Patrick Atwater, Superintendent of the Tift County School System, released a statement Tuesday announcing that Jay Walls has resigned from his position as head football coach of the Tift County Blue Devils, effective Nov. 1.

In his seven seasons with the Blue Devils, Walls became the second winningest coach in school history. He led the team to a 44-34 record over his tenure, highlighted by a Region 1-AAAAA championship in 2006. That league title was the school’s first since the 1983 season.

In 2006, the Blue Devils also advanced to the state semifinals where they lost to Roswell, 24-10.

Walls reached his 100th career win while coaching Tift County. That was an upset victory in 2010 over the Lowndes High Vikings in what some considered one of the biggest upsets in Tift County football history. The Blue Devils entered that game with a 4-5 record, while Lowndes was 8-1 and had already clinched the 2010 region title. Tift won the game, which was played in Valdosta, 10-7.

Only Gene Brodie has more career wins with the Blue Devils than Walls.

In the release Atwater said, “We thank Coach Walls for his dedication to the program and wish him success in all of his future endeavors.”

The team reached the state playoffs in his first four years, but has failed to reach the playoffs for the last three. This last season was a particularly difficult one for the Blue Devils. After a strong 3-0 start, the Blue Devils lost seven straight, including their homecoming game, their Senior Night game and all four region contests. The 2011 season ended with a 21-0 loss to Lowndes last Friday at Brodie Field.

Walls graduated from Valdosta State University with a Bachelor of Science degree in education. He was also a three-year starter for the Valdosta State Blazers as a defensive tackle. For the 1985 season, Walls was named a permanent team captain for the Blazers.

Walls would spend two years as a graduate assistant coach for the Blazers, before taking a job at Crestview (Fla.) High School. He spent eight years there, the last five as the defensive coordinator, before getting his first head coaching job at Suwannee High School in Live Oak, Fla. Walls would coach there for eight seasons and amass 59 wins. He left that job in 2005 to take over at Tift County.

His wife, Amy Walls, is also a teacher in the Tift School system. She teaches physical education and health at Northeast Campus.

A search for his replacement will begin immediately, according to Atwater.