Jason Bishop
Camden County Wildcats Coach’s Show w Jeff Herron August 26
Camden County Wildcats Coach’s Show w Jeff Herron August 18
Pouncing Cats
By: Jason Bishop
TheSouthernSportsEdition.com news services
The Camden County Wildcat football program underwent a metamorphosis this past offseason.
Bob Sphire resigned as Head Coach and Camden hired legend Jeff Herron to replace him. The Spread Offense becomes a thing of the past for Camden and they will re-institute the Wing-T Offense. You will also see less finesse play and more of a ‘smashmouth’ brand of football in Kingsland.
Sphire was coming off of a 5-6 season with the Wildcats. He took Camden to 3 playoff appearances during his 4-year tenure. Those 3 playoff appearances ended up all being losses in the first round to Walton, Marietta and Parkview, respectively.
Sphire was 23-20 during his time at Camden, but was 3-9 in the region. Sphire’s only wins in the region were against Tift County. He was 3-1 against the Blue Devils.
Sphire went 0-8 against region foes and powerhouses Lowndes and Colquitt in his time as head coach.
And so, the page turns and enters the Camden new coach, Jeff Herron.
Herron was the head coach at Camden from 2000-2012. During his tenure with the Wildcats, he won 12 straight region titles and 3 state championships.
The legendary coach returns to Camden with a career record of 312-54.
During Herron’s first stay in Kingsland, he had a record 154-18. At one point the Wildcats won 58 straight regular season games under Herron, which is a Georgia record.
Herron had the Wildcats ranked inside the top 25 nationally six different seasons and the Camden program was named the program of the decade in the state of Georgia in the 2000’s.
The Wildcats are going to get back to being a run-oriented team and will have Senior, Jamie Felix to lead the way at running back. Felix has been recruited by everyone that matters and will be the main weapon in Jeff Herron’s offense.
Camden will head over to TitleTown, USA to take on Valdosta in a scrimmage on August 13.
The Wildcats kickoff for real the next week on August 20th against Columbia at Chris Gilman Stadium in Kingsland.
Camden will host Beacon Hill (VA), Oakleaf (FL), Warner Robins, Colquitt and Lowndes. The Wildcats will pay visits to Glynn, Marietta, Coffee, and Tift.
My prediction is that Jeff Herron will be able to get the building blocks in place this season to make state title runs in the following two seasons. Look for Camden to finish 8-4 with a #2 seed in the region, a home playoff game in the first round and a playoff win.
Running Into The Future
By: Jason Bishop
TheSouthernSportsEdition.com news services
Despite the playoff appearance last season, the Camden County Wildcats are looking to put last season and the past few years behind them.
Camden finished 5-6 last year and had head coach Bob Sphire resign in the offseason. This left the Wildcat program looking for answers and trying to rebuild the mystique and tradition of the program.
To accomplish this the Wildcats hired former Camden coach Jeff Herron. Herron is a legend in Camden, mostly due to him bringing home three state titles in his original tenure. He has a won a total of five.
With the return of Herron, this also means the return of the Wing-T offense to Chris Gilman Stadium. No one is expected to benefit more from that offense than returning RB Jamie Felix.
Felix is a great athlete and he exploded onto the national scene his sophomore year, especially when he rushed for over 200 yards in a playoff loss to eventual state champ, Marietta.
Felix did not see much playing time last season due to injury; a nagging hamstring kept the Camden star sidelined for a bulk of the season.
When Felix did return, he was still not 100% but even playing injured in the Tift and Lowndes games you could see just how talented this kid is.
Felix, almost single handedly, kept Camden in the Lowndes game, gathering big first down after big first down late in that game. Camden eventually fell by a touchdown in that game.
The next week, in the playoffs, Jamie Felix broke a huge, long, late game run to tie the game against Parkview. Camden eventually fell in that game as well in overtime.
Felix will be a monster in the Wing-T and will not have to carry the entire rushing load by himself as the Wing-T’s design. Plus, Camden looks to be deep at running back.
Felix has offers from every school under the sun but is looking at Penn State, Florida State, Miami and Florida.
Whichever school lands Jamie Felix, they will not only be getting a 5-star RB, but will also be getting a 5-star centerfielder and shortstop. That’s right, Jamie Felix is also one of the best baseball players in the country as well.
Felix has a bright future in front of him and has the temperament and personality to grab ahold of his opportunities and complete whatever dreams he may wish to attain.
In short, Jamie Felix is a great football player and athlete, but even more important is a great student and person.
The Truth
By: Kipp Branch
TheSouthernSportsEdition.com news services
It has been an interesting week in the crowded fish tank known as the local sports market in Coastal Georgia.
It is a crowded field indeed, where different outlets rush to be the first to claim journalistic “Gold”. I understand the marketing side of things, but is it really necessary in tiny Coastal Georgia?
Jeff Herron was recently named as the new head coach of Camden County. That story was broke by Jason Bishop live on K-Bay 106.3 FM in Kingsland on February 6th, 2021. Bishop also announced live last Saturday that an announcement was coming on Monday.
Another outlet claimed that they broke this story on Monday morning before the Camden school system made it official. That was just plain wrong.
Does it really matter who broke the story of Herron returning to Camden? Not really because it was the worst kept secret in Coastal Georgia since Christmas. I just wanted to set the record straight for those who think it matters.
