‘It’s been a great career’: Bibb AD Hester to retire at year’s end, Grooms to take over

A Middle Georgia coaching legend is set to retire at the end of 2021, and a familiar face will replace him as the head of Bibb County Athletics.

For the last 47 years, Barney Hester has worked in sports in Macon as a head football coach and will retire from his post as the Athletic Director for Bibb County. Northeast athletic director and basketball coach Kevin Grooms will take over the position beginning in January.

Hester was the head coach at Tattnall from 1982-2012 before taking over at Howard High School from 2013-2017. During his lengthy coaching career, Hester won 11 GISA state championships, finished as the runner-up in seven other seasons and ranks sixth all-time in Georgia with 340 wins. In 2018, he retired from coaching to become the county schools’ athletic director.

The 68-year-old Hester will now get the opportunity to enjoy retirement with his wife, Lynn. But leaving the world of sports in a professional capacity will be an adjustmen. It is a world he has been around since he was riding to games as a kid on the school bus that his dad drove.

“When you leave something that you’ve been involved in your whole life, you are a little frightened about the future,” Hester said. “I keep telling everybody, I am going to do whatever my wife wants for a month, then she is probably going to get tired of me so I am going to have to find something to do.”

Hester made his mark on the game of football in Georgia but he said the wins, the championships and accomplishments pale in comparison to the truly important part of his journey: the people.

He said he has been fortunate enough to coach good players and coach alongside a lot of other great coaches.

“Bottom line, you don’t do any of this stuff by yourself. You do it because there is good people and community support around you,” Hester said. “It has been a great career for me and my family. ... I have never felt like I have gone to work.”

During his time as the Bibb County athletic director, Hester has helped restore some of the pride back to the community.

A big part has come as a result of the ESPLOST sales tax, which allowed the district to make the renovations to multiple facilities under Hester’s leadership, including upgrades to the Ed Defore Sports Complex. The complex now features turf with a safer playing field for student athletes and a large video board to help get fans involved in the experience.

Hester said he is thrilled at the strides the district was able to make over the last few years and is hopeful the students are proud to be a part of Bibb Athletics due to the reinvestment in their futures.

“I think the kids have taken pride in it. They take care of it. I think it has been a big thing for our district and pride factor for our young people,” he said. “I enjoyed my time in this position. The things we were able to accomplish from a facilities standpoint have been good.

“Bringing in athletic trainers to the district for the first time ever has been good. ... Those things were big for the district and being a part of that has been very rewarding.”

A new chapter begins

Hester now turns over the keys to Grooms, who became the athletic director at Northeast High School in 2017 and has been the head basketball coach there since 2012. Grooms won multiple awards as the top athletic director in his region as well as the entire 2A classification. Hester said the strides the county made under him is just the start. He believes Grooms can take Bibb Athletics to new heights.

Grooms said he remembers when he first took the position, Hester looked him in the eyes and said, “Kevin, just make sure you put students first.”

This is Grooms’ No. 1 priority as the new athletic director, a post he will take over on Jan. 1.

“My ultimate goal is always to put students first and make sure we have the best interest of the students at hand. That is what we are going to do here in Bibb County,” Grooms said. “We are going to make sure they have the best opportunity that we can possibly give them in order to succeed in life.”

Grooms will finish out the rest of the basketball season as the head coach of the Raiders. In his final season at the helm, he hopes to go out on top and perhaps bring home a state championship with his team led by star guard Travion Solomon.

Grooms is excited to finish out his time at Northeast. He said he is thankful for his time spent at Northeast and enjoyed getting to bring a sense of pride to Northeast through athletics. The school recently saw its football team under head coach Jeremy Wiggins reach the quarterfinals of the state playoffs before losing 12-9 in overtime to Swainsboro.

Grooms will leave Northeast in good shape as both boys and girls basketball are expected to contend for region titles.

But he is ready to take on a new challenge as the athletic director for the county.

“I never thought I would have this opportunity that I have right now but I am very excited for it,” Grooms said. “I have a lot of new ideas. I have a lot of things that I want to change and do differently to bring more exposure to Bibb Athletics.