Brunswick High School has selected its ninth head football coach in school history.
Garrett Grady was pegged to take over command of the Pirates at a Glynn County Board of Education work session Thursday, where he was confirmed by a unanimous vote.
Grady will take on his first head coaching job at the school where he served as assistant HC, offensive coordinator and offensive line coach for the past five seasons under previous head coach Sean Pender. Pender resigned from the position Jan. 21 to take the same job at North Hall.
Brunswick is coming off an 11-1 campaign that saw the team win the City Championship and Region 2-6A title en route to an undefeated regular season. The Pirates’ offense averaged 36.8 points per game, which ranked among the top 10 in Class 6A.
Before Brunswick, Grady served as the offensive coordinator and offensive line coach at his high school alma mater in Pierce County for four seasons before following Pender to the Port City in 2017.
During his time with the Pirates, Grady has had a hand in the development of several college prospects along the offensive line, including Georgia’s Warren McClendon, Georgia Southern’s Caleb Cook and recent Florida State signee Kanaya Charlton.
The Pirates’ new head coach also has championship experience as both a player and a coach at Valdosta State, where he won a national title as an athlete in 2007 before earning another ring with the program as a graduate assistant in 2012.
Grady will be the first Pirates coach to begin his head coaching career at Brunswick since the program’s first coach Elton Hinson.
A press conference introducing Grady is scheduled for 10 a.m. Friday at Glynn County Stadium Athletics Center.
The school board voted to approve Pender’s resignation and Grady’s hire after returning from a closed executive session at the monthly work session Thursday.
“I do want to thank Coach Pender for the things that he has done for our school system and for Brunswick High and the football program,” said Jerry Mancil, chair of the school board. “He definitely has left it in a better spot than it was in the past, and we do appreciate his family and the sacrifices they’ve made and the devotion that they’ve dumped into Brunswick High. We do wish him and his family the best as they move forward.”
The school board voted 4-0 to approve Grady’s hire. School board members Mike Hulsey, Marcus Edgy and Hank Yeargan were absent.
Mancil offered his congratulations to the new head coach.
“He’s got big shoes to fill, but he’s been a part of the program for a while and is really good to the kids,” Mancil said. “He and Mrs. Erica will definitely be a great addition to the helm, and we do appreciate him stepping up … Good luck to him, and go Pirates.”
Lauren McDonald contributed to this report.