Winder-Barrow football has hired its next head coach in former Savannah Christian offensive coordinator Russell DeMasi. The Barrow County Board of Education approved the move on Tuesday night, DeMasi said.
Robert Paxia relieved himself of his duties with the Bulldoggs following the 2025 season.
Paxia led Winder-Barrow to a 13-18 record between 2023-2025. The Bulldoggs had one of the best running backs in the area in Demetrius Dowdy, who recorded 632 carries for 4,464 yards and 42 touchdowns in his three-year career. Dowdy has committed to play at Sam Houston State.
DeMasi has been a football coach for 13 seasons. He got his start at Shorter University, where he earned his master’s degree, before moving to Savannah State for six years, where he served as the Tigers interim head coach at the end of his tenure.
“This is my first head coaching job, except for my time as an interim at Savannah State — and I’m really excited about running my own program,” DeMasi said. “I’ve wanted to be a head coach since I was with my dad (Karl DeMasi) on the sidelines of Groves High School as a kid. I’ve been an assistant for a long time and I’ve learned what the job entails, and I’m going to enjoy the challenge of taking over a new team. I’ve learned a lot from all the coaches I’ve worked with and I’m excited about putting my own spin on things.”
He started as the quarterbacks coach in 2015 at SSU, before moving up to the role of assistant head coach in 2019. It was in this role he led the program to a 7-3 record — it’s first winning record since 1998.
DeMasi was named interim head coach when Shawn Quinn left SSU for Virginia Tech, and while he was in the running, the role went to Aaron Kelton, who stepped down at the end of this season.
DeMasi then spent a year as offensive coordinator at Calvary Day, where he worked with quarterback Jake Merklinger during his junior season before Merklinger went on to the University of Tennessee.
DeMasi then returned to the college realm with a stint at Wayne State University in Detroit in 2023. He was there for two seasons before he was let go by the Division II program.
As a quarterback at Savannah Christian in 2006 and 2007, he earned All-Greater Savannah first-team honors and helped lead them to back-to-back second round playoff appearances.
DeMasi returned to be the offensive coordinator at his alma mater Savannah Christian for the 2025 season under head coach Baker Woodward, who has led the program for eight years.
As the Raiders OC this year, DeMasi helped lead the team to a 7-5 record and to the Class A-3A Private State quarterfinals. SCPS averaged 30 points per game with a balanced offense that put up 233 yards rushing and 171 yards passing per game. Quarterback Blaise Thomas had a stellar senior season as he rushed for 1,104 yards and 12 touchdowns, while throwing for 1,993 yards and 19 scores to win Region 3A Division I Player of the Year honors.
“Coach Woodward always uses positive motivation no matter what happens, and I want to have the same kind of positive influence he has on his players on and off the field,” DeMasi said. “I want everyone in our program to know their job and how to get it done.”
Winder-Barrow went 4-7 overall, and 3-3 in Class 5A-Region 8 in 2025, falling 78-30 in the first round of the GHSA playoffs to Brunswick.
While they’re losing standouts like Dowdy, Xavier McCoy and Kenyan Glasper, the Bulldoggs are retaining key wide receivers Grayson Engel and London Munoz and also have the state’s class of 2028’s No. 3 safety in 247Sports four-star Giovanni Tuggle.
Taking the job at Winder-Barrow was the perfect fit, DeMasi said.
“Winder-Barrow is the alma mater of my wife, Kate, and her brother (Greg Dixon) played quarterback there,” he said. “Her parents still live there, so they won’t have to travel anymore to come to my games, and it’s close enough that my parents will be able to come to games.”
DeMasi said he plans to call the offense for the Bulldoggs next year.
“I’ll call the plays and hope to find coaches to learn our system,” DeMasi said. “So I’m going to have to find a defensive coordinator I can really trust. I’d like to groom someone to take over the offense someday, but for the first few years, I’ll probably run it.”
This article originally appeared on Athens Banner-Herald: Russell DeMasi takes head coaching job with Winder-Barrow football
