A New “Day” at Marietta?

I got a call Friday night about James “Friday” Richards decision to retire as head coach of the Marietta Blue Devils. Some of you may not realize that Marietta is my Alma mater, so this coaching change is of some import to me. Coach Friday graduated from MHS in 1972 and came back from the University of Florida just in time for my senior season(1976).

I’ll never forget his encouragement in a triple overtime classic against Douglas County that fall. My extra point made the difference after the Tigers kicker missed his to make it 38-37.  He started teaching and coaching officially the next year and the rest is history. As the head coach for 15 years, his record at Marietta was 107-58.

When I started selling sporting goods six years ago, everywhere I went around the state, coaches wanted to know when “Friday was going to retire”?  A few years ago, he started talking to me about it some, but this fall his mentions of retirement accelerated. I was at Marietta Thursday and it came up again, but some details had yet to fall into place. That happened Friday and again, one of his assistants called me that night with the news.

Suffice it to say, Marietta will be inundated with applications for this job. When coaches think of Marietta, they think of the Dexter Wood years and the success they enjoyed in the early 90’s.  It will be very interesting to see the direction the administration goes with the new hire.

Athletic Director Paul Hall is half-way through his first year on the job and now will be involved in hiring someone for a job that was ear-marked for him a couple of years ago. Friday mentioned that possibility on more than one occasion to me.  Hall was a long-time assistant coach for Richards and would have been a great choice. The x-factor at this point is a school administration that may or may not be committed to excellence on the field. They have already made a let’s say, “interesting”  choice in replacing another legend, basketball coach Charlie Hood, with a first time head coach.  The team is 3-8 in Region 5-AAAAA and 5-13 over-all.

The kids of Marietta deserve the best opportunity to succeed,

academically and athletically.

I hope that is kept in mind.