By Shannon Fagan, WEIS Sports Director

SPRING GARDEN – Kyle Garmon has worked his way up the educational ladder.

From teacher and assistant coach to head coach and assistant principal, Garmon has worn just about every hat there is within a school system.

Now he’s getting his shot as a principal.

On Thursday evening, the Cherokee County Board of Education approved Garmon’s promotion as the new principal at Spring Garden School. He replaces his mentor and former principal Brian Clowdis, who recently retired from Spring Garden.

Clowdis accepted a position at Coosa High School in Georgia, in which his duties include assisting former Panther head football coach Jason Howard on the Eagle football staff.

“It’s the next step up for me,” Garmon said. “I’ve tried to pace myself out. I’ve wanted to be in administration since I started teaching, but I always felt like I needed classroom experience before I started moving up to the office. I think I did 12-13 years in the classroom before I moved into the office at Gaylesville. I’m ready for the next step up and I look forward to it.”

Garmon’s promotion to principal means he will be stepping down as the Panther head baseball coach.

In two seasons as head baseball coach at Spring Garden, Garmon guided the Class 1A Panthers to a 34-23 overall record with playoff berths in both seasons. Spring Garden went 16-10 in 2025 and lost in the first round to Pickens Academy. Last season, the Panthers went 18-13 and reached the second round before losing to eventual state champion Hubbertville.

Garmon said leaving baseball behind is bittersweet for him.

“I absolutely love baseball. I love watching it. I love coaching it, and that’s the hard thing about it. I obviously can’t be both the head baseball coach and the principal,” Garmon said.

“A lot of these kids I think of them as mine, but I’m still going to be around them some. It’s not like I’m leaving. I’m just moving one office 10 feet away to the next one, so it’s not like I’m not going to be here.”

Garmon said he appreciates the opportunity he’s been given at Spring Garden and gives special appreciation to Clowdis for his role in helping him along the way.

“I first met him (Clowdis) when I was a senior in high school. He was our wide receivers coach at Centre my senior year. I went off to college and graduated and started looking for a job, and he got me on at Gaylesville. We worked together for several years over there, and he taught me how to be a head football coach. He left and I replaced him as head football coach, and now he’s leaving this job and I’m replacing him as principal,” Garmon said.

“I always felt like I worked hard. I feel like I’ve worked hard as an assistant principal. Mr. Clowdis has spent the last four years preparing me, teaching me the paperwork side of it, the computer side of it. You go back to working with Mr. (Scott) Hays and Mr. (Terry) Gilbreath (at Gaylesville) and the experiences I learned from them, I’m set up and ready to go.”

Several of Garmon’s first moves in his new role include hiring his assistant principal, kindergarten and history teaching positions, and the new Panther head baseball coach.

Garmon said he’s looking for the right fit with each, including baseball.

“We have some very qualified people on staff at Spring Garden who I feel would be exceptional,” he said. “We’ll start with them before we look outside and go from there.”

Regardless of whom the Panthers hire, Garmon has left them in good shape whenever they take over the reins.

“We have a really good group of seniors who just graduated, and we have a really, really experienced and talented group that’s going to replace them,” he said. “Our junior high team won the county tournament. They were eighth grade heavy. We have a really good group coming up, and we have some really good players coming back. We’re one of the top baseball programs in 1A, and it looks like we’re going to be one of the top baseball programs in 1A for the next several years.”