By: Teddy Bishop

TheSouthernSportsEdition.com news services

The Glynn County Board of Education has hired Dr. Byron Slack to lead the Brunswick High School football program.

Dr. Slack succeeds Garrett Grady, who resigned as BHS head coach in December, after four years at the helm.

Dr. Slack recently sat down with me for an exclusive interview for the Southern Sports Edition.

“This is a program where there are already good players,” he said when asked what attracted him to Brunswick High.

“Not too many positions with a 9-3 record come open. I watched film on these guys and knew I would like to coach them.”

Slack comes to BHS after four years as head coach at Cook County, where he led the Hornets to four straight playoff appearances, including a semi-final appearance 2023.

The semis certainly sound good to Pirate Nation. Brunswick High has not made it past the second round of the playoffs since 1999 when Head Coach John Willis marched his Pirates—unbeaten—to the state championship game, only to lose to the Lowndes Vikings, 18-0.

Coach Slack compiled a 28-21 record at Cook County, and is 32-25 overall as a head coach.

Slack is originally from Anchorage, Alaska, but moved to Georgia going into high school.  He is one of eight children, including a twin brother.

He and his wife Frances have one son, Zion, a senior at Middle Georgia.

Slack graduated from the University of West Georgia, where he played football and was a first-team All-American.  He earned his Doctorate from Nova Southeastern University.

Slack has some 25 years of experience coaching at the high school level, starting as assistant coach at Dunwoody High School in 1996.

He also has experience in the college ranks, coaching two years at Minnesota State University, and three years at his alma mater, West Georgia.

In 2005, Slack accepted a coaching position at Camden County under Jeff Herron. He spent 13 years at Camden, first as the offensive line coach, then the defensive line coach, and ultimately, as defensive coordinator. He was on the staff of the Wildcats state championship teams of 2008 and 2009.

Slack also spent three years at Lowndes as Defensive Coordinator, which included a trip to the 7-A semi-finals in 2018, and a trip to the finals in 2019.

In 2020 (the Covid year), Slack accepted his first head coaching job, at Hillgrove where the Hawks finished with four wins and five losses.

In 2021, he became the Assistant Head Coach at Colquitt.

In 2022, Cook County tabbed him as its Head Coach.

When asked about his coaching staff, Slack said he hasn’t finalized it yet. “I have three or four guys I’m going to bring in,” he said. “The bulk of the staff will remain intact, but I may move some guys around.

“Coach Belker will return as offensive coordinator.” Belker, of course, has been instrumental in the Pirates putting up big numbers on offense.

“We will continue to run the spread,” Slack acknowledged. “We’ll run power and counter and take advantage of our two, one-thousand-yard rushers.”

“On defense,” Slack said, “we’ll be a 3-4 team, but we’ll be moving and slanting and bringing pressure from different spots.”

The Pirates have had trouble stopping the run between the tackles from time to time, but with Slack’s experience as a defensive coordinator, that may be a thing of the past.

When I asked Slack about the brawl with Gainesville, he didn’t shirk away from the question. “I’ve addressed it with the players,” he said, “and we’re going to own it. We’re going to own it, learn from it, and move on.”

“Everybody’s going to be watching this program,” he continued.  “What a great opportunity it is to show that it was an isolated incident, and that’s not who we are. We’re going to prove to everybody we will win football games the right way.”

I believe the Pirates have the right man for the job.