Roswell Hires Johns Creek’s Kemper As Head Football Coach

By Mike Blum

It didn’t take Roswell High School long to find a replacement for departing head football coach John Ford.

Only a few days after Ford announced he was leaving the Hornets to take the head coaching job at Buford High School, Roswell has hired Johns Creek High School head coach Matt Kemper to fill the vacancy.

Kemper has head coaching experience in three states: Florida, his native Ohio and Pope and Johns Creek high schools. He quickly turned around struggling programs at both Pope and Johns Creek, twice earning region Coach of the Year honors.

After going 1-19 in 2013 and ’14, Kemper led Johns Creek to records of 4-6 and 8-3 the past two seasons, leading the Gladiators to a share of first place in 7-AAAAAA in 2016 and the region’s No. 1 seed in the playoffs.

• RELATED: Hornets Head Football Coach Resigns, Accepts Job In Buford

Pope had five straight losing seasons before Kemper became the Greyhounds’ head coach in 2008 and led the team to three straight playoff berths, including the best season in school history in 2011.

Kemper was named region Coach of the year at Pope in 2011, and claimed that same honor this past season at Johns Creek, where he engineered a quick reversal of the team’s fortunes.

Both Roswell and Johns Creek have undergone some extreme shifts in win-loss records in recent years. After suffering through just one losing season between 1981 and 2010 (4-6 in 1994), the Hornets went 3-17 in 2011 and ’12 before Ford took over as head coach in 2013. Roswell went 4-6 in Ford’s first season, 8-4 with a playoff win in 2014 and 14-1 each of the last two years, with both losses coming in state championship games.

Johns Creek went 17-3 in the regular season in 2011 and ’12, the second and third seasons of varsity football for the Gladiators, but fell to 1-19 the next two years, costing Mike Cloy his job as head coach.

Kemper got Johns Creek back to respectability in 2015 and led the team to its third playoff berth this year.

Kemper inherits a Roswell team that graduates 20 starters plus its kicker and long snapper. The Hornets return only three starters – tight end Tyneil Hopper, wide receiver Christian “Scooby” Ford and defensive back Jesse Bridgman, along with a handful of players who saw extensive action (defensive back Kevin Holliday, linebacker Cole Anderson and running back/defensive lineman Jujuan White).

With the Johns Creek job now open, there are two had coaching positions available in North Fulton, with Northview also looking for a head coach. The Titans went 2-8 following back-to- back playoff seasons in 2014 and ’15 and Chad Davenport stepped down after seven years there.

Kemper’s successor at Johns Creek will take over a program in much better shape from a talent situation than the one Kemper inherited in 2015. While the Gladiators graduate almost as many front line seniors as the Hornets, they return at least nine regulars, including several standouts.

Among the 2017 returnees are first team all-region players Zach Williams (TE/WR), Daquez Crawford (CB) and Quinn Geer (LB). Zach Gibson, a two-year starter at quarterback, will also return along with running back Gerard Hearst, tight end Thomas Tremble, offensive lineman Evan Quinn, linebacker Neal Ilinery and defensive back Bryce McCain.

There will likely be shakeups among the assistant coaches at both Roswell and Johns Creek. Several of Roswell’s coaches are expected to join Ford at Buford, and Kemper could bring some of his coaches from Johns Creek to Roswell.

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