The athletics department of Jones County High School will be under new leadership by the time that the 2022-23 school year begins.
That’s because Barry Veal, who has held the post since 2014 following 21 years as a coach with the Greyhounds baseball program, will be leaving to take the same position with Stratford Academy, a private school in Macon.
“I’m retiring and will take a job at Stratford Academy as the athletic director,” Veal said.
Veal is expected to officially begin his duties with Stratford on June 1 and planned to meet his new coaches in person earlier this week. Stratford informed its coaches and others via email on Friday evening according to the Central Georgia Sports Report.
Veal notes that this change comes at a time in which all of he and his wife’s children have graduated high school. Their youngest, Rylee, is a senior on the Lady Greyhounds tennis team.
“Now that all of our kids are grown, it’s a chance for us to go do something new and face a new challenge,” Veal said. “I love Jones County. I can’t put into words what it’s meant for me and my family. I get to retire and go over to Stratford and coach.”
But Jones Countians shouldn’t plan on worrying about Veal being far away. He says that he’ll still live in Jones County, and when the opportunity arises, even drop by the JCHS campus that has been a second home for so much time.
“What’s going to be tough getting used to is not coming to this school every day and not seeing the coaches that I’ve become so close with, that’s the hard part,” Veal said. “We’ll still live in Jones County. If I have some off weeks, I plan on coming to watch Jones County play.”
Veal moved into his current position at Jones County in 2014, being elevated from the role of assistant athletic director. That followed his tenure as head baseball coach of the Greyhounds, where he compiled a record of 472-91, according to the Georgia Dugout Preview.
Under Veal’s tenure as athletic director, the Greyhounds have remained competitive within the region and state with recent team accomplishments being four region titles in a row for football and a softball state title with individual accolades including Laney Doster’s top-five cross country finish in last year’s state meet and Zion Ragins winning a pair of individual titles in last year’s state track and field meet. Jones County also launched a volleyball program, the first year coming in the midst of COVID-19.
“The biggest thing I’m proud of is the relationships that I’ve built with the coaches and the relationships that the coaches have built with one another,” Veal said. “I feel like we’ve put emphasis on every sport and not just one or two sports. We’ve shown by the way that we’ve done things that we care about every sport and want to do good in every sport.”
Veal will take the helm of a Stratford program that, along with other private schools, will be transitioning back to the former Georgia Independent Schools Association to begin next season as it rebrands as the GIAA.
In a hint of irony, he’ll be replacing the outgoing Mark Farriba, who coached Veal as a player at FPD, one of Stratford’s rivals in the Macon private-school sports scene.
“Their old AD actually coached me in high school, Farriba was my baseball coach,” Veal said. “We had talked off and on over the years and I actually talked to him last year when he had an opening. It’s something that came out of the blue.”
As he readies for a new chapter, Veal says that he’ll be glad to offer any help needed to both Jones County High School Principal Lance Rackley and Superintendent of Schools Charles Lundy in finding his replacement as well as aiding his successor.
“I told Mr. Rackley and Mr. Lundy that if they want any advice, I’d be glad to give it to them, but I don’t think that they’ll need my advice,” Veal said. “I told them that whoever they select, I’ll be glad to help them and show them everything I’ve got. I’ll be glad to help them because I love this place and I love this school. I love everything about Jones County.”
