Raby chooses not to return as wrestling coach at Gordon Lee

Citing a desire to see and spend more time with his family, Brent Raby said on Monday afternoon that he informed the school that he would not be returning as Gordon Lee High School’s head wrestling coach.

“I’ll miss Gordon Lee,” he said. “It’s a great school system and I’m thankful for the opportunity to be their wrestling coach. They have a lot of good kids in the program and a lot more coming up. I know they will be a team to be reckoned with for a long time to come.”

Raby said he hopes to continue his teaching career closer to home.

“I don’t want to miss seeing my kids grow up,” he explained. “My wife teaches at Ringgold Middle and just trying to doing something as a family on Spring Break is tough because we are on different schedules. I just want to spend more time with my kids.”

A Ringgold High graduate who wrestled for Hall of Fame wrestling coach Steve McDaniel, Raby first came to Chickamauga as an assistant under McDaniel before taking over as head coach five years ago.

Raby’s Gordon Lee teams finished in the top four in their classification in the state duals and state traditional tournament in four of his five years, winning Class A state duals titles in 2012 and 2013. The Trojans added their first and only state traditional title in 2013.

He also coached a four-time state champion in West Virginia University signee Jonathan Ragsdale, a threetime state champion in Alex Spires, and saw several more Gordon Lee wrestlers win one or two state championships.

“We had a pretty good run,” he said. “We got more accomplished in five years than some programs have ever done and I’m very proud of that.”

He said he didn’t know who would be taking over as the Trojans’ head coach, but said he felt better about his decision knowing that Ricky Murdock would be remaining with the program as an assistant.

“He’s the best assistant in the state of Georgia in my opinion,” Raby said. “He had some good teams at Dade County before he came to Chickamauga. He works hard and puts a lot time into the program. We couldn’t have accomplished what we did without him.”

Raby also added that the wrestlers themselves deserve most of the credit.

“Ricky and I have the same philosophy,” he added. “If the kids put the time in and work hard, good things will happen. Trophies are just picked up at tournaments. They are earned in the practice room. I came into a good situation because Coach McDaniel layed a good foundation and was fortunate to work with him for a while as well. I have a lot of memories from a lot of kids at Gordon Lee that I will never forget.”