Ridgeland Football Coach Mark Mariakis Steps Down
Here’s the press release from Ridgeland High School:
This morning, Coach Mark Mariakis formally announced that he has resigned as Head Coach of the Ridgeland High School Panther Football Team. The announcement was made at the conclusion of his eleventh season as Ridgeland’s Head Coach and after his thirtieth year as a coach and a teacher. During his illustrious career, Coach Mariakis led Ridgeland High School to five Region Championship Games, four Region Championships (2008, 2009, 2010, and 2012), eight consecutive state playoff appearances (2005-2012), and an appearance in the Georgia AAAA Championship finals (2012). In addition to these team accomplishments, Coach Mariakis was named the 1998 Dalton Daily Citizen News Coach of the Year, the 1998, 2006, and 2012 Chattanooga Times Free Press Coach of the Year, the 2008, 2009, 2010, and 2012 7AAAA Region Coach of the Year, the 2012 Walker County Messenger Coach of the Year, the 2012 Georgia Athletic Coaches Association Coach of the Year, the 2012 Associated Press Coach of the Year, and the 2012 Atlanta Journal Constitution Coach of the Year. Throughout his tenure as Head Coach, Coach Mariakis has always stressed that the scoreboard and win-loss record were only a backdrop against which he sought to build young men of character. Coach Mariakis has not yet made plans for beyond the 2014-15 academic year but has not ruled out remaining on the Ridgeland High School faculty and serving the Panther football team in other coaching capacities. Preparations are currently under way to form a search and selection committee to hire Coach Mariakis’s replacement. The administration of Ridgeland High School wishes to celebrate Coach Mariakis’s remarkable accomplishments and thank him for his eleven years of selfless service to the students of Ridgeland High School.
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