Aaron Paul has worn many hats at Morgan County High School over the past 12 years.
He has served as the head boys soccer coach, flag football coach, and assistant football coach. Now, after more than a decade on the sidelines, Paul is moving into school administration, having been named an assistant principal.
Paul's Morgan County career began in 2014, when he was hired to lead the boys soccer program.
"I got hired at Morgan in 2014," Paul said. "That's about 12 years ago, almost to the day. I went in and interviewed with Dr. Jim Malanowski, who was the principal, and Steve Cisson, the athletic director at the time, who has since passed away. They took a chance on me and told me they needed a soccer coach."
Paul said the program already had a foundation but was navigating a changing landscape in high school soccer.
"Soccer wasn't in bad shape by any means," he said. "But we were in the process of changing classifications and regions. High school soccer in Georgia, especially in rural areas, was still kind of evolving."
From the beginning, his goal was simple: win the region.
"When I interviewed, they asked what we needed to do to improve," Paul said. "I said the first thing we've got to do is focus on winning region games and try to win region championships. That helps your playoff seeding."
That philosophy paid dividends.
"I don't like to toot my own horn, but I think I've won 80 or 81 percent of my region games over 12 seasons," Paul said. "We've had seven region championships, one region runner-up, a couple of Elite Eight appearances, and a lot of Sweet 16 runs. We did everything but get to the Final Four or finals."
Paul said coaching also reinforced his desire to move into school leadership one day.
"My mom was a teacher, and my high school principal was a mentor of mine, and I always thought they had really cool jobs," he said. "So I kind of always thought maybe one day I'd move into administration, especially student-centered administration."
That opportunity arrived this summer.
"As an assistant principal, you deal with discipline, parking, all those kinds of things," Paul said. "Those are things I've already been doing in different capacities, but now I get to do it for the whole school. It's exciting."
The transition, however, comes with mixed emotions.
"It's bittersweet because I've always prided myself on having good relationships with my players and their families," he said. "When the news went public, I had to send a message to the guys before they saw it somewhere else. That was a hard message to send."
Paul said becoming an administrator has long been one of his career goals, though he did not expect the opportunity to come this year.
"It's something I've wanted to do and kind of always had as a career goal," he said. "I didn't think it would happen this year, honestly. But with the changes, it worked out, and I'm really fortunate."
Although his official start date was July 1, Paul has already spent much of the summer settling into his new role.
"I've already been working all summer in the new role," he said. "It will be a little bittersweet when soccer season rolls around and football season rolls around, and I'm not on the sidelines anymore."
As he looks back, Paul said he is proud of what Morgan County's athletic programs accomplished during his tenure.
"We've made some noise over the last few years with region championships and playoff runs," he said. "The facilities have grown, the program has grown. I think we built something solid here."
Now, Paul is focused on supporting Morgan County students and athletics from a different perspective, even if leaving coaching behind won't be easy.
"I think that'll be the hardest part," he said. "I've spent 12 years with those guys. That's a long time."