Class A Div. II Blog: Alford unretires to return to Schley County

Schley County appeared to have an opening at head coach following the retirement of Darren Alford in January, but after reconsideration and the unretirement of the veteran head coach, he has returned to his coaching duties for the foreseeable future. Schley Countys Alford confirmed late last month that he has changed his mind about retiring after getting news that he could work part-time as a teacher and remain a coach full-time. He also stated that he never wanted to stop coaching.

I will coach football in some aspect as long as I am able, Alford said. My heart is with the program at Schley. I just got burned out having to teach a full day with all my duties. When the solution of part time came along, it was a no-brainer for me.

Alfords nine-year record is 72-34 with two region titles with a 2022 Class A Public runner-up finish in 2022. He spent 18 years in his hometown of Americus coaching and was the offensive coordinator for West Laurens before taking over at Schley County. Prior to coach Alfords arrival in February of 2016, Schley County was coming off an 0-10 seasonthe only winless season in program history. Coach Alford turned the program around quicklyproducing a 4-6 record in 2016 and then achieving winning seasons in seven of the next eight years. The Bobcats finished 2021 with a school-record 10-2 campaign and then earned back-to-back region titles in 2022 and 2023 with 12 wins in each of those seasons. Last year, Schley Countys young team that replaced the core from those two historic seasons finished 6-5. Alford compiled a 72-34 record in his nine seasons with the schoolaccounting for more than half of the programs wins in its 127-142 all-time record.

SPRING FORWARD

The winter sports season wraps up soon with bass fishing and rifllery on the horizon and it the spring season is entering the heart of regular season play for baseball, soccer, lacrosse, tennis, golf and track and field. Here is who has already won state titles this season. In Cheerleading, Lake Oconee Academy won the Class A Div. II title for its first-ever championship. In football, Bowdon made history by winning their third-straight state title. Emanuel County Institute won their second all-time state title and first since 2022 in fastpitch softball this fall. Additionally, Elite Scholars Academy won the Class A volleyball state. ESA is housed in Region 7 of Class A Div. II and this was the Jonesboro-based programs first-ever title.

Cross Country offers a glimpse into some of the strongest distance runners in the state heading into the heart of the track and field season. Although the field events, relays, sprints and jumps will all be needed in order to win a title, the dominance showed by the GMC boys and the Atlanta Classical girls during their cross country championship victories should give them a great opportunity to qualify across the various distance races. Atlanta Classical won its third-straight cross country championship, while GMC earned their first since 2018 and sixth all-time title.

In the winter sports, the Wilcox County girls and the Savannah boys were the big winners in basketball. For Wilcox County, it was the programs first-ever state title and Savannah snapped a championship drought that spanned all the way back to 1998.