Less than two weeks after losing its head football coach, Jones County has a new head football coach in Justin Montgomery
By Michael A. Lough
The Sports Report
centralgasports@gmail.com
Dennis Woolfolk and Jones County worked quick, quicker than most anybody expected.
And 12 days after Jones County had an opening for a head football coach, Jones County filled that opening.
The Board of Education approved former Warner Robins assistant Justin Montgomery as Jones County High’s newest head football coach Tuesday night at a regularly scheduled meeting.
Montgomery was on hand for the meeting and vote, and will get to work on Wednesday by, among other things, meeting with his new team.
Ironically, Montgomery is replacing the man he once worked for. Mike Chastain and athletics director Chad Alligood resigned on Jan. 31. Montgomery was a co-defensive coordinator at Warner Robins in Chastain’s second year with the Demons, which ended with a 14-1 record and loss to Rome in the Class 5A state championship.
The smiles Tuesday night interrupted what has been a hectic three weeks during which a collection of social media posts led to a called board meeting in which Chastain and Alligood – as well as superintendent Charles Lundy – faced questions and disagreements, Chastain for firing an assistant and Alligood for how he handled some athletics department business.
There was no debate nor vote taken, and their resignations eight days later – which didn’t become public for three days – are considered not to be a direct result only of the dissatisfaction expressed at the meeting, but stemming from other issues perhaps related to some aspects talked about during the meeting. Days later, as reported first by WMGT-TV 41NBC, a probe into possible financial irregularities by the Jones County Touchdown Club was launched by Gray police.
It’s an unusually quick turnaround, executed by Woolfolk, the Jones County grad and former Greyhound boys basketball coach names as the principal in June of 2023, about six months after Rackley hired Alligood as athletics director days after his resignation as Northside’s head football coach.
Justin Montgomery
School year School/duties Record
2012-13 John Milledge, defensive line (12-1, GISA AA semifinals)
2013-16 Berry College, defensive line, outside linebackers (18-21)
2016-17 Howard, defensive backs (1-9, Class 4A)
2017-18 Warner Robins, co-defensive coordinator (14-1, GHSA 5A finals)
2018-20 Valdosta, defensive coordinator (18-8, two quarterfinals)
2020-21 Thomasville, defensive coordinator (8-5, Class AA quarterfinals)
2021-25 Carrollton, defensive coordinator (51-6, Class 7A/6A, two finals, semifinal, quarterfinal)
Chastain departs after arguable his best coaching job, a team considered somewhat rebuilding going 8-2 (9-1 after a forfeit by Stockbridge) and taking regular powerhouse Marist to the wire in the playoffs.
One task facing Montgomery will be staff stability. Social media posts as as well as at least one speaker at that board meeting cited 31 assistants having come and gone in Chastain’s six seasons.
There will be some rebuilding for Jones County, which loses first-team all-region selections quarterback Devin Edmonds, wide receiver Jaivon Solomon, linebackers Zacari Thomas and DJ Ingram, and defensive back Javion Butts.
The John Milledge grad attended LaGrange College and helped it to the St. Louis Intercollegiate Athletic Conference championship in 2008 as a defensive end. He also attended Georgia College and Toccoa Falls, getting his Master’s from Berry in 2016.
His coaching career began at his alma mater in 2012 under J.T. Wall, then in his second year. He returned to Berr in Mount Berry, Ga. As a defensive line coach, grad assistant, and then outside linebackers coach,
Montgomery was part of Barney Hester’s staff at Howard for a season, working with defensive backs as well as strength and conditioning.
He jumped up to co-defensive coordinator and strength and conditioning coach at Warner Robins in 2017 under, ironically, his predecessor at Jones County, helping the Demons go 14-1 and start their run to six straight GHSA state championship games.
Montgomery took another step up and spent two years as defensive coordinator at Valdosta under Alan Rodemaker, a former Peach County head coach. He moved to Thomasville for the 2020 season.
He joined the staff of Joey King at Carrollton, which was a 7A program in 2022 and 2023, going 25-3 with a trip to the final and semifinals.