Tattnall head football coach John Garrett Abernathy resigns to focus on duties as principal

Tattnall Square Academy’s John Garrett Abernathy has resigned as head football coach, the school announced Friday afternoon via email to students, teachers and others.

Abernathy, who also acts as the middle and high school principal, will remain at Tattnall as principal but step away from the football team after his fifth season at the helm.

“Those two jobs are big jobs in themselves, and at the end of the season I sat down with our head of school and said ‘I want to do what’s best for me and what’s best for Tattnall,’” Abernathy told The Melody. “I don’t think somebody doing both of those big jobs was best for Tattnall. So I had to make a decision — for myself, I wasn’t pushed or anything like that — on what I wanted to do.

“I want to be head of school one day, so the obvious choice was to let go of the football job… that doesn’t make it the easy choice, but it was the obvious choice.”

Abernathy will pursue his doctorate in school improvement with a focus in instructional technology once summer rolls around and said his responsibilities as a principal and father were high priorities for him.

“I’m 31 and have two young kids at home, and I have a lot of time to grow professionally. That doctorate was also obviously something I think I need and a big part of the decision process. I obviously want what’s best for my school most,” Abernathy said.

The Trojans went 7-3 this season and made the playoffs in Abernathy’s fifth year as head coach. His overall record at Tattnall was 32-24, good for a .571 winning percentage. Abernathy’s best season came when he guided Tattnall to a 9-2 season in 2021, though the Trojans also made it to the GIAA 4A semifinals in 2022 and 2023.

“The most memorable game was our second year, we won against Stratford in overtime where we went for two (after a touchdown) and got it. That’s a win that really sticks out to me… but really it’s the everyday mundane stuff that’s my favorite memory,” Abernathy said. “When I think back about what I’ll miss the most from this, it’s the interactions with the guys every day.”

Abernathy only considered the decision once the football season concluded. He came to Tattnall’s head of school and talked through the choice two days ago, he told The Melody, and eventually decided to let go of the football job.

“It was tough to talk to our coaches and talk to our kids, definitely, but at the end of the day we have to make the decision that’s best for the school and I think we did that today,” Abernathy said. “This is a good day for Tattnall.”

There’s no hard timeline for hiring a new head coach, though Abernathy said he will be involved in the decision on his successor.

“Obviously it won’t be up to me, but obviously I have a lot of institutional knowledge so I can answer a lot of questions for the people who are interviewing, so I’ll probably be part of the process,” Abernathy said. “I don’t think I’ll be a key decision maker or anything like that, just really there to help our head of school in any way that I can.”

Abernathy, a Macon native and Mount de Sales alum, played at Mercer on a scholarship when the school revived its program in 2013. After coaching defensive line at Tattnall and coaching at Jones County High School, Abernathy returned to Tattnall to become head coach.