Football

Herron comes back to Cookeville as a highly decorated head coach with a 312-54 record, winning five state championships and the only Georgia prep coach to win state championships with three different schools.

 

“I kid, but he might have had to rent a small U-Haul trailer to bring all of his trophies,” Alexander said. “The unique thing about Jeff was he was a GA here at Tech back in the early ‘80s for Coach Don Wade’s last season and carried over into Gary Darnell’s first year here. He met his wife, who is from Livingston, while he was a GA, so they have family here. They’re moving back to Livingston, which I think is awesome.

 

“Jeff left here and started working with a guy named Jimmy Dorsey, who was an all-conference offensive lineman here at Tech. Jimmy gave him his first job as an assistant coach and, from there, Jeff just took off. He has won state championships at three different schools in Georgia, and he’s the second-winningest coach in the state of Georgia as he’s won over 300 games.”

 

Alexander continued, “Jeff’s going to be a tremendous recruiter for us in the state of Georgia,” Alexander said. “There’s a ton of name recognition and respect there for Jeff. We’ve known each other for a long time, going back 20-plus years.”

 

Most recently, Herron was the head coach at T.L. Hanna High School in South Carolina, going 25-2 over two seasons. The year before that, he took Grayson (Ga.) to the AAAAAAA championship with a 14-1 record, including two games nationally televised on ESPN.

 

Herron earned his bachelor’s degree from Emory and Henry in 1982, where he was a four-year starter, team captain and a second-team All-ODAC selection at defensive back.

 

After his GA tenure at Tech, Herron went on to coach at McEachern High School in Georgia, going 51-8-1. The team’s defense led the state in points allowed in 1987 and 1988. From 1997 to 1999, he was the head coach at Oconee County High, winning a state championship in 1999 and going 33-6 after the team had won a total of eight games in the four years before his hiring.

 

Herron spent 13 seasons as the head coach at Camden County High, going 154-18 and reaching the playoffs every season. The team won three state championships in Georgia’s highest class, won 12 consecutive region titles, won a Georgia-record 58 straight games in the regular season and a 28-game overall winning streak. USA Today ranked the team in its Top 25 in six of his last eight seasons there and made four televised appearances on ESPN. The school was named the team of the decade in Georgia for the 2000-2010 era.