Veteran coach Atha announces retirement
♦ The Rockmart native decides to hang it up after a 3-decade career on the sidelines.
After 30 years at the school and the last 21 as head coach, Darlington’s Tommy Atha will retire at the end of the school year according to a press release put out by Darlington on Tuesday afternoon.
Atha won 179 games in his 21 seasons at the helm for the Tigers, led his teams to the state playoffs 19 times and won seven region championships. Darlington most recently went 11-1 last season and won the Region 7-A Division I title to cap off back-to-back region championship seasons.
Before becoming head coach, he served as an assistant at Darlington starting in 1993 and was a part of the staff under Jerry Sharp for the team’s 1998 state championship season.
“I am happy for Tommy and grateful for all that he has given to the school for the past 30 years,” said Darlington head of school Brent Bell in a release on Tuesday. “He has been a model coach and educator, and his legacy extends far beyond his impressive win-loss record as a coach. He has done things the right way, for the right reasons, and generations of students are the beneficiaries of his devotion to them and to the school.
“On a personal note, knowing this time would come does not make it any easier,” Bell continued. “Tommy makes Darlington a positive place each and every day, and will be missed in both the large ways and in the small ways.”
According to the release, after earning his B.S. from Presbyterian College and spending two years teaching and coaching at his alma mater, Rockmart High School, Atha began working at Darlington in 1993. Over the years, he has taught physical education, civics, world geography, and American history and coached varsity football; varsity, JV, and middle school girls’ basketball; and varsity track.
“It has been a tremendous honor for me to serve as a teacher and coach and especially the head football coach at Darlington,” said Atha in the release. “This has been a great place for my family and my kids. The relationships with my players and colleagues over the years are what has been most important to me. It has been a heck of a ride and I’m excited about what the future holds.”
Atha has earned numerous accolades during his coaching career at Darlington and was recently named All-Region Football Coach of the Year for the second consecutive year after leading the Tigers to back-to-back region championships.
This past fall, the school’s newly renovated weight room, the Pierce Tiger Pit, was dedicated in his honor.
“Tommy will long be remembered for coining the phrase ‘Ain’t nothing like a Tiger on Friday night,’” said Bell in Tuesday’s release, “and we appreciate his hard work and dedication to making this statement true for the past two decades.”