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Leading candidates for coaching awards - GHSF Daily
With two weeks remaining in the regular season, many coaches are doing jobs worthy of extra attention,. There's a long way to go, but here is a subjective class-by-class look at some of the leading coach-of-the-year candidates. Of these 40, thirteen are in their first seasons, and 24 have been on the job three seasons or fewer:
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Class A (private)
1. Todd Winter, Holy Innocents': In Winter's third season, the Golden Bears are 8-0 and ranked No. 2. They are 42.5 points better than projected, the most of any Georgia team in any class. They defeated four-time defending champion Eagle's Landing Christian 42-41 on Sept. 20 to end ELCA's streaks of 59 victories in region games and 41 wins against Class A opponents. Winter, an Indiana native, came from Pinecrest Academy, where his teams were 35-19 in five seasons.
2. Josh Alexander, Athens Academy: Alexander this season became the seventh-fastest coach to reach 50 Georgia victories (50-7). He has taken the Spartans to consecutive state finals. Now, they are No. 1 in the rankings for the first time since 1979. Alexander was hired away from Archer, where he was the offensive coordinator on the 2014 state runner-up team.
3. Jay Poag, Christian Heritage: Poag, a Dalton native was promoted to head coach in 2016 to succeed younger brother Preston Poag (now at North Murray) and went 1-9 after graduation and transfers depleted the program. Now, the Lions are 7-1 and ranked No. 9 with victories over top-10 teams in three consecutive weeks (Trion, Bowdon, North Cobb Christian).
4. Jim Collis, Savannah Country Day: In Collis' first season, the Hornets are 8-0 for the first time since 1980 and can sweep its Class A city rivals Savannah Christian and Calvary Day for the first time since 1995 by beating Calvary this week. Then next week, SCD will play Johnson County for a region title that would be the Hornets' first since 1980. Collis came from Westminster, where he was the offensive coordinator on the 2015 Class AAA championship team.
5. Keith Hatcher, Mount de Sales: Hatcher, who got the head job in 2014, won a city title for his alma mater this season with victories over Tattnall Square, Stratford Academy and First Presbyterian. That's the first time that's happened since 1997. Mount de Sales is 8-0.
Athens Academy
Athens Academy is an independent, co-educational school for students in K3 through 12th grade, located on a beautiful 152-acre campus in Northeast Georgia. For over 50 years, Athens Academy has pursued its mission of Excellence with Honor through academics, athletics, fine arts, and service and leadership.
