Jaybo Shaw’s return to Georgia headlines 10 coaching changes in Class 3A

Number of hires: 10

Best hire: Jaybo Shaw, Dawson County

Hardest to replace: Mark Stroud, Calvary Day

Best job: Calvary Day

Toughest job: Johnson (Gainesville)

Most interesting: Is Cedar Grove’s dynasty over? It looked that way last season, when the Saints – winners of five Class 3A championships between 2016 and 2023 – finished 3-7 and missed the playoffs under new coach Roderick Moore, who hardly had a chance. More than a dozen players transferred after Cedar Grove declined to promote quickly from its previous staff. In January, Cedar Grove made another change, bringing in former 16-year Morehouse head coach Rich Freeman to rebuild what had been DeKalb County’s most successful program. “I’m from Atlanta, born and raised, and most of my fondest memories came from the Atlanta and DeKalb County area, and I just know about the history and tradition over at Cedar Grove and how well they’ve done over the past 20 years,” Freeman told the AJC. “There’s some fertile ground on the east side [of Atlanta] in terms of talent.”

Region 1

None

Region 2

*Trinity Christian hired Starr’s Mill defensive coordinator Jeff Schmidlkofer to replace Kenny Dallas, who became Hebron Christian's head coach. Schmidlkofer has been on Starr’s Mill’s staff since 2014 through six region titles and two state semifinal finishes. He also was a long-time lacrosse head coach. Trinity Christian won the Class A Private championship in 2021 and was 2-9 last season after electing to play in a higher classification.

Region 3

*Calvary Day promoted offensive coordinator Jason Cameron to replace Mark Stroud, who retired. Cameron was a head coach at Jenkins (2017-19) and Vidalia (2020-21), where he had a 49-22 record with three region titles. His 2019 Jenkins team was the first from Savannah-Chatham County Schools to reach a semifinal since 1969. He had been Jenkins’ offensive coordinator for five years before getting the head coaching job. Cameron joined Calvary Day’s staff in 2023, the year Calvary was 13-1 and reached the Class 3A semifinals. Stroud’s career record was 273-111. His win total ranks 17th in GHSA history.

*Islands promoted five-year assistant Rusty Perry to replace DeShawn Printup, who remained at Islands as a teacher. Perry has coached at Bethesda, alma mater St. Andrew and Richmond Hill. Islands has lost 34 consecutive games.

Region 4

*Westside of Augusta hired Lakeside of Evans assistant head coach Cedric Mason to replace Lee Hutto, who became Evans’ head coach. Mason began working at Lakeside out of Bethune-Cookman and worked there six seasons, holding several positions, including offensive coordinator. Westside was 23-20 in Hutton’s four seasons, 8-3 in 2024.

Region 5

*Cedar Grove hired Drew defensive coordinator Richard Freeman to replace Roderick Moore. Freeman was Morehouse’s coach for 16 seasons and was the 2018 SIAC coach of the year after leading Morehouse to a 7-3 record. In 2011, he led Morehouse to its first NCAA Division II playoff berth. He stepped down after the 2022 season following a 1-9 finish. Before getting the Morehouse job, Freeman was on staffs at Tennessee State, Alabama State, Miles and Lane. After winning five state titles in eight years, Cedar Grove finished 3-7 in Moore's lone season. Moore is teaching at DeKalb County’s Elizabeth Andrews High and not coaching this season.

*Luella hired Crisp County offensive coordinator Will Richardson to replace Craig Coleman, who became Mundy’s Mill’s head coach. Richardson had been a head coach at Richland Northeast in Columbia, South Carolina, for two seasons before joining Crisp in 2021. He was Westlake’s offensive coordinator three seasons before that. Luella has finished 6-6 the past two seasons, winning playoff games in consecutive years for the first time in history.

Region 6

*Dawson County hired Greenville, South Carolina, coach Jaybo Shaw to replace Sid Maxwell, who retired. Shaw is a former Georgia Tech and Georgia Southern quarterback who got into coaching under his father, Lee Shaw, at Rabun County and was head coach there from 2019 to 2021. His three-season record at Rabun was 35-5. Shaw became Wayne County’s coach in 2022 and led a team that had just gone 0-9 to a 10-3 finish. Wayne County was 7-4 in Shaw’s second season. Shaw’s lone Greenville team was 2-9. Dawson County won two region titles in 10 seasons under Maxwell and was 4-6 last season.

*Johnson of Gainesville promoted offensive coordinator Donovan Odom to replace William Harrell, who is now a linebackers coach at Burke County. Odom is a Florida native in his 12th season coaching. He worked on staffs at alma mater Palatka, Creekside and Peniel Baptist in Florida before coming to Georgia to join Johnson’s staff in 2021. Johnson is 4-45 this decade with no region victories.

Region 7

*Heritage of Ringgold promoted defensive coordinator Jeremy New to replace E.K. Slaughter. New has been on Heritage’s staff for his entire coaching career, covering 17 years since the school opened in 2008. Heritage was 71-49 in 11 seasons under Slaughter and 6-5 last season. Slaughter is now executive director of Legacy Builders in Dalton and is not coaching.

Region 8

*West Hall hired Lumpkin County assistant head coach Naji Lyon to replace Krofton Montgomery. Lyon has worked his 17 seasons with Lumpkin County coach Heath Webb in stops that also included Gainesville (2018-21) and Winder-Barrow (2014-17). West Hall was 17-53 in seven seasons with Montgomery and 4-6 last season. Montgomery is now Monroe Area’s offensive line coach.