Rankin will coach Tornadoes

Successful Murfreesboro Riverdale coach announces plans to take over Alcoa program chris@theheraldnewspapers.com Murfreesboro Riverdale’s loss appears to by Alcoa’s gain. In somewhat of a surprise move Wednesday, former Riverdale High School football coach Gary Rankin was named the successor to John Reid, the coach who led the Tornadoes to back-to-back class 2A state titles, but left the program shortly after last season to take a head coaching job in Georgia. Rankin’s football coaching resume’ is just as impressive as Reid’s. The 1977 University of Tennessee graduate has coached Riverdale to Class 5A state championships in 1994, 1997, 2001 and 2004. He coached at Smith County for six years before taking the Riverdale job in 1990. “It’s definitely a good hire for us,” said Alcoa High School athletics director Rob Daugherty. “He’s obviously a very qualified coach. I don’t think we could have found another high school coach anywhere with better qualifications for this job.” Even though going from 5A-Riverdale to 2A-Alcoa appears to be a lateral move, at best, professionally, Daugherty said his new football coach was persuaded by what Alcoa had to offer not just to him as a football coach, but also as a father. “It’s a good fit for him too,” Daugherty explained. “He’s looking for a smaller community to move his family to. It’s a community where his kids can go to the same elementary school, middle school and high school.” Rankin has three children, ages four, 10 and 14. At 52 years old, Rankin has compiled a career record of 252-56 and was 194-25 at Riverdale. He was thought to have been a candidate for the Oak Ridge job that went to Stanton Stevens a year ago. He did apply for the Alcoa job when it was open in 2003 but the job eventually went to Reid. Rankin becomes the fourth football coach hired by Daugherty since 1998. The Alcoa AD hopes it’s the last one for a long time. “We got who we wanted,” Daugherty added. “I don’t think there’s any doubt that he was the first man on our list (of candidates). We even decided not to interview anyone else.” With seven state titles in the history of the school, Rankin will have a nice opportunity to add the eighth in just his first year as head coach. The Tornadoes, state title winners in ’04 and ’05, return a bevy of talented contributors on both sides of the ball. The last senior class of Alcoa football players will go down as one of the most decorated in school history, but the next one could end up giving the class of ‘06 a run for its money. The Tornadoes return Kyrus Lanxter and Rae Sykes, who are both considered high Division I college prospects at receiver and defensive line, respectively. Former 1,000-yard runner, Jefferson County transfer running back Chris Shiverdecke returns at tailback, along with junior-to-be All-State candidate defensive back Brian Sommer. Every first-year coach should be so fortunate.