JCHS Announces New Head Coaches

Jackson County High School will be welcoming two new head coaches to its athletic department for the 2024-25 school year, following approval from the Jackson County Board of Education Thursday night. 

Mackenzie Darrah will serve as the girls’ varsity basketball coach, while Randy Adams will serve as the head track and field coach along with co-head coaching duties for cross country. Adams will work in conjunction with current head coach Brittley Blount. Darrah replaces Christi Thomas, who resigned following the 2023-24 season. 

“I am excited to welcome Coach Darrah and Coach Adams to our school and athletic department,” Jackson County athletic director Brad Hayes said. “Both bring a wealth of knowledge and passion to their areas of expertise. I look forward to, in coordination with our school and district administration, in supporting these coaches. The future is bright for Panther athletics.” 

Darrah comes to Jackson County High School following a three-year stint as an assistant coach at Rabun County, where she helped the program post a 72-17 record serving in the role of player development and opponent scouting. Darrah played for the great Gene Durden at Buford High School and won a pair of state championships as a player before playing collegiately at Elon University and North Georgia. She began her coaching career at UNG as a graduate assistant and held the same position at Shorter University before becoming a full-time assistant with the Lady Hawks. She served as the interim head coach for Shorter for two weeks during the Covid-19 pandemic. 

"I’m extremely excited and honored to accept the role of head coach of the Lady Panthers basketball program. It’s surreal to become a part of a growing program that has a great foundation to build upon, and we will do just that," Darrah said. "We will continue to build a culture, build a mindset, and the mentality to flat out compete and succeed as a program from top to bottom. I cannot wait to become a part of the Jackson County community and see what we can accomplish in the game of women’s basketball."

Darrah is a physical education teacher and holds a degree in Kinesiology from UNG and a Master’s degree in Business from Shorter University. 

Adams has taught and coached at Peachtree Ridge High School since 2009, serving as both an assistant and head coach within the track and field and cross country programs. During his time at Peachtree Ridge, Adams has coached one Cross County All-American, four individual Cross Country state champions, two team Cross Country state runner-up finishes, one team Cross Country state title, and sent 11 athletes to Division I as runners. He also coached one team Track and Field state championship along with two team state runner-up finishes, with five individual state Track and Field champions. 

“What I am excited about is they already have a pretty strong group of other coaches that work really well together. That is going to be really nice to step into a group of people where they know where they want to take the program,” Adams said. “And to my understanding, we have a lot of really good talent coming back.

“The opportunity is a phenomenal one for me as a coach. I am looking forward to a great summer and strong fall.”