On Friday, Aug. 21, the Riverwood Raiders will take the field at Hoskyn Stadium with a new head coach, a new identity and a rivalry game to prove it all works.

Josh Coffey took over the program in January after serving as offensive coordinator at Denmark High School. Before that, he held the same role at Union Grove and Lamar County and made coaching stops at Chattahoochee and Spalding. His first test comes when the Raiders host North Springs at 7:30 p.m. in a non-conference opener that doubles as a Sandy Springs rivalry game.

Both programs debut new head coaches that night.

Coffey told Appen Media at the July 24 Fulton County Schools Football Media Day that his biggest priority has been giving the Raiders an identity built from scratch rather than inherited from past seasons. He described perseverance as the program's "base pillar."

"Our base pillar is perseverance, that fight through, that overcome something," Coffey said. "That's something that these seniors have really taken and run with, and they've answered every call I've made."

Senior Jake Kaplan anchors the roster on both sides of the ball, lining up at quarterback and defensive end. Kaplan said at media day that the team has developed a toughness he hadn't seen in prior years, crediting early-morning offseason workouts that started in the winter.

Coffey brought Kaplan and two other seniors to the July 24 event at the College Football Hall of Fame in Atlanta, along with a sophomore who earned a varsity spot as a freshman. The other players who attended were Beck Smith, a 6-foot-5, 265-pound Class of 2027 tight end; Jaden Keys; and Tison Fleming, as we reported July 28.

The coaching staff around Coffey includes veteran assistant head coach Robert Hicks, who has taught and coached at Riverwood since 2019. Hicks was a first-team All-SEC selection at Mississippi State and a third-round pick of the Buffalo Bills in the 1998 NFL Draft. Co-defensive coordinators Chris Wilkerson and Rico Lyons join the staff, along with special teams coordinator Jonathan Beverly, who is in his 20th year of coaching. Riverwood alums Austin Lawhead (Class of 1998, who played under Hall of Fame coach Bill Hoskyn) and Reggie Norwood Jr. (2014–2017) round out a staff that blends outside experience with program roots.

Riverwood competes in GHSA Region 7-6A. The Aug. 21 opener against North Springs does not count toward region standings, but it gives Coffey a measuring stick before conference play begins. Tickets are available through GoFan, and games at Hoskyn Stadium stream on the NFHS Network.