Winder-Barrow football seeks new coach, Robert Paxia steps down after three seasons

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Winder-Barrow football coach Robert Paxia is no longer with the Bulldoggs.

Paxia posted to his X (formerly Twitter) account on Tuesday morning that, after three years with the program, it was time for a change for both them and him.

“It ultimately was my decision,” Paxia said. “We felt like we kind of did as good a job as we possibly could’ve done at Winder. Truly enjoyed my time there.

“I feel OK, but I hate the timing. I hate that this is how everything’s kind of shaken out. But I think it’s what’s best for everybody. I don’t know that this was the wrong time, I don’t know if this was the right time, I just know it was the time and the next step for us.”

Paxia spent three years with the Bulldoggs, racking up a 13-18 record and, while no region titles, took two straight trips to the first round of GHSA Class 5A playoffs. He also mentioned they’ve either tied or broken at least 24 school records in his tenure.

He went 4-7 in his final season, finishing with a 78-30 loss to Brunswick in the first-round of 2025 state competition.

Prior to his stint in Georgia, Paxia coached in Florida at Flagler Palm Coast and Lake Gibson for several years.

Paxia does not have any future plans lined up at the moment, and that includes whether he and his family will stay in Georgia or return home to Florida. He said every person he knows has asked that question, and while he doesn’t anticipate bringing his wife and two kids back to the sunshine state, nothing is being ruled out.

“This gives Winder a ton of opportunity to find the right guy, develop a plan and go do what they need to do,” Paxia said. “And it gives me time to do the same thing, to decide what job is going to be the right job. I don’t have to be one foot in, one foot out.

Winder-Barrow is moving up to Class 6A-Region 8 next year as the GHSA turns back to solid classifications to eliminate Class 1A-Divisions 1 and 2.

The Bulldoggs have the state’s class of 2028’s No. 3 safety in Giovanni Tuggle, who already has offers from Alabama, Auburn, Florida, Florida State, Georgia, Georgia Tech, Kentucky, Oklahoma, Oregon, Penn State, Texas and Texas A&M, among others.

“I always hate it when people call for coaches to get fired, because the amount of people affected by a coach leaving, whether or not they get fired or resign or take a new job, any of those things, anytime you call for a change in coach it affects way more than just the coach,” Paxia said.

“Today has sucked, but the kids are resilient, people are resilient, and it’s all love and respect on both ends.”

This is the first football coaching position that has opened in the area this fall. Last season saw Cedar Shoals and Commerce let go of Leroy Ryals and Mark Hollars, and Apalachee’s Mike Holland and Prince Avenue Christian’s Greg Vandagriff stepping down.

This article originally appeared on Athens Banner-Herald: Winder-Barrow football’s Robert Paxia won’t be returning next year

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