Former Bainbridge High School Bearcats defensive coordinator and Dooly County High School Bobcats head coach Johnny Hayes has been named head football coach at Baconton Charter School.

The Baconton Blazers play in Region 1-A. Hayes was also a former defensive coordinator with the Cairo High School Syrupmakers.

He served under former Bearcats head coach Sonny Smart in Bainbridge.

University of Alabama defensive coordinator  Kirby Smart, the son of coach Smart and his wife Sharon, was Region 1-AAAA defensive player of the year as a senior defensive back on Hayes’ Bearcats defensive unit in 1993.

Before going to Cairo, Hayes served as defensive coordinator with the Thomasville High School Bulldogs.

He also served as defensive coordinator for Smart, at Rabun County.