Teddy Dyess

Philadelphia High School head football coach Teddy Dyess confirmed Wednesday afternoon he is leaving the program after 11 seasons to become the head football coach at Magee High School.

Dyess led Philadelphia to 11 playoff appearances in 11 seasons and compiled a 115-26 record at the school. After more than a decade with the Tornadoes program, Dyess said electing to leave wasn’t easy. 

“That’s one of the things that made the decision so difficult — the people in Philadelphia loved and accepted me and my family from Day 1, and they stood behind us,” Dyess said. “The thing about Philadelphia is it’s a great community and a tight-knit community, and they play great football there. And they’re going to continue to play great football there. That’s not going away, and that’s not going to change.”

Prior to his arrival at Philadelphia, Dyess carried Lumberton High School to back-to-back state titles in 2004 and 2005 during a 28-1 stretch. He coached at the school for six seasons. 

Dyess will take over a Magee football program that has won four state championships and finished as runners-up three times throughout the school’s history. Dyess replaces former Magee head coach Tim Coats, who guided the Trojans to a 6-6 record last season and went 20-16 during his three-year career.

Dyess said proximity to his and his wife Chantay’s families was influential in his decision.

“My parents and my wife’s mother, they’re all 70, and my parents are football people, and they were driving to Philadelphia from Bassfield every Friday night, so we cut their ride in half having to come to Magee instead of Philadelphia,” Dyess explained. “That’s beneficial to them. And also, it’s beneficial because I have an eighth-grader who is going to ninth grade, and now they can come to more of his events and see more stuff that’s he’s doing.”

Dyess informed his players Wednesday of his resignation. 

“It hurt, as it should, but at the same time, they understood,” Dyess said. “They understand the importance of family — we talk to them a lot about family as far as within our locker room, so they understood… what I was doing.”

Dyess said he was unsure as to whether or not school officials have begun a search for his replacement.