Centennial Hires New Head Football Coach

By Mike Blum

ROSWELL, GA -- Centennial has a new head football coach, hiring former Gainesville and Coffee assistant coach Michael Perry to replace Lenny Gregory.

Perry was interviewed for the vacant Centennial High School head coaching job two years ago, but school officials went for the more experienced Gregory, who returned to Gwinnett County after two seasons with the Knights to take the head job at Collins Hill.

The Knights went 13-8 in Gregory’s brief stint as head coach, tying for first in Region 7-AAAAAA this past season, finishing with an 8-3 record, one of the best in the school’s 20-year history.

Perry served as offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach in 2016 at Coffee, which reached the quarterfinals of the 7A playoffs after going 5-5 in the regular season. Prior to that, Perry was the offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach at Gainesville, where he coached Deshaun Watson, who led Clemson to a national title this past season.

Watson was Gainesville’s quarterback and coached by Perry on the team’s 2012 state championship squad. Perry has 11 years as a high school assistant and has compiled a successful track record of coaching quarterbacks.

Centennial graduates quarterback Casen Conway, who was selected as his region’s Player of the Year, but returns several talented players on offense including all-region running back Cal Dickie and all-region receiver Blaine Mason. The Knights also have a highly touted freshman quarterback coming into the program, and Perry is expected to continue utilizing a fast-paced spread offense that Conway directed for Gregory this past season.

The Knights averaged almost 40 points a game during the 2016 season before losing 20-16 to Northgate in the first round of the state playoffs. It was just the fifth playoff appearance for Centennial in school history and the third time the team won at least eight games in the regular season.

Centennial is one of five North Fulton public schools that will have a new head football coach next season. Matt Kemper left Johns Creek after two seasons to take over for John Ford, who accepted the head coaching position at Buford. Ford led the Hornets to back-to- back appearances in the state championship game in Georgia’s largest classification in 2015 and ‘16.

Matt Helmerich has taken over as the new Johns Creek head coach after serving as a head coach in Florida last year. Northview also has a new head coach with a Florida background, as James Thomson is replacing Chad Davenport, who resigned after seven seasons with the Titans.

Milton also recently hired a new coach, with Adam Clack leaving West Forsyth after three seasons as head coach to take over for Howie DeCristofaro, who stepped down after six seasons with the Eagles.

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