OAKWOOD, Ga. — Long-time high school coach, teacher and administrator Tony Wagner is retiring
Wagner, who has been in Hall County for the last 18 years, has made Johnson his final stop in a long career in education.
Wagner will retire as Johnson's athletics director and assistant principal in October. He says his final day will be Oct. 1.
He’s been at the helm of the Knights’ athletics department since 2019.
“I’ve been thinking about retirement for around a year now,” he said. “Once you start contemplating it, then it is time.”
Wagner began his career at Stockbridge High in 1998. He coached football, basketball and baseball there. He left Stockbridge in 2000 for Bainbridge to take a job on then-head football coach Bob Christmas’s staff. He followed Christmas to North Hall in 2001 and was there for three years. In 2004, he was hired by Stan Luttrell at Union County, and after one year there, he left for Peachtree Ridge. In 2006, West Hall's Tony Lotti pulled him to the Hot Gates as an assistant. After five years there, he went back to North Hall for a six-year stint until 2017, when he left to coach baseball at Johnson.
He’s been named STAR Teacher of the Year three times, among several other awards along the way.
“Over the past 27-plus years, I have had the great privilege and opportunity to work with really good people and teach and coach amazing young people,” he said. "I have been blessed to be a small part of great things such as building programs, watching young people grow into adults, and learning more than I ever taught from my colleagues, players, and students. Hopefully, I was able to make a positive impact during my time.”
