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.