As a player at Alabama, and as a coach with such prominent programs as Parkview and Grayson, Chad McGehee has experienced his share of success on the gridiron.

Now, McGehee is hoping to bring that level of success to Kennesaw Mountain as he becomes the second head football coach in the school's 10-year history.

The 34-year-old McGehee, who will assume the reins Monday, replaces Scott Jones, who led the Mustangs' program from its inception in 2000 until he resigned in December to devote more time to his family.

For McGehee, who was the defensive coordinator at Parkview the last two years, it was an opportunity that was too good to pass up.

"We're really excited and ready to get up that way and get started," McGehee said. "There's already a lot of good things in place to build on. I'm excited to become a part of the Kennesaw Mountain community."

McGehee takes over a team seeking to bounce back from a disappointing 1-9 season in 2009.

Kennesaw Mountain athletic director John Kelly said McGehee was exactly what the school was looking for in a new football coach.

"(McGehee) brings a lot of things for us," Kelly said. "He brings a fresh outlook on offense and defense. He has been a part of several winning programs, and he has had head-coaching experience. He is someone who we think can move this program forward."

It will be the second head-coaching position for McGehee, who coached Elkmont (Ala.) High School from 2005-07.

A defensive back and wide receiver, McGehee also was a part of the baseball and track teams at Southside High School in Gadsden, Ala., before graduating in 1994.

After spending his first year of college at Samford, McGehee transfered to Alabama, where he walked on to the Crimson Tide roster and played defensive back under Gene Stallings and Mike DuBose from 1995-98. He lettered twice and was an All-Southeastern Conference academic honoree during his time at Alabama.

McGehee got his first coaching job at Grayson, where he was an assistant coach from 2000-05 and helped build the new program at the Gwinnett County school. The Rams went 25-10, won a region championship and had back-to-back state playoff berths during his time there.

He then moved back to Alabama to take over the reins at Elkmont, where he took a team that was 1-9 each of the previous two seasons and led them to their first winning season in five years.

McGehee returned to Georgia two years later to lead the defense for a Parkview program that has been one of the traditional powerhouses of Georgia high school football for the last two decades.

McGehee said helping establish a winning program at Grayson, and coaching at an established program like Parkview, has prepared him well to build a similar winning tradition at Kennesaw Mountain.

"At Grayson, I had the opportunity to open the school, and it was a unique experience," McGehee said. "To be part of that process was an invaluable experience for me. At Parkview, it was a great experience to work with coach Cecil Flowe. I learned a lot about building and maintaining a winning program there."

McGehee met with his new players for the first time Monday and said it was a positive meeting.

"The meeting was great," McGehee said. "Everything went very well. It was a very positive meeting and I am very excited about the kids that we have here."

With a new coach will come new offensive and defensive schemes. McGehee said he plans to install a multiple offense and a multiple 3-4 defense at Kennesaw Mountain.

While McGehee has no experience with Region 5AAAAA, he said he was aware of the competitiveness of the region.

"It's going to be competitive, obviously," McGehee said. "McEachern, with the year they had last year, is going to be competitive, and there are several other teams that will be competitive, too. We're going to have to be ready to play every week."

It will be a busy next few months for McGehee, who will now have the task of hiring a new coaching staff and familiarizing himself with his players in preparation for the beginning spring practice in May.

McGehee said he's ready to go.

"We have to get our offseason training program started and start getting ready for spring training," McGehee said. "We have a lot of work to do, but I can't wait to get started."