HS coaching talent moving to ATL

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The top coaches are in single high school systems. Metro ATL schools are the lower paid schools and why they have the higher turnover.


I'm confused. Three of those schools are Metro ATL or very close, my company pays significant property taxes in three of those counties (Cobb, Carroll, and Bartow - Cartersville).

Buford is in Gwinnett County, which is metro ATL. Rockmart and Cedartown are in Polk County which is one county past metro ATL, bordering Paulding County.

So about half of that list is metro ATL or bordering metro ATL. And about the next ten highest paid coaches are from the ATL area.
 
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I'm confused. Three of those schools are Metro ATL or very close, my company pays significant property taxes in three of those counties (Cobb, Carroll, and Bartow - Cartersville).

Buford is in Gwinnett County, which is metro ATL. Rockmart and Cedartown are in Polk County which is one county past metro ATL, bordering Paulding County.

So about half of that list is metro ATL or bordering metro ATL. And about the next ten highest paid coaches are from the ATL area.
Mostly boosters providing the additional funds, housing, cars, etc
 
Mostly boosters providing the additional funds, housing, cars, etc


Agreed.

And, yes, those numbers may be a mix of "school salary" and "additional funds".

Though the fact that the highest salary is CARROLLTON makes me laugh, as housing and vehicles are EASY out there...
 
I'm confused. Three of those schools are Metro ATL or very close, my company pays significant property taxes in three of those counties (Cobb, Carroll, and Bartow - Cartersville).

Buford is in Gwinnett County, which is metro ATL. Rockmart and Cedartown are in Polk County which is one county past metro ATL, bordering Paulding County.

So about half of that list is metro ATL or bordering metro ATL. And about the next ten highest paid coaches are from the ATL area.
You know what I mean...

1. Carrollton - Single High School in system
2. Rome - Single High School in system
3. Gainesville - Single High School in system
4. Buford - Single High School in system
5. Valdosta - Single High School in system
6. Colquitt - Single High School in system
7. Dublin - Single High School in system

North Cobb is the only school on the list that is in either Fulton County, Atlanta City, Gwinnett County, Dekalb County, Clayton County, or Cobb County Schools. As far as I can tell, only Cedartown and Rockmart are in the same school system.
 
I hear guys up there talk about the pay difference in city schools vs county schools, but I forget which one is higher
 
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That's probably it. I just thought Dublin was in Laurens county along with East Laurens and West Laurens. Idk what those pay
Buford is typically the one that gets confused as part of a larger district.

You notice what you don't see is Grayson, Milton, and Langston Hughes. Those schools are part of large districts.
 
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Buford is typically the one that gets confused as part of a larger district.

You notice what you don't see is Grayson, Milton, and Langston Hughes. Those schools are part of large districts.
Could be why the Hughes coach went to NS Warner Robins. When Herron was at Grayson he might've been up there based on longevity and rings
 
Could be why the Hughes coach went to NS Warner Robins. When Herron was at Grayson he might've been up there based on longevity and rings
You don't hire a 30 year old with a few years of experience if you have a big checkbook. I didn't realize the Langston coach left. He was a heck of a recruiter.
 
You know what I mean...

1. Carrollton - Single High School in system
2. Rome - Single High School in system
3. Gainesville - Single High School in system
4. Buford - Single High School in system
5. Valdosta - Single High School in system
6. Colquitt - Single High School in system
7. Dublin - Single High School in system

North Cobb is the only school on the list that is in either Fulton County, Atlanta City, Gwinnett County, Dekalb County, Clayton County, or Cobb County Schools. As far as I can tell, only Cedartown and Rockmart are in the same school system.


Oh I see, you're trying to act like there is some huge differential, as all but one of those schools are in a "city school district", as if that gives them an unlimited budget.

The only problem with that is that the cities themselves comprise a much smaller tax base than a county does.

Yes, Colquitt High is the only HS in Colquitt County, and as such, gets the maximum amount of revenue from the COUNTY as the sole high school. But all the rest are located in much smaller "city" school districts.

