Landmark Christian hires Brantley as football coach; Dallas takes campus minister job in Tennessee (updated with comments from Brantley)

Landmark Christian, which reached its first state championship game in football in 2011, promoted offensive coordinator Wayne Brantley as head coach to replace Kenny Dallas, who is taking a coaching job in Franklin, Tenn.

Dallas won 88 games in his 11 seasons at the Fairburn private school. Landmark Christian was 12-3 this past season and lost to Savannah Christian in the Class A final.

“I have reached one of the absolute hardest decisions that I have ever made in my life. As of today, I am stepping down as the head football coach at Landmark Christian School,” Dallas wrote in a letter to families and friends of the football team.

Dallas will be the campus minister and be in charge of spiritual development at Grace Christian Academy and not coach football at his new school.

Brantley, the school’s athletics director, was head coach at Tuscaloosa Academy in Alabama from 2007 to 2010. He returned this past season to Landmark, where he had assisted Dallas for season seasons prior to leaving for Alabama.

Brantley says he feels no pressure to live up to last season’s unprecedented success.

‘’I won’t feel any pressure except what I put on myself,’’ Brantley said. “Getting to the championship game sometimes involves a few factors that are beyond your control. We try not to look at the end result, but judge our season onhow much each player grows as a young man.’’

Landmark returns about 13 of 22 starters and figures to be ranked highly in preseason for 2012.