Dutchtown is the latest winning football team looking for a head coach. Niketa Battle was fired Friday despite a 25-13 record in three seasons and a Class 5A semifinal finish in 2022. “I had some kids that transferred, and administration said I had limited parent contact and they wanted to go in a different direction,” Battle told the Atlanta Journal-Constitution.

Greg Vandagriff, who resigned last week as Prince Avenue Christian’s football coach, was announced Wednesday morning as head coach at Lakeway Christian Academy in Lake Pine, Tennessee. “It’s a program that’s just started up and hasn’t had a ton of success, and they want to make a financial commitment to being successful, and it starts with hiring a head coach,” Vandagriff told the AJC.

Prince Avenue Christian promoted offensive coordinator Jon Richt to head football coach Monday to replace Greg Vandagriff, who won three state championships and 107 games in nine seasons. Vandagriff resigned last week, Prince Avenue Athletic Director Richard Ricketts said. Richt is a son of former Georgia coach Mark Richt.

Cedartown announced Calhoun offensive coordinator Tommy Atha as its football coach last week. Atha will replace Jamie Abrams, who was forced out last month despite a 50-12 record over five seasons. Atha is best known for his 22 seasons as head coach and 30 years overall service at Darlington.

Mike Chastain, who became Jones County’s all-time winningest football coach last season, and Chad Alligood, the school’s athletic director, confirmed Monday that they resigned Friday. Their decisions came less than two weeks after a board of education hearing at which some parents and football team booster expressed displeasure with Chastain.

The GHSA will consider a reclassification proposal that could cut the number of classifications to four while still crowning eight state champions in most sports. That doesn’t mean the GHSA is shifting away from the competitive-balance plan discussed in the Jan. 25 reclassification meeting in Thomaston. New proposals just mean the GHSA is being patient when a decision isn’t required until fall.

Adam Clack, who launched the Milton football dynasty and won the school’s first state title in a 2018 upset, is set to be Parkview’s new head coach. Clack will replace Joe Sturdivant, a Parkview alumnus who stepped down earlier this month after two seasons to take a job college job in South Dakota.

Andrico Hines, the offensive coordinator for Hughes’ 2022 Class 6A championship team, is the Panthers’ new head coach. Hines will replace Daniel Williams, who became head coach at Northside of Warner Robins earlier this month.

Eight former Georgia high school football players are going to the Super Bowl – six for the Kansas City Chiefs and two for the Philadelphia Eagles – after their teams won conference title games Sunday. Chiefs place-kicker Harrison Butker of Westminster will be playing in his fifth Super Bowl.

Nelson Stewart, the high school coach of Texas quarterback Arch Manning and NFL wide receiver Odell Beckham Jr. and a former high school teammate of Peyton Manning, was named Westminster’s football coach Thursday. Stewart was head coach for 19 seasons at his alma mater, Isidor Newman, a New Orleans private prep school.

Loganville on Wednesday announced the hiring of Nic Snowden as its football coach in the most frantic week so far of the offseason coaching carousel. Northside-Warner Robins, Veterans, Brookwood, Marietta and Commerce also made hires this week, while Parkview, Hughes, Griffin, Gordon Central, Schley County and Mount Paran Christian reported openings.

Northside-Warner Robins, coming off its worst season in nearly 60 years, made perhaps the biggest offseason football season hire so far. Daniel “Boone” Williams, the coach who led Hughes to a 2022 Class 6A championship and state runner-up finishes in 2021 and 2024, was approved for the job Tuesday by the Houston County Schools board. Williams confirmed the news to the AJC on Monday evening, saying he told his Hughes players earlier in the day.

A member of the Pro Football Hall of Fame is joining Chamblee’s football staff. Ed Reed, an eight-time All-Pro safety inducted into the Hall of Fame in his first year of eligibility in 2019, will be Chamblee’s offensive coordinator, coach Bob Swank announced Monday. “He’s at a point now where he had time in his life, and we had a need and felt it fit into what he had time-wise,” Swank said.

Two big football coaching changes took place Thursday as Cedartown fired Jamie Abrams, who won 50 games and three region titles in his five seasons, and Flowery Branch hired Michael Perry, a Hall County native who led Union County the past four seasons. By far more surprising was Cedartown’s decision to part ways with Abrams, whose five-season record was 50-14.

Milton quarterback Luke Nickel was so reliable and his team so good that his playoff performance came and went, much like his career, without its proper due. His 20 touchdown passes are a state playoff record, by the way. And they came without an interception.

Terrance Banks, who led Class A Greene County to 10-2 and 8-3 finishes in his two seasons there, is Central Gwinnett’s new football coach. Gwinnett County Schools approved the hire Friday. Banks will replace Larry Harold, who was 12-18 in three seasons.

Chris Prewett, who led Roswell to 50 wins and two region titles in five seasons, was announced as Dalton’s football coach Friday morning. Dalton, coming off an 0-10 season, is a traditionally strong program that has been mostly mediocre since reaching the Class 6A semifinals in 2016.

North Oconee, Toombs County and Hebron Christian are No. 1 in final AJC/GHSF Daily rankings for the first time after winning their first state championships this week. Milton and Bowdon repeated as champions, while Grayson, Calhoun and Carver of Columbus added to their numbers.

Grayson sacked Carrollton star quarterback Julian Lewis five times, intercepted him twice, forced him to fumble and made his team one-dimensional, holding the No. 1-ranked Trojans to 43 rushing yards in a 38-24 victory. Grayson won its fourth state title, first since 2020, and improved to 4-0 in championship games.

Calhoun scored on its first two possessions for a 14-0 lead and held Jefferson to 225 total yards while forcing four turnovers in winning its fifth state championship, first since 2017 and first under sixth-year coach Clay Stephenson.