High school head coaching jobs turn over at a frenetic pace in many programs, just not South Gwinnett baseball.
The Comets will have to make a rare change this offseason, though, with the news that Steve Teschner, who provided the latest chapter of stability in the program, plans to retire from coaching baseball. He will continue teaching at South until December, when he takes his full retirement from education.
Teschner is one of just three South head baseball coach since the program started in the 1960s — longtime coach John Sawyer led the Comets until Roger Parham, the head coach from 1999 to 2006. Teschner was an assistant coach for one season under Parham, and became head coach in 2007.
“Tremendous support has always been a part of that community,” Teschner said of South. “There are some lifers there who have been tremendously supportive. (Longtime supporter and announcer) Jim Rhodes. The Snell family has always been so good to us and supportive of everything we do. … My coaches, the guys that I had with me, they just got the most out of the kids we had. And our kids were just great kids and had a tremendous work ethic.”
Teschner, a graduate of the old Peachtree High, got his start in coaching at Redan after his playing career ended at Georgia College. But the majority of his coaching experience, in both baseball and football, has been in Gwinnett.
He spent a dozen years at Meadowcreek early in his career and transitioned to Collins Hill for four years before accepting a job at South. He was involved in the Snellville community long before he became an employee of South, though.
“I didn’t realize it until I started processing it, but I’ve been in the South Gwinnett baseball community for 22 years,” the 54-year-old said. “My son started SGAA (youth association baseball) when he was 4. And he’s getting ready to turn 27. That’s a long time and a lot of relationships built over time. It’s been a great ride, it really has.”
Teschner isn’t certain of his plans beyond his final semester as a teacher this fall. He and his wife plan to move closer to the Gulf of Mexico at some point.
“I am looking to relocate,” Teschner said. “I’ve promised my wife. She’s always wanted to get down by the beach and the gulf somewhere. I promised her we would get there the first chance we get. Given that she’s supported me all those years, I want to do that for her.”
The couple’s son Brett, who reached as high as Triple-A baseball before retiring, already lives down that way in Gulf Breeze, Fla., near Pensacola, where he works in robotics for spinal surgeries. The Teschners’ daughter Katie is a first-year teacher in Gwinnett at McGill Elementary School.