Of those six city district schools, only Carrollton, Gainesville, and Buford have decent CITY tax bases, again, because they are in the Atlanta metro area.

Atlanta is not Texas. These small Atlanta-adjacent cities are not busting their tax budgets to pay football coaches exorbitant salaries. The entire Atlanta metro area has plenty of coaches making six-figures, regardless of the ratio of the tax base to the number of high schools.

I work with plenty of people whose kids attend Carrollton High, I know what I'm talking about there. For the record, Villa Rica pays a pretty high salary too, and it is one of several Carroll County high schools.
 
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Buford is typically the one that gets confused as part of a larger district.

You notice what you don't see is Grayson, Milton, and Langston Hughes. Those schools are part of large districts.
Point is well made about a single HS district. No way you’re going to see extreme salaries in Cobb or Gwinnett Counties with a dozen or more high schools. It’s why coaches have left some prominent Cobb programs, for instance, and taken jobs in South Georgia or more rural districts for better pay. The successful, mega schools in Cobb and Gwinnett do, however, have active boosters club augmenting salaries.
 
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Buford is typically the one that gets confused as part of a larger district.

You notice what you don't see is Grayson, Milton, and Langston Hughes. Those schools are part of large districts.


This is from 7 years ago.

1737344384663.png



As for Langston Hughes High, Williams was making $100K before he moved south.
 
Point is well made about a single HS district. No way you’re going to see extreme salaries in Cobb or Gwinnett Counties with a dozen or more high schools. It’s why coaches have left some prominent Cobb programs, for instance, and taken jobs in South Georgia or more rural districts for better pay. The successful, mega schools in Cobb and Gwinnett do, however, have active boosters club augmenting salaries.


Yes, there are some fluctuations by-county and within-county. The challenge as you get closer to the center of Atlanta is that even if you pay $100K to a coach, the cost of living closer to the city has been skyrocketing over the past few years.
 
That’s why some coaches have left good jobs for South Georgia and rural schools. Better pay, more reasonable cost of living and fewer of the issues found in metro Atlanta schools.3
 
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Here is the Grayson coach:
1737345988002.png


I believe this is the Milton coach:
1737346177891.png


My point is that it isn't Metro ATL schools that are paying. It is the schools outside of Fulton, Gwinnett, Dekalb, Clayton, Cobb, Cherokee, and Atlanta City. Not sure those in Barton, Floyd, Caroll, or Polk Counties would call themselves Atlanta.
 
That article doesn't talk about where they are located. As far as Williams, he did not make 100K, but was close.

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To provide another parallel, the number of people living in Carrollton is about 20% of the population of Carroll County. Carrollton High has about 1,800 students. There are 5 other Carroll County high schools, thus the percentage of schools in the county (total) would be 16% in City of Carrollton and 83% in Carroll County. But in terms of students, Carrollton High is about 30% of the student population of the whole county. So the tax base of that single-school district is somewhat watered down. And the only school comparable in size to Carrollton High is Villa Rica High, which can explain why Villa Rica has a lot of money to pay a head football coach.

As for places like Buford and Gainesville, I guarantee that the county tax base dwarfs the city tax base. I just used Carroll County and Carrollton because I am most familiar with that area and there is relative parity between the city tax base and the county tax base. But there's also a pretty healthy booster program with Carrollton High (see below) plus they used to rent the stadium to the University of West Georgia until recently.

So, yeah, Carrollton High has had access to a lot of money, not all because of being in a city school district.


1737347108816.png
 
Here is the Grayson coach:
View attachment 318301

I believe this is the Milton coach:
View attachment 318302

My point is that it isn't Metro ATL schools that are paying. It is the schools outside of Fulton, Gwinnett, Dekalb, Clayton, Cobb, Cherokee, and Atlanta City. Not sure those in Barton, Floyd, Caroll, or Polk Counties would call themselves Atlanta.


Whether Bartow, Carroll, or Polk counties "call themselves Atlanta" or not, they are all benefiting from rising property values driven by Atlanta. For purposes of this discussion, they are Atlanta. I'll give you Floyd County, though.
 
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