Brookwood High School has found its replacement for head coach Philip Jones and the Broncos have promoted defensive coordinator Chad Nighbert to head coach.
— Brookwood Athletics (@Bwoodsports) January 14, 2025
Brookwood parted ways with Jones, a 1996 Brookwood graduate, after 10 seasons. During his tenure, Jones compiled a 70-44 record and won two region titles. Nighbert served as the interim head coach in 2024 while Jones missed multiple games due to health issues.
Nighbert was an All-American linebacker at Georgia Southern. Following his playing career with the Eagles, he began coaching at Effingham County. He later served as defensive coordinator at two other schools before joining Brookwood, spending seven seasons in the role at Jones County and two years at Colquitt County.
Nighbert was hired by Brookwood in 2021 and has spent the past four seasons as the Broncos’ defensive coordinator. His promotion ensures a smooth transition within the coaching staff and program as a whole. He is only the fifth head coach in Brookwood’s more than 40-year history. The program has a history of stability, with each of the last three coaches lasting more than a decade. Two of those coaches, Mark Crews and Dave Hunter, led the Broncos to state championships.
Nighbert is stepping into a major program for his first head coaching job and is well-positioned for success. Brookwood is coming off a strong finish to the 2024 season, winning its final six regular-season games and finishing second in Region 7-6A. Additionally, the Broncos will return a pair of elite sophomores in running back Brayden Tyson and athlete Julian Elzey which could help ease the transition.
However, the expectations at Brookwood are sky-high. Gwinnett County is arguably the best football county in the country, and has won four of the past five championships in the top classification and the Brookwood fanbase believes they should be right there at the top.
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