Three-time champ Tomberlin retires

Effingham County coach Rick Tomberlin is retiring after a 30-year career during which he won 236 games, nine region championships and three state titles.

"I have loved every minute," Tomberlin told Frank Sulkowski of The Coastal Source. "I have some other opportunities away from coaching but will continue to live here in Effingham."

Tomberlin, a native of Appling County who played at Florida State under Bobby Bowden, is one of 30 Georgia coaches with three or more GHSA state titles. He won his in 1994, 1996 and 1997 at Washington County, where he coached future NFL stars  Takeo Spikes and Robert Edwards.

Tomberlin's success at Washington County helped get him the most high-profile job in the state - at Valdosta - in 2006. He was 22-21 in four seasons there. Tomberlin's Effingham teams finished 6-4, 2-8 and 6-5. Tomberlin's final record is 236-118.

Winslette, Baker picked for Hall of Fame

Football coaches Charlie Winslette and Leslie "L.C." Baker are going into the Georgia Athletic Coaches Association Hall of Fame.

Also selected for the 2013 class were Chuck Miller (basketball), Joe Williams (basketball), Billy Peek (golf) and Bill Holleman (soccer).

Winslette is one of 14 coaches to win state titles at two GHSA schools - 1985 West Rome and 1993 Greene-Taliaferro. He is one of only three coaches to take four schools to the semifinals. The other two were Tift County and Statesboro. Winslette's record in 34 seasons as a head coach is 260-134-3.

Baker was head coach of Atlanta's Washington High from 1931 through 1967. His teams won state titles in the Georgia Interscholastic Association in 1948, 1949, 1951 and 1958.

The induction ceremony will be held June 1 at the Northwest Trade and Convention Center in Dalton.

Murray County coach Hammond resigns

John Hammond resigned this week as head coach at Murray County after two seasons in which the only two victories were losses overturned by forfeit.

Murray County will be looking for its fifth coach in eight seasons.

"Basically, these two years were two long, rough years," Hammond told Chris Whitfield of the Dalton Daily Citizen. "We spent a lot of time working as hard as we could, and you spend a lot of time away from your family. I have two kids, and basically I have missed out on two years of their lives. Being a football coach is a 12-month job, and right now they are in high school and they will be heading out into the world, and I need to recharge the batteries."

Hammond had coached at Murray County since 2002 and replaced John Zeigler in 2011. Hammond will remain at the school as a social studies and history teacher.

There are 15 known head coaching openings. They are at Americus-Sumter, Creekview, Dacula, Harrison, Houston County, Howard, Forsyth Central, LaFayette, Lanier County, Murray County, North Springs, Roswell, South Atlanta, Swainsboro and Westlake. Hires have been made recently at Forest Park (John Diehl), Georgia Military (Steven Simpson) and Pace Academy (Chris Slade).

Lineup announced for 2013 Corky Kell

Games between two of Gwinnett County's top programs and two south Georgia powers will headline the lineup for the 2013 Corky Kell Classic.

The schedule for the event, to be played on Aug. 24 at the Georgia Dome, was announced last weekend during the state championship games. All 10 of the teams in the 2013 event participated this season, although most of the matchups have changed.

Colquitt County, which has made four consecutive appearances in the state semifinals, will play in the 2:30 p.m. game against Grayson, which won the 2011 state title and lost in the second round this season. North Gwinnett and Camden County, which both reached the state quarterfinals this season, will play in the 5:30 p.m. game.

Here is the complete schedule:

9 a.m. - Kell vs. Chattahoochee

11:45 a.m. - Peachtree Ridge vs. Walton

2:30 p.m. - Grayson vs. Colquitt County

5:30 p.m. - North Gwinnett vs. Camden County

8:30 p.m. - Brookwood vs. McEachern

Commerce had season's biggest upset

The regular season began with Commerce beating Jefferson. It ended with Loganville beating Gainesville. Five weeks later, Gainesville and Jefferson were holding state championship tropies, prompting at least a few people to ask: How did that happen? How did middling teams knock of eventual state champions?

We don't have the answers, but we do have mathematical rating of the 25 most-hard-to-explain victories of the 2012 season.

These games may or may not have looked like upsets at the time. But looking back, they were.

Below, the computer Maxwell Ratings rate the Top 25 "Least Likely Results" as calculated using the end-of-season ratings, or basically the games that are the hardest to mathematically reconcile when comparing to the rest of the season.

The column to the far right shows the chances of the winning team winning if they played again. 

Only one playoff game made it - No. 16.

