ON Air with 912 Sports

     By Kevin Price

The Brunswick High Pirates are getting a new head football coach who knows all about high school football in South Georgia. 

And the new Brunswick coach also continues to receive high praise from former bosses that he once coached under who are among the best to ever do it in Georgia. 

Glynn County Schools announced the hiring of Byron Slack as Brunswick High’s new head coach following a Board of Education meeting on Thursday evening in Brunswick. The school board approved the hiring with a unanimous 7-0 vote at their scheduled work session prior to the first board meeting next week in 2026.

“I am honored to be the head coach at Brunswick High School. I hope to add to an already storied tradition of a great program,” said Slack whose official first day at BHS will be Jan. 14. 

Slack, a longtime coach in Georgia, has most recently been the head coach at Cook High School in Adel. 

He is a former assistant coach at Camden County, Lowndes and Colquitt County - three giants in the state’s largest classification. 

912 Sports has closely followed the BHS coaching search since former head coach Grady Grady resigned on Dec. 9. 

We chose not to jeopardize the hiring process involving Slack in Glynn County with a story about his likely hiring before he was officially announced as Brunswick High’s new head coach, considering all that has transpired within the program since the fight the Pirates had with Gainesville in the second-round of the Class AAAAA state playoffs in November. 

The brawl originally led to a postseason ban for the Pirates this coming season, the suspension of dozens of players for the 2026 opener and a monetary fine from the Georgia High School Association. 

The postseason ban and the suspension of players by the state have since been lifted after an appeal by Glynn County Schools to the state which also lifted its punishment for the Red Elephants who ended up playing for the Class AAAAA state crown. 

912 Sports chose not to reveal Slack’s name as the coach who would be recommended to the local school board until today, despite several reputable sources leading us to believe Slack ultimately would be Brunswick’s next coach pending the board approval. 

912 Sports has talked to former head coaches that Slack worked under during his time as an assistant in advance of our published report here. 

One of those is former Camden head coach Jeff Herron who called current Glynn County Schools superintendent Mike Blackerby to recommend Slack for the job the same week Grady resigned.

Blackerby got his career in education started as a teacher and coach in Camden and once worked under Herron in Kingsland as well before becoming an administrator in Camden. He returned to Glynn County in recent years to work in administration before becoming superintendent last year. He is a graduate of Brunswick High. 

“Coach Slack is a really good man. He’s a good family-man, a good coach and a good friend,” Herron told 912 Sports. “I think he’s a good fit for Brunswick. I really do.”

Herron hired Slack from Minnesota State back in 2005. Slack first served as the offensive line coach for the Wildcats and later moved to defensive line coach under the Hall of Fame coach before serving as defensive coordinator at Camden under head coach Welton Coffey who succeeded Herron with the Wildcats. Slack was part of Camden’s back-to-back state championship teams in the 2008 and 2009 seasons. 

“He had a big role in everything we did from game-planning to adjustments and everything else,” Herron noted. “He’s a really good coach who believes in playing a physical brand of football and he’s good with X’s and O’s.”

Herron, who retired and moved to Tennessee after leading Camden to the 2023 state semifinals during a second stint with the program, said the Brunswick fan base and players will fall in love with Slack. 

“He has a way of being tough on the kids and holding them accountable, but they will love him,” Herron said. “You can ask the kids he’s coached. They’ll tell you that. A lot of them stay in touch with him. It takes a special person to be like that, and that’s something he’s good at as well.”

Randy McPherson, who won three state titles at Lowndes during his long tenure with the powerhouse program, hired Slack from Camden to be his defensive coordinator. With the Vikings from 2017-19, Slack helped the team win two region titles in three seasons while reaching the state semifinals and finals in two of those years as well.

“He’s an outstanding person, just has top-of-the-line character,” McPherson said Thursday morning in a phone interview with 912 Sports. “He’s what you’re looking for in a head coach in that regard, but he’s also an outstanding football coach.

“He’s hard on the kids, but they’ll love him. It’s gonna be that way at Brunswick, too. And, he’s gonna win.”

McPherson added that Slack’s experience on both sides of the ball should pay off for the Pirates. 

“He absolutely knows the game, in and out,” McPherson said. “He knows offense, defense, special teams. He’s not one of these coaches who only knows one side of the ball. He’s one of the best I’ve ever seen in the weight room, too. I can’t explain how good he is there.”

Slack has a career-record of 32-25 in five seasons as a head coach. His first head coaching job was with Hillgrove in metro Atlanta in 2020 during the Covid-19 pandemic. His team went 4-5 that season which was his only one at the school by choice. 

Slack returned to South Georgia for the 2021 season as defensive coordinator and assistant head coach at Colquitt County. He took over as head coach at Cook prior to the 2022 campaign when the Hornets finished 8-4 and made the second round of the Class AA state playoffs before falling to eventual state champion Thomson. 

His 2023 Cook team went 11-3 and reached the state semifinals after winning a region championship. The Hornets were 4-7 and 5-6 the last two seasons when they made the state playoffs before falling in the first round. 

Slack also has coached in the collegiate ranks at West Georgia in Carrollton where he was the school’s first All-American as a tight end in 1996. He is a former graduate assistant at Auburn as well. 

Slack also served four years in the U.S. Navy. He has a doctorate degree in organizational management. 

Glynn County Schools assistant superintendent and athletic director Steve Waters said the following in a press release from the school system Thursday evening following the board’s work session. 

“We are extremely excited to welcome Dr. Byron Slack to Brunswick High. Coach Slack’s qualifications speak for themselves. When you speak to football coaches around the state of Georgia, they all know Coach Slack and they all speak very highly of him. 

“I am really excited to see the positive impact Coach will have on our student-athletes. He constantly refers to his philosophy as “The Standard.” Coach Slack will hold our student athletes accountable, and they will have to meet “the standard” in the classroom, in the weight room, on the field, and in the community. He will bring a character education program with him that will help our students learn the importance of academics, behavior, hard work, and becoming a young man. These values, along with his championship coaching experience, made him the perfect fit to become the next Head Football Coach at Brunswick High.”

The school system plans to have a meet-and-greet with Slack in the near future. Further details will be provided in due time.