Westside's Risper announces resignation after the 2025 season
By Michael A. Lough
The Sports Report
centralgasports@gmail.com
Back in the spring of 2009, Raynette Evans made a recommendation that surprised many, coming years after another recommendation and hire that raised eyebrows.
The Bibb County public schools athletics director put up a 34-year-old middle-school teacher and coach to succeed one of the stateās coaching icons and Central Georgia legends.
āI am as confident about this recommendation as I have been for one in a long time,ā Evans told the Macon Telegraph in a May 1, 2009 story. āI know this is the man for the job. ... I feel very, very good and confident about this choice.ā
Not all of Evans decisions were on point, but she got that one right, with Sheddrick āSpoonā Risper to succeed Robert Davis at Westside.
And now, somebody will have to replace Risper.
The longtime head coach announced on his personal Facebook page Sunday night that the 2025 season will be his last with the Seminoles.
āWell, itās official,ā he wrote. āThis upcoming football season will be my final season at Westside. This upcoming year will be year 28 for me!ā
He also said he agreed to do a ādocu-seriesā on his final season at Westside.
Itās something of a bombshell, but also not, Risper having been up for different jobs in recent years, including applying at Tattnall and Jones County, among others. Thus, itās highly unlikely that Risper is done coaching on the varsity level.
The youthful and energetic 50 year oldās team is coming off one of its better playoff losses, taking Class AA top seed Rockmart to the limit in a 37-30 loss in the second round of the GHSA playoffs.
Risper spent much of the next day getting over that loss, which was made easier by an afternoon at Mercerās Five Star Stadium with a few dozen other parents of seniors.
Scooter Risper was one of the Bears celebrated on Senior Day, preceding Mercerās win over Furman to seal the outright Southern Conference title.
Son Silas is a freshman wide receiver at Berry College, a Division III program in Rome, and Paul will be a senior at Westside. Daughter Shemetria is a Mastersā student at Georgia Southern.
Risper is 116-64 in 16 seasons, with one region championship (2012), and a 7-14 playoff record, Westside competing in 4A and 3A until dropping down in 2024 in AA.
He enters his final season sixth in total wins among current active Central Georgia head coaches (behind Dublinās Roger Holmes, Westfieldās Chad Campbell, Trinity Christianās Bruce Lane, John Millegeās J.T. Wall, and East Laurensā Jesse Hicks).
His winning percentage of 64.4 percent is 11th among active Central Georgia head coaches with at least five seasons.
Both categories donāt include new Central Georgia head coaches Boone Williams at Northside, Steve DeVoursney at Veterans, and Barney Hester at Tattnall. Hester is returning to coaching after a seven-year break and Williams (63-17/78.7 percent) and DeVoursney (182-68/72.8 percent) in new jobs.
Late in the 2024 season, he became the winningest Bibb County public school head coach since integration, passing Centralās Tom Simonton (114-83-1/57.58 percent).
Robert Davis went 101-33 in 12 seasons at Westside. Of the four schools that began this century (Central, Northeast, Southwest, and Westside), those are the only three head coaches with winning records at a city school with at least five seasons since 1970
Risper was the Weaver Middle School athletics director for 11 years before being promoted at Westside at the age of 34. He was the wide receivers coach from 1998-2002, and led Weaver to several middle school championships.
He was a starting quarterback at Upson-Lee, graduating in 1993 and starting for two years at West Georgia. Five seasons on the Macon Knights arena team followed, Risper helping the team to an American Conference Arena League title.
He was inducted into the Thomaston-Upson Sports Hall of Fame in 2018. That was the same year he competed on American Ninja television show.