Football coaching hires: Tomberlin is back, approved at Appling County

ajc.com

Rick Tomberlin is perhaps best known for his days at Washington County, where his teams won three state championships in the 1990s. That and his 246 career victories, which put him in the top 30 in GHSA history.

Now, Tomberlin might be the winningest Georgia coach to come out of retirement twice.

Tomberlin was approved Monday night to become head football coach and athletics at his alma mater, Appling County, his alma mater.

Tomberlin’s record in 31 seasons as a head coach is 246-119. He retired the first time after the 2012 season at Effingham County and returned in 2016 to lead Calvary Day to a region title.

Tomberlin then stepped down again, disclosing that he had been diagnosed an irregular heartbeat and high blood pressure and experienced discomfort late in the 2016 season. Tomberlin, 60, told WJCL-TV in Savannah, the first to report his hiring, that he'd lost weight, gotten in shape and was ready to get back to work.

The Appling County job will be Tomberlin’s ninth as a head coach. Only Brent Miller of Miller County, with 10 different schools as head coach, has more.

Appling County has declined in its victory total each season since winning Region 1-AAA in 2013 and finished 3-6 last season under Jon Lindsey, who has taken a job on the staff at Coffee.

The Appling County job is among 77 that have come open since the 2017 season ended. Here are those, which is still far short of the roughly 105 from a season ago.

ACE Charter: Jason Stephens

Americus-Sumter: Larry Harold

Apalachee: Tony Lotti

Appling County: Rick Tomberlin

Armuchee: Jeremy Green

Banks County: Open

Berkmar: Willie Gary

Berrien: Tim Alligood

Bowdon: Richard Fendley

Brantley County: Geoff Cannon

Bryan County: Abram Scott

Carver (Columbus): Corey Joyner

Central (Macon): Open

Cherokee Bluff: Tommy Jones

Crawford County: Jhon Smith

Creekview: Adam Carter

Dacula: Clint Jenkins

Denmark: Terry Crowder

Dougherty: Damien Gary

East Laurens: Bin Turner

Fannin County: Chad Cheatham

Franklin County: Paul Sutherland

Gainesville: Heath Webb

Grady: Kevin Clark

Greene County: Larry Milligan

Harris County: Open

Hiram: Pete Fominaya

Howard: Open

Johnson (Savannah): Kenderrick Bonner

Jordan: Open

Kendrick: Andre Slappey

Kennesaw Mountain: Caleb Carmean

King's Ridge Christian: Jeff Pickren

KIPP Atlanta Collegiate: Open

LaFayette: Paul Ellis

LaGrange: Chuck Gibbs

Landmark Christian: Joe Scott

Lanier County: Kurt Williams

Lincoln County: Michael Pollock

McIntosh County Academy: Tony Glazer

Metter: Rodney Garvin

Miller Grove: Lee Hannah

Model: Richard Ross

Mountain View: Rob Kellogg

North Atlanta: Open

North Paulding: Jim Bob Bryant

Northgate: Mike McDonald

Northside (Columbus): Dave Nurnberg

Oglethorpe County: Ronnie Harris

Pataula Charter: Open

Putnam County: Shaun Pope

Redan: Open

Ridgeland: Courtney Braswell

Riverdale: Corey Jarvis

Riverwood: Robert Edwards

Rockdale County: Jamie Baldwin

Savannah Christian: Baker Woodward

South Paulding: Jason Thompson

Southeast Bulloch: Barrett Davis

Spencer: Open

St. Francis: Frank Barden

Stephens County: Wesley Tankersley

Stewart County: Open

Thomas County Central: Ashley Henderson

Thomson: Michael Youngblood

Treutlen: Steve Versprille

Tri-Cities: Innis Claud

Twiggs County: Kelvin Blackshear

Veterans: Milan Turner

Walnut Grove: Robert Andrews

West Hall: Krofton Montgomery

Westover: Olten Downs

Wheeler County: Timothy McArthur

Whitefield Academy: Coleman Joiner

Wilcox County: Ken Cofer

Winder-Barrow: Ed Dudley

Worth County: Open