Tift County (Georgia) tab Bainbridge’s Jeff Littleton as head football coach

Littleton leaves Bainbridge after 11 seasons to take over at Tift County

After an extensive search for their next head football coach, Tift County has found its man. 

According to Rural Athletes, the Blue Devils will be tabbing Jeff Littleton, the head coach at Bainbridge, to take over in the same capacity at Tift County. Littleton would be leaving Bainbridge after 11 seasons at the helm. 

The Tift County School Board officially announced the hiring of Littleton at a board meeting on Friday afternoon. 

Littleton has been the lead man at Bainbridge since 2013 and only twice did he not lead the Bearcats to a record above the .500 mark. Now he lands at Tift County and certainly will have his work cut out for him. 

During his time with the Bearcats, Littleton compiled a record of 91-42 and multiple AAAA region championships. Bainbridge finished the 2023 season with a record of 9-3. 

The former Bainbridge coach replaces Noel Dean, who stepped down last season after much pressure from the Tifton community. 

Tift County’s Noel Dean announces intent of resigning at season’s end

Dean had previously spent 30 years as a coach in Michigan before being hired at Tift County. Up in the Wolverine State, Dean was elected to the Michigan High School Football Association Coaches Hall of Fame while still actively coaching there. In his time in Michigan, Dean won three state championships, finished as state runner-ups three times and made nine semifinals appearances.

In his time at Tift County, the results were anything but. The last three seasons, Dean accumulated a record of 9-24. Dean’s best season was his first when the Blue Devils went 6-5. Tift County went 1-9 in 2022 and finished 2023 going 2-8. 

We will have more on this breaking story as more information is received 

-- Andy Villamarzo | villamarzo@scorebooklive.com | @sblivega