Oak Ridge Today

Wildcats name new football coach

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Image by Oak Ridge Schools

Oak Ridge football has a new coach, Derek Rang.

Rang has an overall head coaching record of 86-29 at Powell, Dresden, Gatlinburg-Pittman, and Lewis County High Schools, and he coached the Dresden Lions when they won the 2016 state championship, according to Oak Ridge Schools.

5Star Preps reported that Rang, 28, resigned after one season at Lewis in west Tennessee, where he had an 11-2 record in 2022.

Oak Ridge Schools said each school coached by Rang has advanced to the TSSAA playoff quarterfinals or beyond, and Rang has won 18 postseason games as a head coach.

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AD Mullins retires; Gaddis named interim AD

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Oak Ridge Coach Joe Gaddis had his 300th football coaching win when the Wildcats beat Clinton 42-6 on Blankenship Field on Friday, Oct. 13, 2017. Gaddis, center, is pictured above with former Oak Ridge High School Principal Martin McDonald, left, and ORHS Athletic Director Mike Mullins. (File photo courtesy Martin McDonald)

Oak Ridge High School Athletic Director Mike Mullins is retiring, and football coach Joe Gaddis, who announced his retirement as coach in November, will serve as interim athletic director.

Mullins’ decision to retire was announced Wednesday by ORHS Principal Garfield Adams. Gaddis’ appointment as interim athletic director was announced Thursday.

“As athletic director, Mullins was responsible for leading an athletic department that is committed to excellence both in the classroom and in competition,” Adams said in a letter to families. Mullins led several capital improvement projects, Adams said, including the multi-million-dollar revitalization of Blankenship Field and the design of Wildcat Arena, which was part of a $61 million renovation of ORHS.

“This state-of-the-art facility is home to the Wildcat basketball and volleyball teams and is one of the finest venues in the state,” Adams said.

Other facility upgrades completed during Mullins’ tenure include the Pro2Serve Soccer Complex, a renovated weight room, and many locker room enhancements.

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Gaddis: 48 years, a state championship, 300+ wins

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Oak Ridge Coach Joe Gaddis talks to the Wildcats football team after a 42-6 win over Clinton on Blankenship Field on Friday, Oct. 13, 2017. It was Gaddis’ 300th coaching win. (File photo by John Huotari/Oak Ridge Today)

After 48 years coaching, a state championship, and more than 300 wins, Oak Ridge football coach Joe Gaddis is retiring.

On Tuesday, Gaddis, who has the most wins of any Oak Ridge coach and is among the top in the state, said he made the decision to retire during the past few weeks.

“I think coaches just know when it’s time,” he said. “You just kind of know.”

Oak Ridge High School Principal Garfield Adams said Gaddis has an overall record of 334 wins and 146 losses, and he is one of only three active coaches in the state of Tennessee with 300 wins.

“At Oak Ridge High School, Coach Gaddis holds a record of 196 wins and 58 losses, making him the winningest coach in Oak Ridge history and the eighth winningest coach in Tennessee football,” Adams said.

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Julio Sanchez hired as head coach of Atomic Rowing

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Julio Sanchez

Julio Sanchez

 

Coach Julio Sanchez has been hired by the Oak Ridge Rowing Association as head coach of Atomic Rowing.

Sanchez is experienced as both a rower and a coach, a press release said. He has rowed on elite national teams for Argentina and Spain, and he continues to compete at the national level as a master sculler, the release said.

Sanchez recently came back from Sarasota, Florida, after competing at the FISA Masters Worlds Regatta. He also had much success as the coach of the Spanish Junior National team, as well as U.S. teams such as Miami, Sarasota Scullers, and Westerville, the press release said.

“With Oak Ridge Rowing Association having the best rowing venue in the country, I am incredibly excited to get started and work with this team,” the press release said. “The club is filled with amazing and hardworking rowers that have welcomed me with open arms.” [Read more…]

Trombly resigns as soccer coach

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Jeff Trombly

Jeff Trombly

Jeff Trombly has resigned as Oak Ridge boys’ and girls’ soccer coach.

The resignation was effective immediately, Oak Ridge High School Athletic Director Mike Mullins said Tuesday.

Assistant Coach Katrina Williams will be the interim girls’ soccer coach for the rest of the season, Mullins said.

A search for boys’ soccer coach will begin as soon as possible, Mullins said.

