MOULTRIE — Former Colquitt County football coach Jim Hughes said Kevin Giddens had the best “people skills” of any coach he ever worked with.

And former GHSA executive director Robin Hines and Moultrie-Colquitt County Parks and Recreation Authority athletic director James Kling echoed that assessment Wednesday after Giddens died unexpectedly at Colquitt Regional Medical Center.

A memorial service will be held at 11 a.m. Saturday, June 22, 2024, at First Baptist Church of Moultrie with the Rev. Matt Peek officiating.

The family will greet friends from 9-10:45 a.m. Saturday at First Baptist Church of Moultrie.

The longtime coach, school administrator, athletic director, state high school and recreation official was working for the MCCPRA and had first moved to Colquitt County in 1994 as the offensive line coach for the Packers football team.

He had retired from the GHSA last year to return to Moultrie full-time and take on a second tour of duty with the recreation authority.

“He was the most genuine person I have ever known,” said Kling, Giddens’s MCCPRA co-worker and long-time fishing partner. “He could be tough, but he truly cared about people and definitely about his football players.

“He was my best friend and would do anything for me.”

Hines, Giddens’s boss at the GHSA, said he will remember his associate director’s friendship.

“He was the guy who would do anything for anybody,” said Hines, who recently retired at the GHSA executive director.

And he was an outstanding administrator, Hines added.

“He had the ability to talk to people, even in tough situations,” he said. “He was knowledgeable and there was never a more organized associate director for the GHSA than Kevin Giddens.

“If you could imagine the perfect guy for the GHSA, it was him. What he did wasn’t always easy, but it seemed like he did things effortlessly. He brought us to a new level.”

Hughes, who first brought Giddens to Moultrie in 1994 to coach the Packers offensive line on a team that would win the program’s first state championship, remained close to his former assistant over the years.

Those “people skills” were evident in his role as Colquitt County’s athletic director and in his often difficult work with the GHSA.

“I have told Kevin and Robin Hines that their leadership (at the GHSA) during the Covid year, maintaining the football playoff schedule without missing a game, was remarkable,” Hughes said.

Giddens was born June 22, 1964, in Hawkinsville, Ga., grew up in Cochran and played football at Georgia Southern, where he earned bachelor’s and master’s degrees in physical education.

He was the head football and baseball coach at Long County before becoming an assistant at Coffee High.

Hughes brought him to Colquitt County from Douglas and started a long relationship between the Giddens family and Moultrie.

Todd Myrick was an offensive lineman on Colquitt County’s 1994 undefeated state championship team and has served a number of years as a middle school football coach.

“Man so many things run through my mind when I think of Coach Giddens,” Myrick posted on Facebook. “He was definitely a great coach. He later became a friend. He helped me get into coaching. Every time I saw him he gave me the biggest hug and said ‘I love you and I’m proud of you.’”

After four years on the Packers staff, Giddens returned to Coffee High and was the Trojans head coach for three seasons.

He returned to Moultrie in 2001 as an assistant principal and reclaimed his offensive line coach position in 2007, keeping it through the 2011 season.

During those years, he helped develop his son Bryce into an All-State center. Bryce Giddens played college football at Arkansas State and now has his father’s old job as the Packers offensive line coach.

Kevin Giddens was named Colquitt County’s athletic director in 2013 and held the position for four years. During his tenure, the Packers football team won undefeated state championships in 2014 and 2015.

In 2015, he was named the state’s Class 6A Athletic Director of the Year.

He resigned as AD in 2016, turning the reins of the program over to Greg Tillery.

While at Colquitt County, he served the GHSA as the region secretary for 11 years and as the region representative on the state executive committee from 2012-2016.

After leaving the school system, Giddens worked for the Recreation Authority as its athletic coordinator for 18 months before joining the GHSA as an associate director.

During his tenure with the GHSA, he coordinated the football program and helped start the popular bass fishing program.

Even after leaving the GHSA, he helped oversee the young, but exceedingly successful bass fishing program.

“He did a great job with that,” said Hines.

That was because he loved to fish himself.

“He always made me promise not to put a picture of him holding a fish on Facebook,” Kling said. “I always referred to him as my ‘camera-shy friend.’

“But if you knew him, he loved people and loved to talk to everyone and give them encouraging words.”

In addition to his son Bryce and his fiancee Lexie Wiggins, he is survived by his mother, Catherine Giddens; his wife, Lynn Smith Giddens of Moultrie; daughter, Shannon Lee Giddens, a teacher in Oconee County; grandchildren, Baylor Michelle Giddens, Bo Abie Giddens; siblings, Joan Shipley and husband Don, Janet Davis and husband Butch; several nieces, nephews, and other extended family members and friends

Hughes summed up his former colleague: “Excellent coach, great friend, super family.”