SCHS Athletic Hall of Fame announces Inductees for 2026   

By the Stephens County High School (SCHS) Athletic Hall of Fame Committee

Six former Stephens County Indians will be inducted into the Stephens County Athletic Hall of Fame this year and introduced prior to the first home football game of the 2026 season against Union County on Friday, September 4.

They are former football standout Darrell Swilling who played collegiately at Georgia Tech, former football player and wrestler George Sanders who spent an adult career as a high school coach and educator, cheerleader now probation officer Valarie Brown-Stephens, football standout turned college football program administrator Michael Dooley, placekicker Brad Chambers who had a strong collegiate career at Georgia Tech and former baseball standout Chris Barrett who played collegiately at Columbus State.

 

• Darrell Swilling was a four-year letterman in football at SCHS graduating in 1987. He also lettered three years in basketball and two in track. Among the football awards Swilling received included all-state, all-area, best defensive lineman and Captain’s Award. He received a football scholarship to attend Georgia Tech and played four years for the Yellow Jackets including the national championship season of 1990. He graduated from Tech in 1992 with a Bachelors of Science degree in management, and currently serves as Regional Vice President of Commercial Sales at Shaw Industries with over 30 years of leadership experience.
• George Sanders is a 1972 graduate of SCHS. During his high school playing career, Sanders lettered in football, wrestling, track and baseball. He was a member of the sub-region football champs of 1971, the three-time area champion wrestling team from 1969-1972 and the baseball region champions of 1971. Sanders received the football Hustler’s Award and was named a team co-captain. He was also named to the all-area football team and was named the most valuable player of the wrestling team. He was named by his teammate as the winner of the first-ever Christian Athlete Award in 1971. After completing college, Sanders launched a long career in education including coaching. In addition to classroom teaching, he has served as assistant principal and principal at SCHS, principal of Big A Elementary and campus director of the NGTC Currahee Campus in Avalon.
• Valarie Brown-Stephens is a 1991 graduate of Stephens County High School. During her high school career, she cheered for four seasons under coaches Jayne Snell and the late Brenda Kelley. Brown-Stephens was a member of SCHS cheer teams that competed at the NCA National Cheerleading Championship in Dallas, Texas. Individually, she won the following awards: top 15 best cheerleader at NCA national competition, 1989 NCA All-America Cheerleaders (first from SCHS to receive this honor) and was a finalist for all-America honors in 1990. Brown-Stephens was a cheerleader at Georgia Southern University and was a three-time member of the university’s dance team. After college, Brown-Stephens was a two-time Atlanta Falcons cheerleader and a three-time member of the Georgia Force Arena Football cheerleader. She is a two-time ESPN 2 fitness champion and the 2003 ESPN Fitness America national champion.
• Michael Dooley is in his 22^nd year with Clemson Football in 2026 and serves as Director for Football Administration and Player Personnel. Dooley is responsible for overseeing the program’s day-to-day operations and team travel, including bowl games. Dooley worked as an assistant coach at Greenville (S.C.) High School from 1998-04. His background also includes his tenure as an assistant coach for the Carolina Rhinos of the AF2 league in 2002. Dooley is a 1993 graduate of SCHS where he was a standout lineman for head coach Rodney Walker. He lettered as a defensive end at Furman from 1993-95. He was also an academic honor roll member and received his degree in health and exercise science from Furman in 1998.
• Brad Chambers is a 1995 graduate of SCHS where he lettered all four years in football and three years in soccer. The Indians were region champs in 1991 and 1992 and advanced to the state semi-finals in 1992. Chambers booted 32 career field goals, a school record, including a 53-yard kick, a school record until it was tied in the 2025 season by Luke Waters. In high school, Chambers was named all-state in 1994. Chambers is best remembered for kicking the game-winning 35-yard field goal against Georgia in 1998. The field goal came with only two seconds left in the game and allowed Tech to snap a seven-game losing streak to the Bulldogs. Chambers was named the ACC Student-Athlete of the year in 1998, the Toyota Gator Bowl Student-Athlete of the Year in 1998. He graduated from Georgia Tech in 1999 with a degree in wealth management.
• Chris Barrett was a two-sport standout at SCHS in the late 1970s and into 1980. He was a four-year letter winner in baseball and football earning all-region honors in baseball from 1978-1980 and all-region in football in the same period. In 1980, Barrett was named the Indians Co-MVP and Team Captain. He took his baseball skills to Dekalb South where in 1982 he was named MVP and Team Captain and made the all-conference team. Barrett went on to play two years of baseball at Columbus State University where he established new single season team records for doubles and runs batted in (RBI) and made the All-South Atlantic Region Team. He was named to the All-America team in 1984 and earned a spot on the all-World Series team. Also in 1984, Barrett broke the national single season record for most doubles. In 2012, he was named to the Columbus State University Baseball Hall of Fame.