By Michael A. Lough

The Sports Report

centralgasports@gmail.com

A year after taking Stratford to the GIAA Class AAAA state title game in his first head as the Eagles’ head coach, Chance Jones is looking for a job.

Stratford released Jones on Tuesday, 18 days after the Eagles’ 5-6 season ended with a 21-12 loss to Strong Rock in the first round of the GIAA playoffs.

The school made the announcement Tuesday morning in an email to Stratford parents and staff.

“Coach Chance Jones will not be returning for the 2024 football season,” the email read. “We would like to thank Coach Jones for serving as our Head Football Coach for the past two seasons and commend him for leading our Eagles to the 2022 CIAA Championship game, an accomplishment that brought much pride and excitement to our community.”

Attempts to reach Veal Tuesday afternoon have been unsuccessful.

It’s Stratford’s sixth losing season this century, coming one season after the program’s fifth trip to a GISA/GIAA championship game in that span.

Jones went 14-10 in the second-shortest stint in Stratford history. Bill Thornton went 4-6 in 1980, after succeeding Daryl Jones (three seasons) and preceding David Bennett (four seasons).

Stratford had two coaches serve twice. Rodney Collins covered 21 years overall, 1988-2002 and 2007-2012. Mark Farriba went for 13 years, 2003-06 and 2013-21.

Stratford joins Baldwin, Dodge County, and Twiggs County as Central Georgia schools with football openings.

The move is the latest in an somewhat action-packed span of less than two years with the football program and athletics department.

Farriba retired as head football coach from Stratford after the 2021 season, and Jones was his choice to succeed him, that move becoming official about a month later, early in 2022, Farriba remaining at the school as athletics director.

But less than three months later, Farriba was out as athletics director, resigning after a month of discussions with the administration and then-head of school Logan Bowlds regarding the direction of the department.

Ironically, Bowlds – who was promoted to the position in May of 2019 – was gone from Stratford in about six months, and is now at a private school in Gainesville, Fla.

The Central Georgia Sports Report was first with the story of Farriba’s resignation and assorted circumstances around on it, as well as first – on the same day, April 17, 2022 – with his successor, Stratford plucking Veal, a longtime Jones County coach and AD, to take over the athletics department.

And only a few days later, Farriba joined the staff at ACE Charter under new head coach Keith Hatcher, the former football boss at Mount de Sales.

Less than three weeks after his resignation from Stratford –at the time, effective at the end of the school year – Farriba joined former Mount de Sales head coach Keith Hatcher at ACE Charter, as offensive line coach.

Jones was scheduled to speak Monday night at the Macon Touchdown Club during its weekly high school spotlight, but the visit didn’t take place.

The son of longtime Westfield head coach Ronnie Jones went 12-1 at Tattnall in 2016 in his first year as a head coach, taking the Trojans to the GHSA Class A Private semifinals where they lost to eventual state champ Eagle’s Landing Christian.

It came in the program’s third year in the GHSA, a year after it fired Clint Morgan following a 4-6 season.

Tattnall and Jones parted ways after the 2019 season when the Trojans went 5-5 and didn’t make the GHSA playoffs. He went 30-15 with the Trojans, and soon became an assistant at Stratford under Farriba.

It was the second time they worked together.

He spent six seasons at Prince Avenue Christian as an assistant, for four years under Farriba. Jones coached linebackers and receivers before being named offensive coordinator for the Wolverines, coaching for two years under Farriba’s successor Jeff Herron. He was offensive coordinator under both, from 2010-15.

Jones helped Prince Avenue to the GHSA Class A Private semifinals in 2011 and 2015, and the finals in 2012.

He was a standout athlete at Westfield, graduating in 2002 as an honors graduate and senior class president.

Jones graduated Cum Laude from Georgia with a bachelor’s degree in biology. He went to dental school for two years before beginning his coaching career.

John Abernathy at Tattnall is the “dean” of Macon’s biggest private schools, with four seasons under his belt. Gray Yates just completed his second season at Mount de Sales and Brett Collier his first at FPD.

Collier and the Vikings are still playing, and go for the GIAA Class 4A state title Friday night at Mercer’s Five Star Stadium.

Where Jones and the Eagles played a year ago, falling 10-0 to St. Anne-Pacelli in the state final.