GAINESVILLE — The Gainesville High football and baseball programs know the exact directions of their futures after Tuesday's Gainesville City School Board meeting.
The Board officially approved Heath Webb as Red Elephants head football coach and announced that longtime Gainesville baseball assistant Adam Miller will take over the team following the 2018 season.
(NOTE: To watch an interview with both coaches, click "play" on the video box above.)
Webb joins Gainesville from Winder-Barrow, where he built the Bulldoggs from a team that won six games over the previous six years into a perrenial playoff program. The newest Red Elephant will meet with players, families and boosters on Wednesday before joining the school fulltime later this month.
Meanwhile, Red Elephant baseball will stay in familiar hands as Miller takes over from Jeremy Kemp for the 2018-19 school year.
Gainesville's pitching coach for the last 10 seasons, Miller has been with the program for 15 years total and is elated to get a shot at leading the Red Elephants.
"I'm thrilled to death; it's a special place. I'm thankful for the opportunity and understand it comes with big expectations," Miller said. "There's a lot expectation around Gainesville athletics as a whole, but the baseball program is one of the top in the state regardless of classification. And I'm excited to see where we can go with it."
Kemp, who will join Cherokee Bluff next season, called it a great decision.
"He's been ready to do this a while, but he wanted to do it at Gainesville and to see him get that shot is great," Kemp said of Miller. "He's going to do a great job.
"His whole demeanor is what makes him a great coach. He stays calm, never panics, and he handles kids the way you want them handled. He works extremely hard too. I'm just thrilled to death for him."
The hires were the second and third of the school year, as new softball coach Katie Jo Gentry was also recently introduced. Gentry spent the 2017 season as the head softball coach at Stephens County where she led the Lady Indians to a 25-10 record and berth in the Class AAAA state championship series, where they lost to Northside.
Also on Tuesday the school board opted to pursue the addition of video boards for athletic facilities at City Park, Ivey-Watson, the school's main gym and softball stadium.
