MACON, Ga. – For the second offseason in a row, the Macon Mayhem are in search of a head coach.

Head coach and Director of Hockey Operations Kevin Kerr has resigned from his role with the team, according to an announcement by the team on Monday due to personal and family reasons.

While the search for Kerr’s replacement is already underway, Ryan Michel will remain with the team as assistant coach and also fulfill duties that the head coach role would take on until one is hired, such as recruiting.

“With the season being so close, the goal is going to be to get someone in immediately,” Mayhem General Manager Blair Floyd said.  “We’re already looking at a few coaches, so we’ll see where that leads us.”

Kerr’s exit comes after his second tenure with the team, both of which were highly successful.

The first head coach in team history, Kerr was 94-56-18 from 2015 to 2018, guiding the Mayhem to the William B. Coffey Cup and President’s Cup title in 2017. Kerr returned to Macon for last year’s shortened season as Macon ripped off a 32-6-4 mark, good for another Coffey Cup and a runner-up finish in the President’s Cup Playoffs.

“I think it’s a very attractive opening, much more so than a year ago,” Floyd said. “Kevin did such a great job building the team in spite of COVID. With our new ownership group, I think it’s a great destination for coaches to come in and help them grow toward the next level.”

Now, the Mayhem turn toward finding a coach to match, if not surpass the success of Kerr. Due to a large part of last year’s team not likely to be in Macon for the upcoming season due to ECHL opportunities, the new Mayhem bench boss stands to have a good chance to put their own imprint on them. So far, goalie Dillon Kelley has signed with the team and Macon has also traded to have veteran forward Stathis Soumeledis back in the Cherry Blossom Capital for another year.

Kelley has played a combined 87 games the past three years in the FPHL, ECHL, and SPHL while Soumelidis will be going into his seventh SPHL season, a career that has included being part of Macon’s President’s Cup Championship team.

“We’re looking for someone that has the experience, the ability to recruit, and someone that kind of has an old school hockey mentality – that you play hard, play hard on pucks,” Floyd said. “We’re looking for someone who’ll be dedicated to being here for a few years and someone with a track record of winning. As an ownership group, we want to win on and off the ice, and we’re looking for someone who can come and do that for us.”