Craig Pritchett hired for Ridgeland football coaching post
Ridgeland High School announced through a press release last Tuesday afternoon that Ridgeland alum and former assistant coach Craig Pritchett has been named the new head football coach of the Panthers.
Pritchett, who played linebacker for Ridgeland in the mid-1990’s was a member of the first Panther football teams to ever make the state playoffs and he was on the 1998 squad that was named Region 7-AAA co-champions.
Following college, he returned to Rossville as an assistant coach and was part of four region championships and seven state playoff appearances in 10 years in Happy Valley, including a berth in the 2012 Class AAAA state finals.
For the past seven years, Pritchett served as head coach at Brevard (N.C.) High School. Taking over in 2015, he took a struggling program that went winless in 2014 and built it into a state contender with two region titles (2016, 2019), one region runner-up finish (2018), two 11-win seasons, one 10-win season and four state playoff appearances, including a trip to the state semifinals.
His record at Brevard was 47-34.
“It’s great and it’s exciting for sure to be able to come back home,” Pritchett said. “I spent seven years up here in North Carolina and watched from afar, so I’m excited to be coming back to play some Georgia high school football. “Like I told the administration, since I started coaching 17 years ago, Ridgeland was the one place that I wanted to be at eventually. I’ve always had dreams about being the head coach there and trying to lead them to the top, lead them to some region championships and, hopefully, have them competing for a state championships.”
Pritchett said he hoped Ridgeland fans would be able to see a fast, physical, hard-hitting defense.
“I’m obviously a defensive-minded guy, so the main focus will be in the weight room in order to add some strength and size. Hopefully, that’ll carry over to the field so we can bring some physicality.
“I hope (fans) see a wellcoached team that eliminates some silly mistakes, shows some discipline on the field and handles adversity well.”
“Ridgeland is eager to bring
(in) Coach Pritchett’s brand of football, which will focus on organization, commitment, and a high level of discipline to the football program,” the press release said.
Pritchett played 43 games at Tusculum College (19992003) and recorded 277 tackles, the sixth-most in school history at the time. A two-time All-South Atlantic Conference selection and the SAC Defensive Freshman of the Year in 2000, he was a four-time team captain and led the Pioneers to a 31-12 record and wins over three nationallyranked opponents, including two over Carson-Newman.
In his senior season, he helped his team to a 9-2, a No. 19 NCAA Division II national ranking and the program’s first conference title. He was later named to the Daktronics All-Region Team and the D2football.com AllAmerica Team.
He was also a standout in the classroom. The SAC Football Scholar Athlete of the Year in both 2002 and 2003, Pritchett was twice named as a CoSIDA Academic AllDistrict selection. In 2003, he was one of just 11 players nationwide in all divisions of college football named to the American Football Coaches Association Good Works Team.
Also in 2003, he was awarded the college’s President’s Award and the Walter T. Dette Spirit Award. He graduated with magna cum laude honors, was a nominee for the Eisenhower Scholar Society, and was ultimately inducted into the Tusculum College Sports Hall of Fame in October 2014.
Pritchett becomes the 10th coach in Ridgeland history and replaces Kip Klein, who stepped down at the end of the 2021 season after three years at the helm with one region title.
Ridgeland will be moving from Class AAAA to Class AAA next season to join Region 6 with several other local rivals.