Coaching changes, state championships top 2015 high school sports stories

Historic turnarounds, coaching changes and a plethora of state championships won highlight the year in high school sports in the Bi-City.

Bobby Howard trades in blue for red

Bobby Howard had won 12 state baseball championships and 819 games in 31 seasons at Columbus High and had begun the 2015 season on the Blue Devils bench, so it was shocking news when he announced March 5 he was retiring immediately.

Howard said, "I couldn't give all the time it deserved. The job was demanding much more than I could give. CHS is not just a job, it is my life."

But Howard didn't stay retired for long. He joined Central's football coaching staff as the strength and conditioning coach, then, less than a week after Central baseball coach Roy Dixon resigned in late April after three seasons, the Red Devils asked Howard to take over their program.

Howard said he didn't intend to return to coaching so quickly, but he couldn't overlook the possibilities at Central.

"I still have a fire and a passion. All of the things are in place to be successful here," Howard said.

Howard is the fifth baseball coach Central has had in the past 10 seasons.

"It wasn't planned, I promise you," Howard said. "It happened. I just happened to be on campus, and then they had a need here and they were going to make a change regardless. This is what I do. I was just flattered that they asked me to coach again."

State champions aplenty

The Bi-City area is home to some of the best athletes in Georgia and Alabama and that was proven once again this year with a number of state championships won both by teams and an individual.

A track star, Central's Karon Delince was the individual champion. The speedster won in the AHSAA Class 7A 200-yard sprint.

Smiths Station won its first baseball state championship, beating Thompson in Montgomery in mid-May.

The Glenwood girls basketball team won its second straight AISA title in February. It is the program's sixth overall.

The Lady Gators' softball team returned to glory, winning its first title since 2011, the third in a string of three straight.

Both of Glenwood's soccer teams won state titles.

Two traditional volleyball powers won state titles as Columbus High and Calvary Christian both brought home the ultimate prize in GHSA and GICAA, respectively.

The Northside rifle team won a state crown in early April at Fort Benning.

Spencer's remarkable turnaround

Spencer hired Pierre Coffey away from Carver in January to coach football, and he went on to produce one of the greatest turnarounds in Bi-City history.

Consider the history he had to overcome:

Spencer went 1-9 the season before.

It had not been the postseason since 1993.

It had not had a winning season since 1977.

It had not won a playoff game since 1967, which was before desegregation.

The Greenwave took care of all that negative history with an 8-4 season and a win in the first round of the state playoffs.

Columbus' turnaround not too bad, either

The Columbus football team also overcame a lot of history with a 7-4 season and a berth in the Class 5A state playoffs.

Phil Marino led the Blue Devils to their first postseason berth since 1994 and their first winning season since 2005.

And the seven wins the Blue Devils earned were more than the last four seasons combined.

Carver set to hire Reggie Barlow

Carver made some news just before Christmas when it offered the head football coaching position to former Alabama State coach Reggie Barlow.

The position came open when Joe Kegler announced he would step down as coach but remain as the school's athletic director. Kegler went 28-7 in three seasons, but the Tigers failed to advance past the first round of the state playoffs the past two seasons.

Barlow, who was a member of the 2002 Super Bowl champion Tampa Bay Buccaneers, coached former Carver standout Isaiah Crowell at Alabama State in 2012 and 2013.

Barlow still has to go through the MCSD hiring process in January before his hiring becomes final.

Other schools make changes as well

Carver was not the only school in the Bi-City to find itself in need of a new football coach after the 2015 season.

Hardaway has already filled the position vacated when Jeff Battles decided to step down. The Hawks hired Michael Woolridge.

Smiths Station is looking for its replacement for Jason Dukes and Jordan is looking for Jim Brown's successor.

New coaches find success

Coffey was not the only new football coach to find success in his first season.

Alan Griffin led Pacelli to a 7-4 record and a berth in the Class A-private school playoffs.

Scott Pethtel guided Brookstone to a berth in the Class A-private school playoffs as the Cougars finished 6-5.

Chuck Stamey led Shaw to a place in the Class 5A state playoffs as the Raiders finished 5-6.

Signing for their future

Nine Bi-City football players signed Football Bowl Subdivision -- formerly Division I -- scholarships on national signing day in early February.

A total of 32 players signed to continue playing football.

The nine FBS signees were Mekhi Brown (Carver, Alabama), Khane Pass (Carver, Louisville), Chris Rehak (Pacelli, Western Kentucky), Christian Matthew (Chattahoochee County, Georgia Southern), TaQuon Marshall (Harris County, Georgia Tech), Tae Crowder (Harris County, Georgia), Tyler McGarr (Harris County, Cincinnati), Amonte Caban (Smiths Station, Louisville), Nigel Lawrence (Smiths Station, South Alabama).

Wright inducted

Central boys basketball coach Bobby Wright was inducted into the AHSAA Hall of Fame in March.

At the time, Wright had won 469 games in 23 seasons for the Red Devils.

Wright has led the Red Devils to the state semifinals five times and to the state championship game once.

He also spent 26 seasons as the defensive coordinator on Central's football team

Jackson honored

Edwin Jackson helped lead the Shaw Raiders to the 2001 GHSA state baseball championship. Since then, he has gone on to play in the major leagues for 13 seasons.

This past season, he finished the year with the Atlanta Braves. Currently, he is a free agent.

This fall, Shaw brought him back to the school to dedicate its baseball field to Jackson.

Kevin Price, 706-320-4493. Follow Kevin on Twitter @lesports

This story was originally published December 27, 2015 at 7:45 PM with the headline "Coaching changes, state championships top 2015 high school sports stories."