Tomberlin will lead Valdosta

Rick Tomberlin remembers the moment.

He was in Valdosta for a coaching clinic. Tomberlin was visiting with Valdosta High coaching legend Wright Bazemore, who won 14 state championships and three national championships before retiring in 1971.

"The year was 1997 or 1998," Tomberlin said. "Coach Bazemore was getting over a stroke he'd had then. But his mind was still sharp and crisp.

"He communicated via sign language."

The most successful coach at the top football program in the state was predicting the future.

"He communicated through sign language and said, in his own way, that he wanted me to be the coach at Valdosta High one day," Tomberlin said. "We all just said maybe it would happen one day."

Tomberlin's approval by the Valdosta Board of Education on Monday night made that a reality.

"I have been offered the job and I have verbally accepted it," he said while munching on pizza.

His title is director of football operations, not head football coach. He will direct the varsity team and its feeder programs all the way down to the sixth grade.

Tomberlin, 48, was invited to apply in December. His second interview was Thursday, and he was offered the job Saturday.

"My wife and I went down with our daughter and looked around Valdosta on Saturday and Sunday," he said.

An executive session of the city school board approved the recommendation to hire Tomberlin in a special session.

"There is no other school in Georgia I would leave Washington County for," said Tomberlin, who won 157 games and three state titles in 14 seasons with the Golden Hawks. "The things I hold most dear in life are my marriage to my wife, Angela, and the birth of our daughter. The third thing is being offered and accepting the job as the football coach at Valdosta."

Tomberlin, who's still under contract to Washington County, has a target date of March 1 to get started at Valdosta.

"If you've got a short list of the best coaches in the state, Rick's name has to be on there," Laney coach Eric Parker said. "It looks to me like it's a win for Valdosta and a win for him with this move."

Valdosta lists an all-time record of 828-179-34. The Web site www.valdostawildcats.com credits the program with six national championships and 23 state titles, the last coming in 1998.

Valdosta has lost four or more games in five different seasons since then.

"The challenge is restoring the tradition of Valdosta football," he said. "I've got the reins of the most successful football program in America. It's an awesome honor."

Reach Jeff Sentell at (706) 823-3425 or jeff.sentell@augustachronicle.com.