On Tuesday, April 29, the Appling County Board of Education met at the local board office. The meeting immediately went into executive session to discuss personnel. Upon exiting the executive session, Tucker Pruitt, head football coach at Fitzgerald High School, was announced as the new head football coach at Appling County High School.
Pruitt comes to Appling County after a successful tenure at Fitzgerald, which began after he replaced Jason Strickland, who left to become head football coach at Pierce County. Pruitt also follows his father, Robbie Pruitt, who was head coach at Fitzgerald from 2000 to 2002 and from 2004 to 2011.
In eight years at Fitzgerald, Tucker Pruitt’s record was 82-27. In 2017, Pruitt’s first season, his team finished below .500, going 4-7. In 2018, Pruitt led Fitzgerald to the state semifinals, achieving a 10-4 record. In 2019, Pruitt led Fitzgerald to an 8-4 record and a second-round playoff berth. In 2020, Fitzgerald won the region championship and advanced to the Class AA State Championship, falling to Callaway in a close game, 22-17. The following year, in 2021, Pruitt and Fitzgerald went 13-2, winning the Class AA State Championship by defeating Thomasville 21-7. In 2022, Fitzgerald secured another region championship and appeared in the Class AA State Championship, this time losing to Thomson 32-27. That was the same Thomson team that, a week earlier, knocked off Appling County in the semifinals, 20-14. In 2023 and 2024, Pruitt led Fitzgerald to 10-4 records and semifinal appearances in both years.
To summarize, Pruitt achieved a state championship, two region championships, six seasons with at least 10 wins, three state championship appearances, and six seasons of advancing to at least the semifinals in eight seasons.
Pruitt succeeds former Appling County Head Coach Jordan Mullis.