I love local sports in Coastal Georgia, particularly my Brunswick High Pirates, especially BHS football.
I have been fortunate enough to be able to bring the call of Pirate football over the local airwaves for 151 Friday nights since 2007 with my broadcast partner Teddy Bishop, who has the Home Broadcast Booth in Glynn County Stadium named after him.
Many people have their hobbies. Many fish, hunt, ride bikes, etc. My hobby is Brunswick High football. Don’t believe me ask my wife Sandra, who files missing person reports on me during the fall football season.
This article I write every week for Southern Sports Edition is also a hobby for me to be able to give my opinions on a wide range of sports topics of interest to me in our area.
Nobody in Coastal Georgia is taking Stephen A. Smith’s spot on ESPN so let’s make it about the kids and the adults who make it their professional mission to help them develop.
Also, nobody in Coastal Georgia is going to be bringing us the SEC game of the week on CBS any time soon. Point being we take ourselves a little too serious at times in the tiny sports fish tank of Coastal Georgia.
And let me close with this once again. Jason Bishop broke the “Jeff Herron back to Camden” story live on K-Bay 106.3 FM in Kingsland on February 6th, 2021.
I heard it with my own ears. I can’t make this stuff up folks.
The Return Of Jeff Herron
By: Jason Bishop
TheSouthernSportsEdition.com news services
The Camden County Wildcat football program has found a new Head Football Coach and it is the man who built the program.
Bob Sphire resigned as Head Coach earlier in the month.
Sphire was coming off of a 5-6 season with the Wildcats.
In the 2020 campaign Camden suffered blowout losses to Coffee, Warner Robins and Colquitt in three consecutive games.
In the Warner Robins game, Camden was put on a running clock in the 4th quarter for the first time in the program’s history.
Sphire took Camden to 3 playoff appearances during his 4-year tenure. Those 3 playoff appearances ended up all being losses in the first round to Walton, Marietta and Parkview, respectively.
The former Camden Head Coach was 23-20 during his time at Camden, and 3-9 in the region.
Sphire went 0-8 against region foes and powerhouses Lowndes and Colquitt in his time as head coach.
And so, the page turns and enters the Camden new coach who is a familiar face, Jeff Herron.
Herron was the head coach at Camden from 2000-2012. During his tenure with the Wildcats he won 12 straight region titles and 3 state championships.
Jeff Herron comes back to the Georgia Coast after being on the Tennessee Tech staff this past year.
The legendary coach returns to Camden with a career record of 312-54.
Herron’s last head coaching job was at T.L. Hanna High School in South Carolina and in 2 years there he amassed a 25-2 record. A year before that he won his 5th state championship with Grayson in Atlanta going 14-1.
Herron was the Head Coach at Oconee High School from 1997 to 1999 and won his first state title there. He went 33-6 at Oconee. When Herron took over the Oconee program the school had won a total of 8 games in 4 years.
During Herron’s first stay in Kingsland, he had a record 154-18. At one point the Wildcats won 58 straight regular season games under Herron, which is a Georgia record.
Herron had the Wildcats ranked inside the top 25 nationally six different seasons and the Camden program was named the program of the decade in the state of Georgia in the 2000’s.
The Wildcat program is looking to become a consistent state power once again and have returned to their roots to do so.
Leaving The Pack
By: Jason Bishop
TheSouthernSportsEdition.com news services
The Camden County Wildcat football program will be seeking a new Head Football Coach in the coming weeks.
Bob Sphire resigned as Head Coach Thursday morning.
Sphire was coming off of a 5-6 season with the Wildcats. The 2020 season was one full of ups and downs. Camden knocked off defending state champ Marietta midway through the season and also beat both Raines and Oakleaf. Raines and Oakleaf were playoff teams in Florida.
However, blowout losses to Coffee, Warner Robins and Colquitt in three consecutive games were certainly a low for the season.
In the Warner Robins game, Camden was put on a running clock in the 4th quarter for the first time in the program’s history.
Sphire took Camden to 3 playoff appearances during his 4-year tenure. Those 3 playoff appearances ended up all being losses in the first round to Walton, Marietta and Parkview, respectively.
The Camden Head Coach was 23-20 during his time at Camden, but was 3-9 in the region. Sphire’s only wins in the region were against Tift County. He was 3-1 against the Blue Devils
The Wildcats now former coach went 0-8 against region foes and powerhouses Lowndes and Colquitt in his time as head coach.
Camden seemed to play better at the end of the season, going toe to toe with Lowndes and maybe a personal foul call away from winning that game.
The Wildcats also played tough in the Parkview playoff game, erasing a huge 4th quarter deficit to eventually fall in overtime.
Camden’s wins this season came against Glynn Academy, Raines, Oak Leaf, Marietta and Tift. The Wildcats fell to Richmond Hill, Coffee, Warner Robins, Colquitt, Lowndes and Parkview.
Sphire inherited a team that was coming off of a 1-9 season when he took the job in 2017.
Frederica Academy Knights Coach’s Show w Brandon Derrick December 16
Frederica Academy Knights Coach’s Show w Brandon Derrick December 9
Frederica Academy Knights Coach’s Show w Brandon Derrick December 2
