TIFTON, Ga. — The Turner County Rebels have a new gridiron leader.

The Turner Board of Education recently approved Nick Hayes as its new football coach. Hayes replaces Leroy Hood, who accepted the head coaching position at Pebblebrook.

“My family and I are very grateful,” said Hayes, who comes to Ashburn after a stint as Putnam County’s offensive coordinator.

Hayes is the fifth Turner head coach since 2012. He’ll drop into one of the toughest regions in Class A public, if not the entire state. Two of his Region 2-A opponents, Irwin County and Clinch County, have played one another for the last two state championships. Clinch has eight state titles in its history and Charlton County has four. Wilcox County, Irwin and Turner have each won one. Irwin, though, has played for four state titles in the last five years.

“It’s certainly a challenge,” he said. Region 2 has “set the standard of Single-A football.”

During its four-year stretch of advancing to state, the Rebels have fallen three times in the first round. In both 2018 and 2017, the losses were by seven points to Miller County and eight points to Schley County.

Turner graduated many players from its 2018 squad. They are expected to return cornerback Aerian Stephens, who was named All-Region first team. Honorable mention All-Region picks coming back are quarterback Demarcus Barnes, running back Elijah Stephens, receiver Keonvay Clark and defensive back Jaterrious Morris.

Barnes, who is a rising senior, threw for seven touchdowns in 2018 and ran for nine more. He was Turner’s leading rusher and passer. Stephens, who was only a freshman, was the squad’s second leading runner.

“Turner certainly has the talent,” Hayes said. He plans on installing a spread offense, but believes in balance, too. “We believe in running the football,” he said.

The Rebels will have to wait for some of Hayes’ instruction. They won’t have spring football this time around, but he said they will in upcoming years. In the meantime, there will be team-building activities. Hayes said he will bringing in assistant coaches, but as for how many, that is “still up in the air.”

Hayes said he wants family men on the sidelines. He said he will “try to bring quality men into Turner.”

A native of Lyons, Hayes said he attended Abraham Baldwin Agricultural College before graduating from Valdosta State with a bachelor’s degree in Middle Grades Education. Following college, he assisted at Lowndes and Ware County before moving back to his homeland, Toombs County. He spent last year at Putnam.

Hayes is already getting a boost in facilities at his new home. He said the Turner County Board of Education has approved $150,000 to renovate facilities. The Rebels will also have a very necessary improvement this fall: a new scoreboard. Turner’s was destroyed by Hurricane Michael last October and the team had to use a tiny replacement for its final two home games. The new one, he said, will have LED lights.

“Hopefully, there will be a lot of numbers on the Turner side,” he said.

The first win he gets will be the 350th in the history of the school. Turner County opened in 1957 as a consolidation of high schools at Ashburn and Sycamore.

Turner’s football family will grow a bit more as the season begins.

Hayes and his wife, Kacie, are expecting a daughter in August. If the new dad was not already lacking for sleep, her due date, Aug. 4, is the week of Turner’s initial scrimmage game.

“It’s definitely going to be a new wrinkle,” Hayes said. “We’re ready for it.”