Northgate’s Whitley among 4 new coaches in Class 5A

Number of hires: 4

Best hire: Kevin Whitley, Northgate

Hardest to replace: Julian Washington, Arabia Mountain

Best job: Northgate

Toughest job: Greenbrier

Most interesting: Kevin Whitley is back in high school coaching after five years on staff at alma mater Georgia Southern, where he had been a star player. Whitley was NFL star Eric Berry’s high school coach for a time, but his work at Stockbridge stands up well against any job a head coach has produced this century. Stockbridge averaged 2.3 wins in the 10 years before Whitley’s arrival, then 9.9 wins in Whitley’s 10 seasons. At Northgate, a Coweta County school, Whitley finds a program in better shape than Stockbridge was. The Vikings were 7-4 last season under Mike McDonald, who retired.

Region 1

*Greenbrier hired Thomson offensive coordinator Sean Tiernan, an alumnus, to replace Tony Kramer, who retired. Tiernan spent six seasons at Thomson, winning a state title 2022, and 11 seasons at Burke County, winning a state title in 2011. He was a catcher on Greenbrier’s 1999 state-winning baseball team and played baseball in college. Kramer was Greenbrier’s coach for nine seasons. The Wolfpack was 1-9 in 2023.

Region 2

None

Region 3

*Northgate hired Georgia Southern defensive backs coach Kevin Whitley to replace Mike McDonald, who retired. Whitley went to Georgia Southern, where he was an All-America player, in 2019 after leading Stockbridge to five region titles. Stockbridge had never won a region title until after hiring Whitley in 2009. Whitley previously was head coach at Creekside for six seasons and won two region titles with Eric Berry as his quarterback. Northgate finished 7-4 last season, the sixth under McDonald.

Region 4

*Arabia Mountain hired former Tri-Cities athletic director and coach Kenneth Miller to replace Julian Washington, who is now at Everman (Texas) as defensive coordinator. Miller was alma mater Tri-Cities’ head coach from 2008 to 2017 and had a 46-58-1 record. He was the school’s athletic director through 2022 but demoted after a physical altercation with a student who brought a gun to school. The Georgia Professional Standards Commission cleared Miller of wrongdoing. Arabia Mountain originally hired Lithia Springs offensive coordinator Kerry Hood but voided the contract when Hood was arrested in May on charges of sexual assault in Douglas County. Arabia Mountain was 9-2 with a region title last season.

Region 5

*East Paulding promoted offensive coordinator Van Spence to replace Chris Hirschfield, who is not coaching this season. Spence joined East Paulding’s staff in 2022 after six seasons at Paulding County. Before that, he was on McEachern’s staff for 15 years, mostly as offensive coordinator. East Paulding was 9-12 in two seasons under Hirschfield and reached the playoffs last season for the first time since 2018.

Region 6

None

Region 7

None

Region 8

None

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