Pope alum O'Sullivan hired as new football coach
Jan. 24—Pope has again turned to a familiar face to lead its football program.
Sean O'Sullivan, a 2004 graduate of the school, was chosen as the Greyhounds' new head coach. He replaces Tab Griffin, a fellow alum for whom O'Sullivan served as Pope's defensive coordinator in 2017.
Griffin stepped down after the 2022 season, in which the Greyhounds went 1-9. In all, Griffin was 26-35 in six years at the helm.
O'Sullivan, who comes back to Pope after spending the last three seasons rebuilding Centennial into a playoff team, is the ninth head coach in a program history that dates back to 1988.
"It is with great excitement that we welcome back coach Sean O'Sullivan as the ninth head coach in the history of Pope football," Pope athletic director Josh Mathews said in a release. "Through the interview process, he distinguished himself as the right guy to lead our football program going forward. He brings a tremendous energy that will inspire and motivate everyone involved in our football program. Coach O'Sullivan's experience as a head coach over the past five years gives him a working knowledge of the intricacies needed to lead a (Class AAAAAA) football program."
In three seasons at Centennial, O'Sullivan went 6-23, but he took a winless team in 2020 and rebuilt it into a playoff team this last season, going 5-5 during the regular season, including a 4-2 mark in Region 6AAAAA. He also spent the 2018 and '19 seasons as the coach at North Atlanta, where he was 12-9 and led the Warriors to their first playoff appearance in 23 years.
O'Sullivan also has experience as an assistant on the high school level at Mount Vernon Presbyterian and Westminster, and on the college level at Southeastern Louisiana, Mars Hill and Delta State.
At Pope, O'Sullivan takes over a program that has had only one winning season in the last decade and has not won a region title or playoff game since 2011.
Following his graduation at Pope, O'Sullivan continued his playing career at West Georgia, where he earned four letters as a member of the Wolves' offensive line. He finished his career at Mars Hill, playing one season at left tackle.
"We are excited to get coach O'Sullivan on board leading our football program, and with him comes a new energy and direction for the entire Pope football program," Pope principal Matt Bradford said in the release. "His vision of a complete program that has continuity from the early ages up through graduation was very attractive to us as we searched for our next head coach."
O'Sullivan will join Pope's health and physical education department as a teacher this spring. O'Sullivan's family already had familiarity with the school, with his wife, Laura Ann, serving as a coach of Pope's junior volleyball program.
O'Sullivan is one of two new football coaches in Cobb County, joining recently hired Walker coach T.J. Anderson. Still with open positions are Allatoona, Campbell, McEachern, Pebblebrook and Whitefield Academy.
