Coaching shakeups in Georgia's high school football

ATLANTA - Bob Sphire met with his North Gwinnett football team Wednesday morning to tell them he’s headed to South Georgia to take over as head coach of the Camden County Wildcats. After eleven years and 110 wins as North’s head man, Sphire looks to rebuild a once proud Camden program.

“It was emotional in there because I love those kids. I wasn’t really looking. We’ve (North Gwinnett) got a great program coming back.” Sphire told HIGH 5 Sports

Sphire is just one of several coaches on the move this offseason. It’s not unusual for jobs to come available once the New Year hits, but this time high profile gigs like Roswell, Buford and Jefferson have opened up.

John Ford left Roswell earlier in the week for a great opportunity at perennial power Buford, and Wednesday, HIGH 5 Sports confirmed that Johns Creek head coach Matt Kemper will take over for Ford at Roswell. “I’ve gotta pinch myself every day.’ Ford said as he spent the afternoon meeting his staff and checking out the Wolves’ top-notch facilities.

Just a few miles away at Flowery Branch High School, head coach Ben Hall is spending his days ordering uniforms and meeting his players. The former Jefferson coach was a part of Lee Shaw’s staff back in the glory days at “The Branch”, but now he’s faced with reviving a once proud program and restoring respectability to the campus.

“Flowery Branch is a special place, this is a football community. You know we’re right here in the back yard of the Atlanta Falcons and the people here want a football team they can be proud of.”

Hall was 44-8 in four years as the head coach at Jefferson, a job that has become one of the best in the state. So far there’s no indication as to who might fill the Dragons’ coaching vacancy.

The coaching carousel continued to spin Wednesday-Collins Hill losing their coach Kevin Reach to Monroe Area- just one of many changes to come as new coaching opportunities arise around Georgia. Sphire said coaching jobs are different because they come with a built-in family, so it’s never easy to say goodbye.

“If I were working at IBM and Microsoft came at me with this kind of offer nobody would think a thing about it. But, I’m here and you’re coaching kids and they’ve helped you get here, so it is different.

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