SUN Coaches Podcast

Coach Strickland is a winner. Period. A native of Clinch County, Strick cites coaches Don Tison and Cecil Barber (2 legends) as being the most influential in his desire to enter this profession. He started with Jeff Lee at Twiggs and went from there. Working with great staffs and learning from some of the best, Coach Strickland won state titles as and assistant before going on to becoming a HFC and one of the most successful ones we have in the state now. I hope you enjoy Coach Jason Strickland!

Coach Soliday is one of the last of the hard. He is originally from West Virginia where he played high school football, basketball, and ran track. He played college football as well. He started his career as a GA, coached for 4 years at his alma mater and headed south to interview and stopped in Turner County. He spent the next 30 years as a HFC in GA winning 2 state titles and 232 games to date. He is plain spoken, funny as hell, and a great man and coach. I hope you enjoy Coach Soliday's story!

Coach King is a younger LEGEND. He is a native of Cedartown where he played three sports in high school. He went on to play QB at Carson Newman collegiately before starting his high school career. Coach King has also had two stops in the college ranks as an assistant before returning to college. He has won 2 state championships as a HFC and is averaging 12.8 wins a year as a HFC. I hope you enjoy Coach Joey King's story!

Coach Gillespie has done a lot at many levels. A native of NE GA, Coach Gillespie graduated from Rabun County High School and walked on at the University of Georgia. After college, he went on to be an assistant for some of the legends of the game like George Bobo, Charles Winslette, and Rodney Walker before striking out on his own. Coach has been a college coach at Georgia Southern twice and always returned to the high school game. I hope you enjoy Coach Gillespie's story!

Coach Barden is one of the finest men in the business. A native of Habersham County, Frank played his college ball at West Georgia and started his coaching career with the legendary Coach Rodney Walker. Coach Barden has gone on to be one of the winningest coaches in Georgia High School football playing for state titles five times and winning the 1999 title at Cartersville. Coach Barden is a man of strong faith and that is evident in hearing his story. I hope you enjoy it!

Coach Teague is a self-proclaimed "hillbilly" raised in NW GA. As a Billy Henderson disciple, Coach Teague was mentored early in his career by one of the Legends of Georgia High School football. He took the model he learned from Coach Henderson and employed it as the HFC at Lafayette, Swainsboro, and Carrollton to have a Hall of Fame career. I hope you enjoy Rayvan Teague's story as much as I enjoyed recording it!

Coach Rich Fendley is a coach's kid. A native of Warner Robins GA, Coach Fendley played at Warner Robins and then at West Georgia. Rich has been one of the best weight room guys in the business over the past 30 years and has led the Bowdon Red Devils to 3 consecutive sate football titles. His story is one of perseverance and overcoming adversity. I hope you enjoy Coach Rich Fendley!

Franklin Stephens is native of Keysville GA in Burke County. He is now the HFC at Burke County High School. A two time All American at Georgia Southern, Coach Stephens would return to Burke County to begin his coaching career. Coach has won over 180 games and 2 state titles has a HFC and taken 4 different schools to the semi-finals or further over his career as a HFC. He is definitely one of the last of the hard! I hope you enjoy his story!

Coach Pardue is a native of Kentucky. Coach has coached high school ball in Kentucky, Alabama, and Georgia. He has also coached at the college level at the University of Kentucky and as the HFC at Lagrange College. Coach Pardue won a state title as an assistant at Lagrange before taking over as the HFC and going on to win 3 state titles as the HFC. I hope you enjoy Coach Pardue's story!

Coach Walker is the son of a legend that has become one in his own right. He has currently racked up 171 wins and 3 state titles as a HFC. A graduate of Stephens County High School, Coach Walker went on to play QB at Tusculum. He then started his high school coaching career under the legendary Dan Pitts at Mary Persons High School in Forsyth GA. Coach Walker then went with his father Coach Rodney Walker to Sandy Creek High School as the OC and later became the HFC. He is now the HFC at Newnan HS and continues to pour into the young people he leads. I hope you enjoy one of the younger LEGENDS!