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Greatest coaches ever in 1A.

Buddy Rich

Well-Known Member
May 24, 2005
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Thought this mite be interesting. And by this I mean all time. Being an Albemarle Bulldog to the inth degree This is my list. Toby Webb, Jack Gaster, Allen Brown, Tom Brown, David Gentry, Jack Holly, and many, many more I just can't think of. Help me out.
 
As an up and coming coach I would have to say Nick Eddins at West Montgomery. But to make my list he has to win a state championship.
 
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Up and coming I would agree Buddy. He's coached with some of the best no doubt. But your exactly right he has to win a state title first and god I hope he does......
 
Not sure Toby Webb qualifies. He coached Albemarle when they were in the WNCHSAA which was a 3A equivalent classification at the time.
 
Richard Grissom at Elkin would be a good addition.

4 State Championships in 6 years (2002-03, and 2005-06) and only 5 pure loosing seasons out 23. He got a lot out of teams that probably wouldn't have done good otherwise in the years before and after the dynasty period.


Is this for pure 1A coaches or can they have coached 2A and gone down to 1A for a majority of their careers?

This post was edited on 4/18 12:26 AM by Slasher Killer
 
But if You look at the pictures of the Teams that Toby Webb Coached You wouldn't think there was many more Players than now. Buddy can add to this. Those Guys I hear where Tuff
 
This list would not be complete without the following great coaches from from the Smoky Mountain Conference (SMC):

Coach Bob Colvin, Robbinsville.........9 State Championships
Coach Boyce Deitz, Swain County.....5 State Championships
Coach David Gentry, Murphy.............4 State Championships (active)

There are several more coaches with State Championships from the SMC but in my opinion the men listed above belong at the very top of the list of great 1A Coaches in North Carolina
 
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murphy1981, sorry about that but I missed your post before I posted. On the other hand it just goes to show... "GREAT MINDS THINK ALIKE".
 
Raymond Cobb from North Edgecome. I think they played for 5 state champs while he was there and won 2. He also never had a losing season while he was at NE.
 
Don't remember his name and they might have been 2-A but the coach at Sylva Webster in the early 70's. As for Toby Webb his teams were never 1-A or 2-A.I agree Jack Gaster has to be in the top 5.
 
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Originally posted by Dogs9:
Don't remember his name and they might have been 2-A but the coach at Sylva Webster in the early 70's. As for Toby Webb his teams were never 1-A or 2-A.I agree Jack Gaster has to be in the top 5.
Babe Howell. State championship coach in football (multiple) and baseball.
 
How about Joey Price? Stints at 2a South Col and 1aa WRH. Career record of 208-40? Has highest winning % of any coach in state. Also won 3 state titles and runner up at South Col in 07.
 
Prior to 2001 there was no sub-dividing so it was a little tougher.

Prior to the WNCHSAA merging with the NCHSAA 1A had much smaller schools with fewer schools in the 1A ranks (and 4A) as the state put more teams in 2A and 3A instead of using the 25% classification breakdown. 1A also only played three rounds prior to the early 1985 when all four classifications went to the 32 team five round playoff format.
 
Originally posted by BulldogsFollower:
But if You look at the pictures of the Teams that Toby Webb Coached You wouldn't think there was many more Players than now. Buddy can add to this. Those Guys I hear where Tuff
The number of players is not the determining factor for classification. The school enrollment is. If you look at the photos of the teams from that era you will probably see teams with basically the same number of players although some less and may be some with more.

When Albemarle won the WNCHSAA titles in 1954 and 1957 they would have played Edenton and Massey Hill (Fayetteville) in the state title games. In 1958 Andrews won the state title and I feel confident that Albemarle circa 1957 was a metropolis compared to Andrews.
This post was edited on 4/18 6:40 PM by btango
 
OK guys you caught me. I knew Toby Webb never coached in 1A so I cheated. He was and is such a close friend. We have know each other for over 60 years and he was one of the greatest coaches and people I have ever known. I just couldn't help myself.
 
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Originally posted by Diablo:

Coach Bob Colvin, Robbinsville.........9 State Championships
Coach Boyce Deitz, Swain County.....5 State Championships
Coach David Gentry, Murphy.............4 State Championships (active)

There are several more coaches with State Championships from the SMC but in my opinion the men listed above belong at the very top of the list of great 1A Coaches in North Carolina.
David Gentry has 6 state titles: (86, 87, 91, 96, 11 and 13) not 4...
 
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Albemarle has had 3 different Coaches win State Championships since 2001. Two would be given credit for inheriting very good Teams. The SMC has and will probably always have Hall of Fame Coaches.
 
mbdfan, sorry about that. I got that list from a newspaper article and should have known better.
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NCHSAA lists Murphy with championships in 86, 87, 91, 96, 11, and 13. My apologies to Mr. Gentry and all you Dog fans.

List of 1A Championships
 
Ralph "Jug" Wilson Glen Alpine High School
1949-1972

1961,1962, 1964, 1965 Regional Champion

At this time, 1-A was limited to 12 games/year and Regional Championships only.
 
Who won the most with little talent? I don't know the answer, but whoever it is, thats the best coach.
 
Often the coach with the most talent developed it more than others could have. It could be because of a youth league he started and is involved with or an overall, full year philosophy of strength and conditioning (does not mean they do not play other sports). Just looking at the talent on the field is not the full story.
 
Btango, there is some truth in that statement. I'm curious though, and you would probably know better than I would, who are the some of the coaches who have done more with less?
 
Bob Colvin won 11 State Championships in a 14 year time span. Great coach and an even better man.
 
These should have been the first mentioned, even before those who have won multiple titles:
NCPreps postersFans in the bleachers and walking the fences ("C'mon line, block SOMEBODY!")
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mbdfan, sorry about that. I got that list from a newspaper article and should have known better.
embarassed.r191677.gif
NCHSAA lists Murphy with championships in 86, 87, 91, 96, 11, and 13. My apologies to Mr. Gentry and all you Dog fans.
Well, Murphy actually has another state title, a 2A title in 1974 but that was before Gentry came to Murphy. No problem Diablo, honest mistake.
 
Can't think of a great coach who never won a title, but one of the all time greats who only won one title was Tom Brown of Madien. Think I read where he has the most wins at the same school of all time. Great Coach.
 
Just for the sake of discussion, who is the best coach to never win a title?

His record won't show it, but Wayne Rodgers at Creswell HS in Washington County has been there quite a long time, and IMO deserves consideration. Creswell is the smallest football-playing public school in North Carolina. Yet they are almost always competitive, and even made it to the third round of the 1A playoffs a few years ago. Not sure what the current ADM at Creswell is, but a few years ago it was around 125. That's only 31 students per grade, so you only have around 65 boys in the whole school. Yet they put a team on the field every year, and that's an accomplishment in itself.

If you don't know where Creswell is --- well it's not the edge of the world, but you can see it from there.
 
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The SMC threesome of Gentry, Deitz, and Colvin should be on any list.
 
Colvin won 12 titles I think. One was in 65 and its was more of a regional title.
 
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