THE OFFICIAL SITE OF
Gainesville High School Athletics

In January 2026, three seasons after helping Gainesville football to its first region title in nearly a decade and a Class 6A state runner-up finish as an assistant coach, Santavious Bryant was tabbed to take the helm of the program, becoming just the 21st head coach in the Red Elephants’ 113-season history.

In the three-year interim from GHS assistant to Big Red lead Bryant headed up the nationally renowned and acclaimed Grayson Rams program, where he won three region championships and in his second year, became the youngest coach in Georgia high school football history to win a state championship in GHSA’s highest classification.

Before becoming a standout coach Bryant was a standout player for Wheeler High School in Marietta. Out of high school he signed with Shorter College in Rome where he became a three-year starter at defensive back and GSC Academic Honor Roll member several times.

Bryant returned to Wheeler to begin his coaching career under his former coach Michael Collins. He joined Grayson’s staff in 2019 as defensive backs coach before moving to Gainesville where he served dual roles as defensive passing game coordinator and coach of the DBs.

Grayson gave the then- 28-year-old Bryant his first head coaching job in 2023 and over the next three years he led the Rams to a 24-3 record that included a program history-marking 16-straight wins from 2024-2025, three region titles, a state semifinals appearance in Year 1, the program’s fourth state championship in Year 2, and despite an early playoff exit in his third and final year, No. 1 national rankings in several high school football polls.

Bryan is married and has three children.