Welcome to Week Zero (or Week One, depending on your school of thought and if you wanted to argue with Tommy Palmer every year about the calendar)…

There are a lot of fun matchups this weekend- rivals or just “need a game, got a game” kind of things. But, either way, the sprint to the Benz starts anew for 2025.

One of the most interesting aspects of the schools we all watch now is the new head coaches and staffs that have to be assembled on the fly- especially in the Spring. New Appling County Head Coach Tucker Pruitt talks about this during this week’s “Football Fridays in Georgia” podcast.

Steve Devoursney

Steve Devoursney has returned to coaching at Veterans High School

The turnover was around 20-percent or so- a little on the higher end in the year-to-year. But, within that, is the subset of folks that have come in from neighboring states to find out about Georgia high school football first hand.

Nine coaches have taken positions - this season, as far away as Kansas -- and coaches from various levels to take over here. One piece of trivia attached there is the new Westminster coach, Nelson Stewart, comes in from Isidore Newman in New Orleans for the retiring Gerry Romberg. Aaron Avery is now at Armuchee (Jacksonville-Bolles). Rusty Charpia is now at Cedar Shoals (Brookland-Cayce, South Carolina). Jaybo Shaw and Steve Devoursney return to take over at Dawson County and Veterans (Greenville, South Carolina and Orange Beach, Florida, respectively). Cameron Duke is now at Marietta (Edgewater, Florida). Justin Roberts takes over at ELCA from University High, Fla. Grovetown went to the Kansas JUCO ranks for D.J. Mayo and James Thomson comes from USF to coach at South Forsyth.

Nelson Shaw

Nelson Shaw left a successful program in New Orleans to take over at Westminster.

I reached out to Jaybo and Devo (which, as you think about it, sounds like a police drama from the 1990s) to find out what it’s like to be back. Steve is always to the point: “It is amazing. High school football in Georgia is special. Go Warhawks!”

Jaybo has gone back and forth over the South Carolina state line and replaces retired legend Sid Maxwell: “Never been more happy! Very thankful and blessed to be back. The transition to Dawson County has been great. Not only from a on the field football aspect but off the field as well. Being back in a 'one horse town' where everybody are Dawson County Tigers has been a breath of fresh air. My family and I are very fortunate to have this opportunity.”

Stewart leaves his alma mater in Newman where as head coach he was 162-54. He had state playoff appearances in all 19 seasons, advanced to the state semifinals and quarterfinals six times each and won seven district championships.

You can look at a recent example like Coffee’s Mike Coe and see how coaches adjust from crossing state lines. NCAA Division II legend David Dean is now putting his stamp on the Lanier County program to give us a window about college coaches and lending expertise and guidance. I’m really intrigued how Jarvis Jones will be at Carver-Columbus coming in to that perennial power…

And that’s just a small part of the discussion…

Coaches have gone to their next challenge and, for those of us that cover these schools day in and day out, we get to see how these new challenges unfold in real time. Are states really that different…? Are classes really that different…? For those that re-entered the state, how much has changed…?

All of this starts in the midweek as more than 400-plus schools chase championships… and we’ll all be there to watch it…

Can’t wait to share stories with you all season long… and we’ll see you at Mill Creek online Friday night to start things off for 2025!

Play it safe, everyone…  I’ll talk to you soon!