1.E.B. “Red” Etter
School: Central, 27 years (’43-’69), Baylor 14 years (‘70-‘83)
Career Record: 324-102-12
Legendary high school football coach E.B. “Red” Etter is, by most accounts, the all-time best football coach in local high school football history. He won seven state championships at Central from 1943 to 1969, had two perfect seasons – one at Central (1962, 11-0-0) and one at Baylor (1973, 13-0-0) – won one state championship and one national championship at Baylor, is a Member of five Halls of Fame, and was named the 1983 National Coach of the Year by the National High School Coaches Association. His records at Baylor and Central are truly remarkable: 110-41 at Baylor and 214-61-12 at Central.
2.Bill Chappell
School: Dalton, 33 years (‘64-‘96)
Career Record: 317-74-9
Bill Chappell is the third winningest football coach in Georgia prep history, is a member of the Georgia Sports Hall of Fame and Georgia Athletic Coaches Hall of Fame, was honorable mention National Prep Coach of the Year, and has been named Region Coach of the Year 18 times. He won a state championship in 1967 (12-1-0), and has had 33 straight winning seasons, reached the state playoffs 27 times, and been state runner up three times.
3.Humphrey “Humpy” Heywood
School: Baylor School, 41 years, 21 years as a head coach (‘40-‘60)
Career Record: 161-20-8
Long-time Baylor football coach “Humpy” Heywood is a member of the Tennessee Sports Hall of Fame and the Baylor School Sports Hall of Fame. He went on a 25-game win streak from 1943 to 1945, and he coached four perfect seasons: 1940, 1944, 1947, and 1960.
4.Benny Monroe
School: Cleveland, 18 years (‘79-‘96), Ooltewah, 5 years (’05-’09),
Career Record: 259-65
While he spent most of his time at Cleveland, Benny Monroe also had a great record at Ooltewah. He has been inducted into six halls of fame and won state championships at Cleveland in 1993, 1994, and 1995 (with a 54-game winning streak during those years). He averaged 10 wins per year at Ooltewah and took them to the state semifinals in 2006 and 2008. He also coached McMinn County from 1972 to 1977.
5.Vic Grider
School: South Pittsburg, 16 years as head coach (’96-’11)
Career Record: 162-43
Coach Vic Grider, son of legen-
dary coach Don Grider, has won three state championships as head coach, and he won his first state title as head coach in 1999 (undefeated season), then in 2007 (undefeated season) and 2010. He has averaged 11 wins per season and coached 14 Mr. Football finalists and 46 All-State
players.
6.Ken Colquette
School: Marion County, 17 years (‘80-
‘96), Sequatchie County, 1 year (’13)
Career Record: 249-81
Currently coaching at Sequatchie County, Ken Colquette has four state championships and two runner-up finishes under his belt. He went 179-39 at Marion County in 17 years, going 56-1 during one stretch in 1992 to 1995. He has made six title game appearances throughout his career and has coached at Bridgeport, AL (1977-1979), Vidalia, GA (1997-1999), and Grundy County (2001-2004).
7.Wayne Turner
School: Tyner Academy, 22 years (‘91-present)
Career Record: 196-68
Entering his 23rd year at Tyner Academy, coach Wayne Turner has made 20-straight playoff appearances during his long and impressive career. He has one state title and one runner up finish. He also coached at Kirkman in Chattanooga for two years in 1989 and 1990.
8.Red Gaston
School: Howard, 25 years (‘34-‘58)
Career Record: 174-58-6
Coach Red Gaston has won several state championships and has coached several undefeated teams. He was also a football official in the Southern Black College Conference and a track star at Tennessee State.
9.Hal Lamb
School: Calhoun, 13 years (‘00-present), 23 years as a head coach
Career Record: 162-44
Coach Hal Lamb’s career has included four AA State Runner-Up finishes, an AA State Title in 2011 (a perfect season that year) and 14 region titles. He has won 81 region games in a row, resulting in 11 straight region titles, and he is a member of the West Georgia Hall of Fame.
10.Pete Potter
School: McCallie, 21 years (‘73-‘93), Brainerd, 8 years (’65-’72)
Career Record: 308-92-4
Along with his many football accomplishments, coach Pete Potter was a successful boxer and boxing coach. In football, he Coached the Brainerd Rebels to an undefeated (10-0) season in 1969, won three bowl games, went 53-25-4 at Brainerd, and went 155-67-0 at McCallie. The 1969 Brainerd team was named No.3 in a final state poll.
11.Frank Fabris
School: Rossville, 7 years (‘57-‘63)
Career Record: 94-21-3
Rossville’s Frank Fabris is a six-time Georgia High School Football Coach of the Year and has coached in four state championship games during his career (including Vidalia, Cartersville, and Rossville). From 1957 to 1963, he coached to five consecutive region titles, three state finals, and one state championship (1962). He is also a member of the Rossville Athletic Hall of Fame and the Athens Athletic Hall of Fame.
12.Don Grider
School: South Pittsburg, 33 years (‘61-‘93)
Career Record: 192-88
Don Grider has been named Coach of the Year 11 times, went to the state finals in 1974, 1985, and 1986, and has won 12 conference championships, seven region championships, and five district championships. He has also coached an impressive 16 All-State players.
13.Tom Weathers
School: Red Bank, 28 years (‘74-‘01), Dade County, 2 years (‘02-‘03), Soddy Daisy, 4 years (‘04-‘07)
Career Record: 248-131
Each year, the Tom Weathers Offensive Player of the Year Award from Stump on Sports honors Coach Tom Weathers and his accomplishments. He had an undefeated state championship season in 2000 (the first in school’s history) and was state runner-up in 1978.
