Roswell hires Kemper as football coach

Under Matt Kemper, Pope won a region title in 2008. (Daniel Varnado / Special to aJC)

Under Matt Kemper, Pope won a region title in 2008. (Daniel Varnado / Special to aJC)

Roswell hired Johns Creek coach Matt Kemper on Wednesday to replace John Ford, who took the head coaching job at Buford.

Kemper, the first Roswell coach not promoted from the Roswell staff since 1954, led Johns Creek to an 8-3 finish and the school's first region championship last season out of 7-AAAAAA. He became the Johns Creek head coach in 2015.

An Ohio native who played football at Miami of Ohio, Kemper came to Georgia in 2008 to become head coach at Pope in Marietta. Pope won a region title under Kemper in 2008. Kemper also has been a head coach in Ohio and Florida.

Roswell has finished 14-1 each of the past two seasons and was runner-up in the highest classification to Colquitt County in 2015 and Grayson in 2016.