1-AAAA

Player of the year: Paul Davis, Cairo

Offensive player of the year: Charles Stafford, Monroe

Defensive player of the year: Anthony Smith, Monroe

Athlete of the year: Donald Thomas, Cairo

Coach of the year: Tom Fallaw, Cairo

Offense

QB - Emanuel Byrd, Albany

RB - Dalvines Green, Westover

RB - Wesley Fields, Americus-Sumter

WR - Rantiez Williams, Albany

WR - Kevin Williams, Monroe

WR - Levante Robinson, Worth County

OL - Jamie Roberts, Westover

OL - Breon King, Crisp County

OL - Tyler Sheppard, Cairo

OL - Hakeem Porter, Monroe

OL - Marquavion Mincey, Worth County

Defense

DL - Ernest Battle, Cairo

DL - Willie Williams, Americus

DL - Cartez Banks, Monroe

DL - Trent Thompson, Westover

LB - Don Mills, Westover

LB - Juwon Young, Albany

LB - Sherrod Ruff, Crisp County

LB - Johnathan Thomas, Americus-Sumter

DB - Deonta Dismuke, Cairo

DB - Shaking Dean, Americus

DB - Marlon Hall, Worth County

DB - Jawaski Randle, Monroe

Special teams

P - Patrick Goodin, Crisp County

PK - Tanner Stump, Westover

6-A South

Offensive player of the year: RB Evan Kasian, Walker, Sr.

Defensive player of the year: DL Mike Ramsey , Walker, Sr.

Coach of the year: John East, Walker

First-team offense

QB - Everett Pollard, Whitefield Academy, Jr.

RB - Kyle Trammell, Mount Paran Christian, Sr.

RB - Richard Sherrell, Whitefield Academy, Sr.

RB - Evan Kasian, Walker, Sr.

WR - Penny Hart, King's Ridge, So.

WR - Matt McKenzie, Mount Paran Christian, Sr.

OL - Jake Jeans, Mount Paran Christian, Sr.

OL - Flint Geier, Mount Pisgah Christian, Sr.

OL - Everett Joiner, Whitefield Academy, Sr.

OL - Cliff Farrow, King's Ridge, Jr.

OL - Colin Mitchell, Walker, Sr.

AP - Max Rieves, Whitefield Academy, Sr.

First-team defense

DL - Shingy Chigwere, Mount Pisgah Christian, So.

DL - Mike Ramsey, Walker, Sr.

DL - Dylan Dixon, Mount Pisgah Christian, Sr.

DL - Spencer Hardin, Walker, Sr.

LB - Keith Johnson, Mount Paran Christian, Sr.

LB - Connor Henderson, King's Ridge, Jr.

LB - Mitchell Boylan, Walker, Sr.

DB - Austin Walker, Walker, Sr.

DB - Coner Linneen, Fellowship Christian, Sr.

DB - Max Kemether, Whitefield Academy, Sr.

DB - Ryan Felice, Mount Pisgah Christian, Sr.

First-team specialists

PK - Daniel Gray, Mount Paran Christian, Sr.

P - Will Janofsky, King's Ridge, Fr.

Second-team offense

QB - Aaron Winchester, Mount Pisgah Christian, So.

RB - Tyler Hart, Fellowship Christian, Sr.

RB - Patrick McPherson, Walker, Sr.

RB - Rondi Brownlee, Mount Pisgah Christian, So.

WR - Oz Dixon, Mount Pisgah Christian, So.

WR - Julian Champ, King's Ridge, Sr.

OL - Clay Hostetter, Fellowship Christian, Jr.

OL - Brennan Saul, Whitefield Academy, Sr.

OL - Will Reagan, King's Ridge, Sr.

OL - Dane Stevens, Mount Paran Christian, Sr.

OL - Josh Reini, Walker, Jr.

AP - Beniah Franklin, King's Ridge, Fr.

Second-team defense

DL - Josh Carter, King's Ridge, Jr.

DL - Chad Davenport, Fellowship Christian, Sr.

DL - Hunter Holliday, Whitefield Academy, Sr.

DL - Scotty Valiani, Mount Paran Christian, Sr.

DL - Dillon Harris, Mount Paran Christian, Jr.

LB - James Schultz, Whitefield Academy, Sr.

LB - Connor Burns, King's Ridge, So.

LB - Bradley Moore, Walker, Jr.

DB - Braelen Phillips, Whitefield Academy, Jr.

DB - Christopher Graham, Walker, Sr.

DB - Jacob Delk, Mount Pisgah Christian, Jr.

Second-team specialist

P - Jacob Delk, Mount Pisgah Christian, Jr.

Please send all-region teams to GHSF Daily at ghsfdaily@bellsouth.net. We recommend that all-region teams include the year in school of each player. All-region players who are recognized as underclassmen have a better chance of being recruited and getting recognition on preseason all-area or all-state teams in 2013.

The 6th Annual Georgia Strength Coaches Association Strength Clinic will be held on Jan. 11 at Marietta High School. Registration is $55. A complete listing of speakers, online payment and more information can be found at www.gscaclinic.blogspot.com. You can also contact Jay Floyd at floydrj@troup.org with any questions.

Scholarship nominations sought

The National Football Foundation Greater Atlanta Chapter is requesting nominations for its 2013 Scholar Athlete Scholarship Program. Applications can be found on its Web site at www.NFFAtlanta.com.