14.Robert Akins
School: Boyd-Buchanan, 10 years (‘97-’06), Ringgold, 6 years (‘07-present)
Career Record: 232-137
Coach Robert Akins won a Class 1A state championship in 2003 and had state runner up finishes in 2002 and 2004. He has won 11 or more games six times and was 85-35 at Boyd-Buchanan. Prior to coaching at Boyd-Buchanan, Akins coached high school football in Memphis and Mobile. He is a member of the Northwest Mississippi Junior College Football Hall of Fame.
15.Chubby James
School: Howard, 11 years (’59-’69)
Career Record: 92-16-4
At Howard, Coach James won state titles in basketball (1955), track and field (1957-1959), and football (1960-1962). He went 10-0 (with four shutouts) in 1967 – the school’s last undefeated season – and won a co-championship in 1959. He coached the Howard Hustlin’ Tigers to two undefeated seasons in 1962 (9-0-1),
and 1967 (10-0), and he won three undisputed black titles in 1960, 1961, and 1962. He also had four bowl wins and went 48-1-4 in his first five seasons (‘59-’63).
16.Ralph Potter
School: McCallie, 12 years (‘97-‘06,’12-present), Baylor 3 years (‘94-’96)
Career Record: 130-64
Back at McCallie since 2012, Coach Ralph Potter has had a successful career at McCallie and Brentwood Academy. He went 46-17 at Brentwood Academy with a pair of state runner-up finishes over the past five years, and is 84-47 at McCallie. He also won McCallie’s lone Division II-AA state championship in 2001.
17.Bill Price
School: Signal Mountain, 5 years (’08-’12), 29 years as a coach
Career Record: 159-99
Going into his sixth year as a head coach at Signal Mountain, Bill Price has many accomplishments under his belt. He won a state championship in 2010 (going 14-0), a district 7-AA championship in 2012, a district 6-A championship in 2010, and was district runner up in 2009. He went 24-2 from 2009 to 2010.
18.Derrick Davis
School: Polk County, 13 years (‘00 – present)
Career Record: 101-46
The son of legendary coach Larry Davis, Derrick Davis won the last four district championships at Polk County (2009-2012). His team went undefeated in the regular season in 2009 (10-0), and they made it to the second round of the state championship that same year. In 2010, his team had another great year when they went 10-2.
19.Lynn Murdock
School: Rossville, 21 years (‘64-‘84)
Career Record: 130-85-1
Coach Lynn Murdock spent two decades as head coach at Rossville. He went 10-1 in 1964, and he went 9-1 in 1965, 1966, and 1969. Before his head coaching days, he was an assistant coach under Frank Fabris for the 1962 Rossville championship team.
20.Raymond James
School: East Ridge, 30 years (’61-’91), 22 years as head coach (’69-’91)
Career Record: 150-75
Coach Raymond James spent 30 years building a strong program at East Ridge. In his 22 years as a head coach he was named the Times Free Press Coach of the Year several times. He was also a high school coach and mentor to many active area high school coaches, including: Mark Mariakis and Kip Kline at Ridgeland, Tommy Watson and Gary Patrick at Baylor, Steve Garland at East Hamilton, Houston White at LFO, Steve Henry and Danny Gilbert at Soddy-Daisy, E. J. Bradford at South Pittsburg, Chip Strickland at CAK in Knoxville, and Travis Olinger at East Ridge.
21.Tim Daniels
School: Red Bank, 10 years (‘02-‘11)
Career Record: 149-65
During his career, coach Tim Daniels has reached the post-season eight straight years. His team went undefeated in the regular season at Red Bank in 2006, 2007, and 2009, and he has won four region championships and one district title at Red Bank, while going 77-40. He also made seven post-season appearances at Loudon, including the semifinals in 1997.
22.James B. “Jimmy” Rike
School: Baylor, 20 years (’19-’37, ’39)
Career Record: 139-41-17
James B. “Jimmy” Rike went 14-6 against McCallie during his career, and went 9-1-1 in 1939. He had one perfect season and was inducted into Ohio Wesleyan’s Sports Hall of Fame, as a player, in 1963.
23.Bitsy Howard
School: McCallie School, 16 years (‘30-‘45)
Career Record: 96-42-13
Coach Bitsy Howard coached Fred Crawford, who later went on to play for the Chicago Bears, in 1930. His teams had one perfect season in 1936 (9-0-0), and he won three Mid-South conference championships during his time at McCallie School.
24.Phil Massey
School: Baylor School, 7 years (’06-‘12), 15 years as a head coach
Career Record: 115-65
Along with an impressive career record, Coach Phil Massey was awarded the Best of the West Coach of the Year in three consecutive years. He coached Haywood High School for nine years where he earned four regional titles. In his last three seasons at Baylor, his teams have gone 29-8. A standout athlete in high school, he was a Parade Magazine All-American high school quarterback, received a full football scholarship to Baylor University, and was a member of the 1983 Bluebonnet Bowl Team.
25.Larry Davis
School: Polk County, 27 years (‘67-‘93)
Career Record: 166-118-2
Since coaching one year at Copper Basin in 1966, Larry Davis has spent the rest of his coaching career at Polk County. He has spent 45 years as a player, head coach, or assistant coach – all at Polk County — and he is a member of the Polk County Hight School Hall of Fame. His team made it to the state semi-finals in 1979.