Coaching legend Ed Pilcher dies
Dec. 31—NASHVILLE — Georgia high school coaching legend Ed Pilcher died Dec. 29, leaving a legacy that few coaches in the state could match.
Pilcher won five state championships, all at Thomas County Central, and led three other programs to the state tournament. Eight of his squads won region titles. Another team finished as state runner-up, with four finishing in the semifinals.
A Florida native, Pilcher played collegiately for Appalachian State before beginning his coaching career. His first Georgia job was as Bill McCall's assistant at Colquitt County in 1981. Pilcher followed McCall to Berrien before accepting his first head coaching position at Early County in 1986.
After two semifinals appearances with the Bobcats, Pilcher took over Thomas County Central in 1991. One year later, the Yellow Jackets won state, a feat he repeated in 1993 and 1994. TCC additionally won state championships in 1996 and 1997.
Pilcher left TCC after the 2007 campaign, then spent five years at Bainbridge. In 2013, he returned to Berrien, this time as head coach. The squad reached the state tournament in 2014, only their second ever appearance in 61 seasons and first since 1991. Health problems forced him to step down in mid-2016, though he continued to assist the Berrien program.
In making the 2014 tournament, Pilcher needed a role-reversal: His old rival, Thomasville, to knock his former school, Early County, out of contention. He joked in an interview it was "The only time" he had ever rooted for Thomasville. Pilcher's squad also defeated Cook in 2014, their first victory over their arch-rival since 1997.
In 30 seasons as a head coach, Pilcher finished with a record of 250-116-1.
"[W]e are forever grateful for the time we had with him," said Thomas County Central High School Football in social media posts to Twitter and Facebook. In a Facebook post, Early Co. Bobcat Football added that "We will never know just how many lives he impacted as a coach."
Pilcher was inducted into the Georgia Athletic Directors Association Hall of Fame as well as the Georgia Athletic Coaches Association Hall of Fame.
