Colquitt coach on TCC with QB now eligible: ‘Maybe nobody can beat these guys’

All-state Thomas County Central quarterback Aidan McPherson, who transferred from Rome in the offseason, won his appeal with the GHSA Tuesday, making him eligible for his senior season in Thomasville.

“Before getting him, they seemed unbeatable,” Calhoun said. “Now (they) get an ACC commit who has obviously been really good at Rome, which is a really good school. I was in the same region with them when I was at Carrollton, and they’re extremely good and talented. So you add him to the mix and it’s like, ‘Oh my goodness gracious, maybe nobody can beat these guys.’”

The 5-foot-11, 185-pound quarterback committed to Duke in March after leading Rome to the 4A state semifinals. He threw for 3,096 yards and 31 touchdowns, while also rushing for 964 yards and 15 scores.

Before Tuesday, McPherson was denied eligibility by the GHSA because of a 2025 bylaw which made transfers ineligible for one year after their second high school change. McPherson played at Northwest Whitfield for his freshman season in 2023.

McPherson and his party appealed the ruling in person and were approved. Thomas County Central coach Justin Rogers declined to comment to the AJC, beyond saying he is “going to remain neutral.”

Calhoun, who has coached high school football for more than a decade, was surprised that McPherson won his appeal in person.

“If he had to go in front of them and appeal it, they must have done a good job because I was told, I guess historically, I think if you have to go in person, typically that doesn’t work out very well,” Calhoun said. “They must have had a good case because (GHSA) is definitely not going to just stamp anybody eligible, especially when there’s a lot of eyes on this one.”

The Colquitt head coach spoke about the nature of transfers more broadly in GHSA.

“The Georgia High School Association just wants to make sure that when anybody transfers — and obviously we’re talking football, but I mean you look at any sport, male and female — they want it done correctly and once it’s not, people get upset,” Calhoun said.

“I know everybody has kids who want to leave, and there’s a bunch of programs in certain areas that I think truly recruit themselves because of their facilities or academics or just how good their football program is, and coaching staff or sending kids to college. So I do get that, but it just needs to be done the right way. Who knows what’s true and what’s not true, and this and that — nobody wants their own players recruited and taken from them.”

Colquitt County will head to Thomas County Central on Aug. 21 for Week 1 of the 2026 high school football season. The Packers lead the all-time series, 18-13, with the most recent meeting coming in 2012.