Georgia high school football coaching changes: McDonough hires veteran coach

Camden County officially announced Tucker Pruitt as its new head coach on Tuesday. 

Pruitt is leaving Appling County after one season at the helm. He led the Pirates to an 8-4 season, a region title and a first-round playoff win over Hart County. 

Pruitt is Camden County’s second hire of the offseason. The school initially hired Jon Lindsey before he stepped down due to ‘unforeseen reasons.’

Camden County competes in a loaded Region 1-6A with South Georgia powerhouses Valdosta, Lowndes, Colquitt County. The Wildcats haven’t won a region title since 2013 despite two 10-win seasons since then.

FULL STORY HERE.

McDonough has announced the hire of longtime Southwest-Macon coach Joe Dupree.

Dupree coached at Southwest for 13 years. He led his alma mater to a 43-85 record, highlighted by three 6-5 seasons in 2016, 2017 and 2023. 

Dupree also led the Patriots to four state playoff appearances, the most of any coach in the program's 56-year history. 

Dupree will take over at a McDonough program that hasn't made the playoffs since 2018. The Warhawks went 3-7 in 2025 in the 10-team Region 2-4A.

Coach Cameron Pettus, who has led the East Jackson program since 2019, posted on X Tuesday that he is stepping down from his role. 

FULL STORY HERE.

Hart County announced Tuesday that it has hired Biff Parson away from Rockmart.

Brent has hired former Colorado State tight ends coach Grant Chesnut as its new offensive coordinator, according to Gradick Sports.

Chesnut will also serve as the school’s assistant principal and athletic director. He’s also coached at Western Kentucky, Kennesaw State and Navy, and previously served as Central-Carrollton’s head coach in 2011 and 2012. 

Chesnut led Central to a 9-12 combined record, making the first round of the playoffs in his second and final season with the school.

Chesnut, originally from Snellville, has coached at several Georgia high schools. He’s been an offensive assistant for Mary Persons, Thomasville and Camden County.

Bremen is preparing for its 11th season under head coach David Russell. The Blue Devils are 71-45 all-time under Russell. 

Longtime Lovejoy coach Edgar Carson confirmed he has stepped down to the Atlanta Journal-Constitution on Monday. 

Carson, who has coached Lovejoy since 2014, is coming off one of his best seasons leading the Wildcats. Lovejoy went 8-3 with a first-round loss to eventual semifinalist Rome.

More time with family was a key part of Carson's decision to step down. Carson's son, Caleb, will be a freshman defensive back for Stanford University next season.

"The decision was strictly a family decision," Carson said. "I just want to be able to spend a little more time with my nine-year-old. I want to be able to see Caleb play ball at Stanford. 

"I know I did a lot to help a lot of kids, but Lovejoy is a special place. If you cut me open right now, I think I'd bleed blue."

Lovejoy was 78-54 under Carson in 12 seasons. The Wildcats had winning seasons in nine of those years and only missed the playoffs once.

Lovejoy will search for its fourth head coach in its 36-year history. All three coaches in program history have spent at least a decade at the school.

Charlton County is in the market for a new head coach after DeMario Jones stepped down, according to CharltonSportsNet.

Jones led Charlton County to a 6-6 finish in 2025 with a first-round playoff win over Macon County. Jones also had the Indians ranked in the Class A Division II top 10 for two weeks early in the season.

Charlton County went 11-12 under Jones in two seasons. Ten of the Indians' 12 losses were against top-10 teams.

Charlton County will search for its third head coach in the last five years, a stark difference from the majority of the century. The Indians were coached by Rich McWhorter from 1990 to 2018 before the coaching carousel began in Folkston.

Gordon Central might have hired the best-named head coach of the 2026 cycle. 

The school has hired defensive coordinator Billy Blizzard as its next head coach, according to the Gordon Gazette.

Blizzard has been Gordon Central's defensive coordinator for the last four seasons. He was part of a massive turnaround, as the Warriors broke a streak of three consecutive 0-10 seasons with a 4-7 record and trip to the playoffs in 2024.

Last season, Gordon Central made the playoffs again and finished 7-4, the program's best season since 2012.

Blizzard is a first-time head coach, but he has plenty of coaching experience. He served as defensive coordinator at East Paulding and Sprayberry before taking the job at Gordon Central.

Northside-Columbus announced it has hired longtime defensive coordinator Brycen Freeman as its new head coach. 

Freeman has led Northside's defense for the last seven years and coached for the team for the last decade. He is also in his 19th year in the Muscogee County School District, according to the school release.

Freeman is a first-time head coach taking over a program that has steadily declined the last three seasons. The Patriots went 10-2 and won a region championship in 2022 before going 6-5, 5-5 and 2-8 the next three seasons. 

Clinch County announced that it hired Rance Morgan, who was a multi-sport athlete for the school in the early 2000s, to lead the football program after the retirement of Jim Dickerson.