In a surprising announcement at Rabun County on Friday morning, it was announced that legendary head coach Lee Shaw is stepping down after seven seasons at his alma mater. His eldest son, Jaybo, who has been the offensive coordinator for the high-powered Wildcat offense, takes over the program. While the timing might be surprising, the succession of Jaybo Shaw as head coach was clearly a role he was being groomed to become.

For Lee Shaw, it marks the end of what is nothing short of a storied career that spans 22 seasons as a head coach and includes 163 wins. He spent five seasons at White County (’95-99), 10 seasons at Flowery Branch (’02-11), and seven years at Rabun (’12-18).

Shaw won six region titles – including five straight from 2014-18 at Rabun, and coached 42 all-state players. He has coached a playoff team every year since 2005 (14 straight trips), and has recorded 10 10-win seasons. He reached the State Championship game twice (’08 for Flowery Branch, ’17 for Rabun County), and made the Quarterfinals or deeper eight times (four at Flowery Branch and four at Rabun).

Jaybo’s pedigree has the same makeup of his dad, and was a former 4-star dual threat recruit from Flowery Branch who played at Georgia Tech and Georgia Southern. He has coached at the U.S. Military Academy and Western Carolina before going to Rabun County.

A STATEMENT FROM LEE SHAW

“I’ve had a great career coaching football. It’s been one heck of a ride. A retired coach once told me, ‘you’ll know when it’s time to retire’ and that statement became true after this past season. I always said that I would never stay in this profession if I felt like I was spent mentally and physically. 

I’m grateful to so many for fueling my passion for this game. Especially thankful for the young boys that I watched grow into young men because of what this sport reveals about you. I appreciate the coaches on all my staffs that battled with me and believed in the process that I was selling. And I will miss the coaches I battled against. That competition brought out greatness in everyone.

I now look forward to my son Jaybo taking over at Rabun and taking the program to another level. For me now, I’m going to take a deep breath and see what the next journey will be in my life.”

NEW ERA: JAYBO SHAW

Jaybo Shaw’s high school career consisted of 6,008 pass yds and 77 TD, adding 3,332 rush yds and another 50 TD. He was an elite QB with a 30-6 record as a starter, including a 3-3 playoff record.

Though he had some success at Georgia Tech (251 rush yds, 3 TD; 339 pass yds, 2 TD), he truly shined at Georgia Southern in Statesboro. In two years there, Shaw threw for 2,709 yards and 15 touchdowns, adding 934 yards rushing and 30 scores on the ground and helped guide GSU to a 21-8 record and two appearances in the NCAA Division-I Football Championship Subdivision (FCS) playoffs.

Since coming to Rabun, the offense in the past three seasons have been record-breaking for the Wildcats program. 

PRESS CONFERENCE

Check back this afternoon with more information, including answers to some burning questions we have about the move and what it means for the future of the program. Rabun County is holding a press conference at 1:30 pm today. We will have video and reactions to the news.