There is a new face leading the charge for Troup High athletics this year. With previous athletic director Andrew Calhoun taking a promotion to be the district athletic director, there were large shoes to fill for the Tigers. In steps Kevin Hobbs, a teacher and coach at Pike County for the last seven years.

“My background is sports management, so this is kind of my expertise,” Hobbs said. “I love this stuff, so I did everything I could to build my resume to make sure this did happen one day. My goal has always been to be an athletic administrator.

“I felt like I was qualified. But you always knew that if you’re going through an interview process, there are other great candidates. So I feel pretty good to be the one that was selected.”

Hobbs, a Coweta County native, has coached a plethora of different sports over the years. 

“Growing up I was in Coweta County, so I’m familiar with Troup athletics,” Hobbs said. “I coached soccer, football, flag football and even helped start the esports team at Pike last year.”

Soccer was always his passion in his youth and it translated to some big success when he was head of the Pike County boys soccer team, winning multiple region championships and region coach of the year awards with multiple top 10 finishes in the state. 

“Soccer has always been my passion, but I really fell in love with coaching flag football and it probably ended up being my favorite sport to coach because it was so new.”

Hobbs has been biding his time for an administrative opportunity. He was content to stay coaching at Pike County for another year, but his desire has always been to lead a program as an administrator.

“It’s definitely sweet because I’m going out and accomplishing some of my goals I have set for myself, but it was hard to leave so many great student-athletes (at Pike),” Hobbs said. “You spend so much time building a culture and a team that it can be hard to leave.”

“My second to last game with the boys soccer team was my 100th win with the program.”

This is a natural transition of power. With Calhoun still around, it is making the transition even smoother for Hobbs.

“It’s actually a great opportunity all around,” Hobbs said. “It’s always good to come into a situation where the previous person left on good terms. He left to become the district athletic director, so you know he did good work here.”

The work has already begun as Hobbs officially kicked off his tenure as Troup AD on Monday. It will be a learning process as he learns about the community, school and more. Hobbs is already making inroads and planting his roots in Troup County.

“I can see when I’m just walking around the practice facility, I look and see the players are interacting with the coaches and having a great time. And I did like that I heard Coach (Tanner) G(lisson) say that he likes our coaches going and interacting with players,” Hobbs said. “I really like that and I really appreciate coaches that don’t separate themselves but instead are like a family. That is what I’m stepping into here at Troup.”

“It’s beautiful everywhere. Walking around campus and it’s been beautiful. If I’m an athlete, this is where I want to be. It’s a player and coach’s dream.”