bryce Robinson before he knew it had seven head coaching vacancies.

Seven. In the spring. And led by the departure of hometowner and highly successful head boys basketball coach Darrell Lockhart.

And there were assorted assistant coaching vacancies along the way.

Robinson was able to enter the summer pretty much having filled all those openings. The gaps that remain involved ninth-grade football, but those positions haven’t been filled for a few years.

So the only routine job to be filled is a wrestling assistant.

“We’re still two or three bodies short,” Robinson said. “But we’ve been two or three bodies short the last two or three years. Varsity staff, we’re fine.”

Finally.

Robinson has spent since February trying to fill seven head coaching openings, which trickled around to assistant openings, too.

“We haven’t had a full staff meeting yet,” he said. “But I’ve met with everybody. We’re ready to get going.”

The Upson County school board made official last month what was reported in The Sports Report, approving Christopher Owens as boys basketball head coach and U-L alum Stephany Raines as the girls basketball head coach.

Owens replaces Darrell Lockhart, introduced recently at Valdosta, and comes after a highly successful stint at Class A Montgomery County.

Raines is an Upson-Lee girls basketball legend and Mercer hall of famer, who will also add the duties of assistant volleyball coach.

Baseball: Eddie Peyton, an Upson-Lee grad, has been promoted from assistant the past few years. He played at Brewton-Parker. Kevin Magilligan comes in from Westside –where he wasn’t coaching - as an assistant in baseball and softball.

Boys soccer: Adam Greene takes over for Matt Bentley. Greene has worked in club soccer while teaching at Upson-Lee, his alma mater. Bentley, who is now an assistant principal at Upson-Lee, coached Greene.

Boys track: Brian Sanders is promoted from assistant, and will continue as head cross country coach, where he’s been for about a half-dozen years.

Softball: Taylor English adds softball to his duties as girls golf head coach.

Volleyball: Former Southwest boys basketball head coach Darrin Clark makes his debut in the sport.

The football staff underwent turnover with several assistants – some of whom were head coaches in other sports – leaving the past few months. This fall, third-year head coach Justin Elder will have new coordinators and half a new staff.

Tripp Busby, son of highly successful head coach Buzz Busby, is the new defensive coordinator, the same job he had at Troup County. Buzz Busby went 106-29-2 at Pike County, Statesboro, and Kendrick, with a quality run at Central Tuscaloosa and Monroe County in Alabama.

Curtis Daniely is a Mary Persons grad who played for Steve Chafin in Forsyth before embarking in a solid career at Middle Tennessee State, Daniely comes from Rock Springs Christian, a member of the Georgia Independent Christian Athletic Association, where he also coached track.

Will Jeffcoat comes from Spalding to coach receivers.

Casey Chafin, son of former Mary Persons head coach and current Rock Springs Christian Academy boss Steve Chafin, was promoted a few months ago to offensive coordinator. He has been at Upson-Lee for two years.

Around the Central Georgia

Ted Belflower has left Dodge County as an assistant for a similar job at Hawkinsville under new head coach Shane Williamson.

Hawkinsville hired Brandon Dawkins last month to take over as girls basketball coach. Dawkins was the boys coach at Brooks County and went 31-77. He was an assistant for the Albany Tech women before that….

Bleckley County’s board approved two new assistant football coaches.

Former Buford head coach John Ford has been in Cochran for a few months, and he’s the new defensive coordinator.

Ryan McKenzie comes from Americus-Sumter, where he was also the head boys track coach.

The school approved former Bleckley County softball player Emmie Meadows as assistant softball coach. She was recently named the high school’s teacher of the year. …

Baldwin County recently approved Anthony Webb as boys basketball coach, a move previously reported recently by The Sports Report. …

The football staff of new head coach Jeff Sloan at Lamar County appears set, according to www.barnesville.com.

Offensive coordinator Josh Coffee will handle quarterbacks and running backs. James Hickenbotham, formerly at Westside as track coach, has receivers. Brent Thornton, a Bibb County veteran coach, leads the offensive line, and Sid Gotell the slot receivers.

Defensive coordinator Greg Busby also has linebackers, with Scott Hammock the line and Adam Ballard the secondary.

Joseph Pittman is the strength and conditioning coach.