GAINESVILLE — For more than a decade, Jeremy Kemp has poured his heart and soul into Gainesville baseball, and while the coach is still a Red Elephant for now, he also knows that time is drawing to a close.
Kemp confided Tuesday that he will indeed leave Gainesville after the conclusion of the 2018 season for the same position at Cherokee Bluff, completing a 13-year stint with the Red Elephants that already includes plenty of success.
Kemp said it was not a decision taken lightly, calling it one of the toughest he's ever made.
"Gainesville is a special place; it's very special to me and always will be. Gainesville is still a great school," said Kemp, who will embark on his 10th season as Red Elephants head coach in 2018 after three seasons also spent as an assistant with the program. "I love what the school has done for me and my family; the community is great -- I coach youth teams in the city. This is not easy for me. But the opportunity to go to a new school and start something just kind of caught my attention, and it's something I'd like to be part of. But right now I'm only thinking about the 2018 season with Gainesville."
Kemp's decision to join the brand new Hall County school leaves Gainesville looking to replace another head coach after 16-year and state champion football coach Bruce Miller retired last week.
"Right now the focus is to fill the softball and football coaching positions," Red Elephants athletic director Adam Lindsey said. "But we'll hit the other vacancies hot and heavy very soon. The goal is to find the right people that fit with this athletic department and school; we owe it to the kids here to be thorough and make the right choices."
Taking over from five-time state champion coach Wayne Vickery (whose teams won crowns 1996-98 and 2001-02), the Red Elephants won multiple region championships (six in the last eight seasons) and were a playoff fixture under Kemp, whose 2015 squad played at Greenbrier for the Class AAAAA championship, falling in three games during a weather-delayed series in Augusta. Gainesville also reached the state semifinals three times between 2012-15.
Kemp's first head coaching position blossomed into an impressive match, as his Red Elephants teams also produced stellar individual talent, including 2014 MLB draft pick Michael Gettys.
"I am so thankful for (former Gainesville High principal) David Shumake, (former Gainesville City Schools Superintendent) Merrianne Dyer, the late (Gainesville High principal) Chris Mance, (former Gainesville High principal) LaCrisa Larkin and Wayne Vickery for giving me the opportunity to be the head coach here," Kemp said via release. "They believed in me as a young coach more than I believed in myself and I will forever be grateful to them. The last 13 years Gainesville city schools and community has been so special to me and my family.
"I also am thankful for my peers that I have been able to work along side of here at Gainesville. A lot of great coaches have walked, and continue to walk these halls.
"The Gainesville baseball program is the best thing I have been a part of. I have been very fortunate to have great assistant coaches like Adam Miller, who has been my pitching coach for 10 years, and Steven Cornett, who has been my hitting coach for seven years. We also have many parents that I will miss but most of all, I love my players. We have so many great ones but I love them all and I am thankful that I had the opportunity to be there coach.
"On that note I am so excited about this year! Excited about our team and finishing the drill! Go Big Red!"
Kemp will coach his largest-ever senior class in 2018 (nine players), as a team that went 22-9 and finished as a No. 2 seed in Region 8-AAAAAA looks to improve on last season's first round state playoff exit.
"We only lost two guys from last year, so I'm excited to see what they can do," Kemp said. "I've had a blast with this group. We didn't win as many games as we were used to doing last season, but they got so much better every time they played. And 22-9 is not too shabby. They're an awesome group, and I'm not an emotional person, but I got choked up talking with them about (leaving). But they understand; they were supportive and they're excited about this season too."