It’s not clear why Trombly resigned. Oak Ridge Today has not been able to reach Trombly for comment, but we will update this story when we can. [Read more…]

Oak Ridge Rowing hires head coach for Atomic Rowing programs

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Shannon Moore

Shannon Moore

Shannon Moore has been hired as the head coach for Oak Ridge’s Atomic Rowing programs, the Oak Ridge Rowing Association said Saturday.

Moore will direct the developmental and competitive programs for junior novices, men’s and women’s varsity, and adult rowing programs, the ORRA said in a press release.

Moore was a decorated rower for Ohio State University, was a member of the US Rowing National Team, and medaled in both the women’s 4+ and women’s 8+ races in the USRowing National Championships during her amateur rowing career, the press release said.

It said Moore has 17 years of coaching experience, including international, collegiate, and competitive club and high school programs. [Read more…]

CHS offensive coordinator to take over Powell football program

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Information from WYSH Radio

Clinton High School football offensive coordinator Rodney Ellison has been named the new coach at Powell High School in Knoxville.

He previously was head coach at Wartburg for one season in 2011 before coming to Clinton, where he helped revitalize the Dragon program with an up-tempo, spread-style offense.

Former Oak Ridge rowing director could lead ORCVB

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Marc DeRose

Marc DeRose

Note: This story was updated at 5:55 p.m.

A former Oak Ridge rowing director could become the next executive director of the Oak Ridge Convention and Visitors Bureau.

The ORCVB board of directors on Thursday voted 4-3 to offer the job to Marc A. DeRose, subject to reference checks. If hired, DeRose will replace former longtime director Katy Brown, who became ORCVB president in 2006 and left in July to take a new marketing and promotions job covering Knoxville and Chattanooga.

DeRose was hired by the Oak Ridge Rowing Association in August 2013, and he resigned from his head coach and rowing director position in May of this year, saying the job was “not the right fit for me and my family,” the ORRA said in a press release this spring.

Other candidates for the ORCVB job, which offers a starting salary of $45,000 per year, were Lila Wilson, director of special events for the Great Smoky Mountains Heritage Center in Townsend, and Naomi Asher, executive director of CASA of the Tennessee Heartland. ORCVB board members said Asher withdrew her application, saying she wanted to continue working for CASA.

Wilson received three votes on Thursday, picking up one less than DeRose’s four. [Read more…]

Oak Ridge Lady Wildcats add coach, have car wash Saturday

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Submitted

The Oak Ridge Lady Wildcats program has added Coach Tammy Dowdell-Threat to its staff, a press release said.

Dowdell-Threat was born and raised in the Oak Ridge community and is a product of the Oak Ridge school system, the release said. She is a 1989 graduate of Oak Ridge High School, where she was a three-year starter and member of the first Lady Wildcats state basketball championship team in 1988. In 1988, she was also a member of the Lady Wildcats state track championship team. Dowdell-Threat accumulated numerous awards during her career at Oak Ridge and is still listed in the record books, the release said.

She  continued her basketball career at the University of Kentucky and University of Tennessee in Chattanooga, where she graduated with a bachelor’s degree in business management. While at Chattanooga (1991-94), she earned first and second team All-Conference, as well as finishing in the Top 10 in several categories and was also a member of the 1,000 point club, the release said. [Read more…]

David Scott returns to coach ORHS girls basketball

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Oak Ridge High School athletic director Mike Mullins announced Friday that ORHS alumnus David Scott will return as the girls head basketball coach for the Lady Wildcats after a two-year hiatus. Scott replaces Karra Jackson, who posted a 29-29 record in her two seasons at the helm before leaving to become the head coach at Ryle High School in Union, Ky.

Scott, 49, was elevated to head coach at Oak Ridge after serving four years as an assistant under ORHS legend Jill Prudden, who compiled a 908-161 overall record, which included winning three state championships and six state runners-ups, a press release said. Prudden stepped down in 2010. [Read more…]

New soccer coach hired at Oak Ridge High School

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Jason Schmieg has been hired as girls head soccer coach at Oak Ridge High School, according to Athletic Director Mike Mullins.

Schmieg replaces Tom Gorman, who compiled a three-year record of 43-10-8, which includes a 2012 District Championship with the Lady Wildcats. Coach Gorman resigned in early June to become the fitness manager for the Rush in Oak Ridge.

Most recently, Schmieg served as head coach of a competitive travel soccer team and assistant boys and girls soccer coach at Millbrook High School in Raleigh, N.C. [Read more…]