East Laurens announces Jesse Hicks as new head football coach
Jesse Hicks, who was relieved of his duties at Baldwin High School last month, is the new head football coach at East Laurens High School.
EAST DUBLIN, Georgia (41NBC/WMGT) – Jesse Hicks, who was relieved of his duties at Baldwin High School last month, is the new head football coach at East Laurens High School.
East Laurens made the announcement in a social media post on Thursday night, citing Hicks’ 27 years of coaching experience and “proven track record of success, commitment, and excellence.”
“We are honored to welcome Coach Hicks to our team and look forward to seeing the positive impact he will undoubtedly have on our football program,” the post said.
When reached by phone Thursday night, Hicks said he’s blessed and thankful for the opportunity.
“I think they’ve got one of the best (Class) 1A setups in the state of Georgia,” he said, referring to recent facility upgrades.
Hicks says he’s looking to spread hope and bring a culture change to a program that’s recorded just 11 winning records in its 62-year history.
“I think they have the talent,” Hicks added. “I think they have some good kids. The east side is something that needs to be rebirthed, needs to be reborn, needs some life blood pumped back into it, and I think I’m just the man to do it.”
According to the Georgia High School Football Historians Association, Hicks spent the last seven seasons as Baldwin’s head coach after previously coaching there from 2002-2009. In his most recent stint, his Baldwin teams made the playoffs every year, including a quarterfinals appearance in 2018.
Over 15 seasons, he led Baldwin to the playoffs 14 times. In addition to the 2018 quarterfinals appearance, his 2005 Baldwin team made the semifinals and his 2008 Baldwin team made the quarterfinals.
His overall record at Baldwin was 110-60 (70-24 in first stint, 40-36 in second stint).
Between his two stops in Milledgeville, he was head coach at Dougherty in 2010-2011 before leading Bibb County’s Central High School from 2012-2016. His combined record at those two schools was 23-48.
He replaces Bin Turner at East Laurens, who went 15-46 in six seasons.
