After Poag departure, former state champion Barden takes over Christian Heritage football

Published 4:04 pm Wednesday, April 26, 2023

The newest head coach of the Christian Heritage School football team brings state championship experience to the Lions.

Frank Barden, who won a state championship at Cartersville in 1999 and boasts more than 200 wins as a head coach in Georgia, was named Christian Heritage’s new coach, according to an announcement Wednesday by the school.

Barden had most recently been at Saint Francis School in Alpharetta, where his Knights reached the Class A Division I Final Four in 2022.

“I am very excited to be a part of the team of administrators, faculty, and staff at CHS,” Barden said in an announcement released by the school. “I look forward to working with the students and community in a way that creates a positive impact on the mission of the school.”

Barden will take over after the departure of Jay Poag. Poag has been named the athletics director and head football coach at a new school near Lake Norman, North Carolina. Poag and his wife, Amy, previously lived in the area close to her family before moving back to Poag’s native Whitfield County. Amy has been the director of college advising at Christian Heritage, and she’ll serve as the dean of student services at the new North Carolina school.

Poag’s two sons, Brandon and Jacob, attended Christian Heritage, Brandon is a 2017 graduate, while Jacob is set to graduate this spring.

“Throughout our time here, Christian Heritage School, the administration and the community have been so good to our family,” Poag wrote in a statement shared with a reporter. “We will certainly miss our CHS family and you will always have a piece of our heart.”

Poag took over as head coach at Christian Heritage prior to the 2016 season, when his brother, Preston Poag, left to become the head coach at North Murray. Jay Poag had served as the offensive coordinator under Preston previously.

Poag led back-to-back nine-win seasons in 2019 and 2020, winning the program’s only region championship in 2020. The Lions reached the state playoffs in each of the last five years of Poag’s seven-year tenure.

“Great leaders leave programs better than they found them,” Harrison said. “The Poags have helped our students maximize their potential. It is because of the strength of the programs they built that we have such confidence to move forward without them.”

Barden takes over at Christian Heritage after coaching against the Lions in Dalton last year. Barden’s Knights defeated Christian Heritage 26-7 in that September game.

“We are thrilled to add Coach Barden to our staff as our head football coach,” Christian Heritage Head of School Kent Harrison said in the announcement. “The success of his career demonstrates a level of excellence and program enhancement.”

Barden coached at St. Francis for five seasons, leading the Knights to their first playoff appearances and first region title. Barden spent most of his tenure as a head coach at Cartersville, where he won seven region championships and a state title in 18 seasons. He made a four-year stop at Stephens County after coaching at Cartersville and coached for two seasons at Pickens prior to taking over at Cartersville in 1996.

In 29 years as a head coach Barden has 217 career wins, 19 state playoff appearances and five semifinal appearances.