Stratford announces basketball head coach Jamie Dickey’s resignation

After deep playoff runs in football and boys basketball, Stratford’s Jamie Dickey is stepping aside from coaching.

Citing the need to spend more time with his wife and three young children, Dickey said he is leaving the education field to work for Five Star Automotive, his family’s line of automobile dealerships.

“I loved my six years at Stratford Academy,” said Dickey, whose children are all aged three or younger. “It’s awesome here; a great school, great coworkers, and the kids have been great. This decision is based on just feeling that it’s time to change careers, to get into the family business that we have in the automotive industry and help the family business grow.

“I’m looking forward to the next chapter. It’s totally different. I’m feeling led to do it.”

Dickey went 105-52 in his time as Stratford boys basketball head coach. With a roster that included the likes of Quintez Cephus and O’Showen Williams, the Eagles to the 2013-14 GISA Class AAA championship and the 2015-16 GHSA Region 7-A title.

This year’s team reached the GHSA Class A Private School semifinals, where Stratford lost to eventual champion Greenforest Christian. Cephus is head to Wisconsin on a football scholarship, while Williams will sign Wednesday with South Georgia State.

Dickey also played a key role in Stratford’s football program, serving as offensive coordinator. He helped lead Stratford to a GHSA Class A Private School semifinal appearance, with the Eagles narrowly missing out on a trip to the Georgia Dome.

“It’s a big loss,” Stratford athletics director Mark Farriba said. “He’s one of those guys who is a young coach who had a great future ahead of him coaching and was very capable. We hate to lose him, but like everything else, change happens.”

As Stratford opens a search for a new basketball head coach and has to fill a position on the football staff, Dickey, who spent two years as an assistant at George Walton and one season at Prince Avenue Christian, won’t be completely leaving the Stratford community. He said he intends to enroll his children in the school as he enters his new career.

“Our family has a very successful business, and I’m excited about getting into it and helping it grow,” Dickey said. “Coaching has been wonderful. I’m so thankful for Stratford giving me my first head coaching job. It’s been a great six years, building relationships with coaches and kids that I’ve coached. There are going to be lifelong relationships.

“I’m at peace. That part of my life is over. I’m ready to start a new chapter in the business world.”

This story was originally published April 22, 2016 at 10:40 AM with the headline "Stratford announces basketball head coach Jamie Dickey’s resignation."