DAHLONEGA — Lumpkin County football has its next head coach.
On Monday, the Lumpkin County School Board unanimously approved Shane Williamson to take over the Indians program, which had been in a lurch since the May 17 announcement that previous coach Ty maxwell was resigning his position after just two years in charge.
Now the Indians will look to get their summer back on track under Williamson, who most recently coached Forsyth Central (2013-15), including leading the Bulldogs to their first winning season in 13 years when the program went 6-4 in 2014.
This will be the fourth head coaching position for Williamson, who also led Swainsboro High School (2002-2008) -- where he was named as the 2003 and 2007 Region Coach of the Year -- and Toombs County High School (2008-2013) -- where his 2008 team finished ranked No. 8 in Class AA. Williamson’s holds a creer record of 78-71. In addition to his head football coaching experience, Williamson's 20 years of educational service includes work as an assistant principal, athletic director, head wrestling coach, offensive coordinator, defensive coordinator, and position coach with stops in Swainsboro, Tift County, Appling County, and Montgomery County.
“We are excited to have such a high quality coach and high character man express interest in our vacancy," said Lumpkin County Schools Superintendent Dr. Rob Brown. "We had several excellent candidates, but the interview panel felt that coach Williamson’s experience, demeanor, and long-term plan for Lumpkin County was a perfect match for what our program needs. Coach Williamson has coached at a very high level and taken two programs deep into the playoffs. We hope that he can build on the foundation that is in place here and guide this program to new levels of success."
Lumpkin County is coming off a 2-8 record in 2015 -- though Maxwell led the Indians to a 5-6 mark in 2014 that included the program's first state playoff appearance since 2003. Williamson becomes the team's fourth head coach in five seasons, following Maxwell (2014-15), Brad Waggoner (2013) and Tommy Jones (2006-2012).
Coach Williamson earned a Bachelor’s in Education from Georgia Southern University and a Master’s in Educational Leadership from the University of Phoenix. Coach Williamson is married to Cynthia and they have three children, Jessica (13), Gage (11), and Taylor (8).
