Bob Sphire
Jason Bishop Show w Kipp Branch January 16
Camden On The Hunt…Again
By: Kipp Branch
TheSouthernSportsEdition.com news services
Camden Head Football Coach Bob Sphire enters year three and should start seeing big results from the massive rebuild he started in 2017.
Camden made big strides in year two and have the makings for a fantastic 2019 football season. Look for the Cats to make some noise in Georgia’s highest classification this fall. This is a very good football team folks.
Regular season schedule and my predictions:
08/23 at West Forsyth: Long bus ride for the Cats against a playoff team from last year. Camden won at home last year and they get off to a great start with a 24-17 win over the Wolverines.
08/30 at Wren (Piedmont, SC): Camden plays Wren again in Macon at Mercer University. Camden fell to Wren 25-14 last year, but something tells me that scoreboard will read a little differently this year. The Cats get some redemption by beating Wren 28-17 to go to 2-0 on the season.
09/06 vs Locust Grove: In the home opener for Camden you have Locust Grove rolling in and rolling out with a 35-7 beating. The Cats go to 3-0 on the season.
09/13 vs Richmond Hill: Richmond Hill travels to Chris Gilman Stadium trying to find some offense after losing most of it to graduation. The problem is the offense that graduated only scored 6 on Camden in 2018.
Camden beats down a team that will probably be in their region once the State reclassifies next season. Camden 38-7 to go to 4-0 on the season.
09/20 vs Brunswick: Brunswick High Head Coach, Sean Pender tells me that Camden County is the best team on the Brunswick schedule and that spells trouble for the Pirates. The Cats roll the Pirates 38-20 to go 5-0 on the season.
10/04 at Glynn Academy: The undefeated Cats play the undefeated Terrors at Glynn County Stadium in what should be a great game. Camden will pull out a 24-21 win to go to 6-0 on the season.
10/11 at Colleton County (Walterboro, SC): This one could get ugly in a hurry. Cats win 49-7 to go to 7-0 on the season.
10/18 vs Colquitt County: This will be the biggest home football game in Kingsland in years. The region opener and Colquitt coming in with a new staff, but with top talent.
Could the Cats make a statement here? I think they do and pull out a 24-20 win to go to 8-0 and send a message around the state.
10/25 vs Lowndes: The Vikings roll in for another huge home game for Camden. The Cats go to 2-0 in the region with a hard fought 21-17 win over Lowndes to go to 9-0 and 2-0 in the region.
11/08 at Tift County: The Cats are sky high coming off back to back huge wins at home, and run into a Blue Devil team that has beaten Lowndes and lost to Colquitt in region play.
The Cats fall in a classic 38-34 to go 9-1 and 2-1 in the region. Tift gets great news from Martin Stadium as Lowndes beats Colquitt and Tift wins region championship.
Region 1-AAAAAAA Standings:
Tift: 2-1
Camden: 2-1
Lowndes: 1-2
Colquitt: 1-2
Camden goes 9-1 and finishes with a number #2 playoff seed from region 1.
Opposing Coach View on Camden: “They were down when Bob took that job. Really down. You saw the signs last year that they were starting to get back to being Camden County again.
They have some talent on that football team. Will they get back to what they used to be just a few years ago? I believe they will and are on the right track.
Who will their QB be? They are pretty set everywhere else. I think they have as good of a shot as anyone in their region. They had Lowndes on the ropes at their place last year.
Colquitt has a new coaching staff, and Tift as an at large made it to the third-round last year. They have Colquitt and Lowndes at home. The game at Tift could be for the region championship don’t shake your head because that region is really good and right now with the Colquitt scenario pretty much up for grabs.
Bob is a very good coach and he is in a place where he can win big with the talent pool and resources available.”
New Lead Wildcat
By: Drayton Hogarth
TheSouthernSportsEdition.com news services
The Georgia high school football coaches carousel has been spinning all over with coaches coming and going since the close of the football season.
When Camden County’s previous coach, Welton Coffey, decided to make the move to the office of the athletic director, it opened a vacancy at one of the premiere coaching jobs in the southeast.
Well, that job has now been filled, and what a job the search committee did by bringing in Coach Bob Sphire, previously the head coach at North Gwinnett High School in Suwanee, Georgia.
There are many times when a coach will not want to enter a situation where the former coach is the new coach’s boss. Coach Sphire brings such a resume to the Camden program that there is not concern for being intimidated by that position.
Plus, Coach Sphire has a huge advocate in his corner in Coach Coffey. I reached out to the future Athletic Director Coffey to get his thoughts on the hire. “We are excited to be entering a new era of Wildcat football that is coming to Camden County. The committee did a great job in identifying the best candidate for the job. It was not an easy decision because of all of the tremendous candidates that had applied for this job. Coach Sphire brings a great pedigree, not only in the state of Georgia, but also while coaching in Kentucky as well. Coach Sphire and his family are very excited about the opportunity at Camden.”
I asked what factor pushed Coach Sphire to the top of the list? “It wasn’t just about his on the field record or accolades, but it was his ability to work and mold young men,” Coffey replied.
Of course, the question had to be asked as to what the Wildcats would look like on offense next year, given that the wing-t has been a staple for Camden, while Sphire was a big proponent of the spread offense. “The great thing about Coach Sphire is his ability to adapt. He will be able to meld his offense to the talent that we have coming back. The players will also be able to fit to his style of play. I will say there will be some philosophy changes both on the field and off, but most importantly any coach needs to be structured for his players.”
Coach Bob Sphire brings a high school career coaching record of 250-79 spanning over 26 years. Sphire has been the coach at North Gwinnett since 2006, leading the Bulldogs to the state title game in 2007 and 2013.
North Gwinnett would win five region championships in 7-AAAAA, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2013, 2014. Sphire’s record at North Gwinnett was 110-28. Coach Sphire has had notable players such as CJ Uzomah, Ja’wuan James, and Scott Hosch go on to play in both college football and in the NFL.
Camden County has made a big-time hire to help get the Wildcats back to the upper echelon of high school football. The Eastern Kentucky graduate is coming to Kingsland at a great time. The Wildcats have taken their share of lumps the last couple of years given a rare dip in football talent at the massive high school.
However, the rising junior and sophomore classes are chock full of big time athletes that should thrive in the spread and defensive system implemented by the tough-minded coach.
This is a time for Camden County to be excited! Coach Sphire should bring the Wildcats back to prominence once again and compete in the ultra competitive region 1-AAAAAAA. As everyone knows, if you can win in that region you can beat anyone in the state.
