KINGSLAND, Ga. — With a coaching career that began in 1982 as an assistant at Tennessee Tech, former Camden County football head coach Jeff Herron had been pondering retirement for some time.
"Bottom line, I just woke up one morning and said I think it's finally the right time," said Herron. "Kind of been a long time coming. I've done this a long time and there wasn't any one thing. Certainly a lot of factors, a lot of praying, a lot of thought went into this decision."
One of those factors happened to be Herron's diagnosis of metastatic prostate cancer in 2021.
"I've dealt with some health issues in the last few years and it wore on me some. Physically, I think I could have probably done it another year, but when that becomes a factor, and all the other stress that goes into running a program this size, I just started questioning was it really worth it anymore," Herron explained.
After accumulating over 330 wins and 5 state championships, Herron knows what it takes to achieve success and believes he can't live up to those standards anymore.
"It was a selfish decision maybe a little bit, but, I also think it's what's best for the school because I'm not as good of a coach as I was 10 years ago, and I started to realize that a little bit. But, I'm at peace with it and I think it's time to let somebody else take over and somebody maybe do a little better job," Herron concluded.
Herron plans to spend time in Tennessee and travel with his wife, which he hasn't been able to do often. But, he still expects to be in the stands when football season comes around.