Column: High school football in Columbus is floundering … and does anybody care?

Give Phil Marino a well-deserved standing ovation.

He has been head football coach at Columbus High School for almost a decade. His service is more impressive when you realize that other than the Blue Devil headman the only active coach in town with more than three years of service at the same school is Hardaway’s Michael Woolbridge (2016-2018).

Marino has been in coaching nearly 40 years and his approach to the game takes you back in time. He has weathered some of the city’s most dismal years at a magnet school that celebrates good test scores and winning baseball. Not football.

The Columbus High football coach had something to talk about in 2015 when his Blue Devils went 7-4 and won a region title — the school’s first in 25 years. But the Indiana native and Ball State grad is still grinding. His overall record at CHS is 23-68, and that 2015 success story is the only winning season in his tenure.

Phil Marino of Columbus High School is the dean of area football coaches. An Indiana native, he had led the Blue Devils for almost a decade, longer than any head coach in town.

Through it all, Marino keeps fighting and so do his teams during a time when high school football in Muscogee County is at one of its dreariest stages. Marino and Woolbridge somehow hang on, but five of the other six public schools in the community will have new head coaches when the 2018 season begins — though three of them come out of the recycle bin.

The names of the five newcomers follows:

• Corey Joyner at Carver

• Joe Kegler at Jordan,

• Andre Slappey at Kendrick,

• Dave Nurnberg at Northside

• Justin Newman at Spencer.

A former star defensive back at Kendrick High School and Auburn University, and a state championship coach at Carver,-Columbus, Dell McGee is a an important member of Head Coach Kirby Smart’s football staff at the University of Georgia.

Since the glory days of Carver’s Dell McGee (2005-2012) and Shaw’s Charles Flowers (1992-2005), few local coaches have stayed in one place long enough to build meaningful programs, much less contend for trophies.

The challenges really begin at Jordan, where victories continue to be as scarce as a finished road project in Columbus.

The Red Jackets haven’t had a winning season since Randy Bishop shocked the city in 1993. However, former coach Justin Newman’s 2-18 performance at Jordan was enough to earn him a job across town at the new Spencer High. Newman replaces Pierre Coffey who became assistant principal at Baker Middle School.

The Red Jackets hiring of former Carver coach Joe Kegler is promising. He was the head coach at his alma mater for three seasons after serving three years as offensive coordinator under McGee. Kegler’s record was 28-7 and his 11-2 record in 2013 earned the Tigers a berth in the state quarterfinals. For the past two years he was an assistant coach at Stewart County. If Kegler can even transform Jordan into a .500 team, he will be a keeper.

Dave Nurnberg returns to town as the head football coach at Northside High School. The Indiana native also called the shots at Jordan High from 2009 to 2011.

At Northside, Morgan Ingram stepped down after five seasons with the Patriots. His successor, Dave Nurnberg, returns to town after seven years in two states — including a stint as head coach in Winterboro, Ala. Nurnberg was at Jordan from 2009 to 2011, and the Red Jackets went 0-10, 3-7 and 4-6.

Veteran coach Al Pellegrino struggled in his first year at Shaw going 1-9. The Raiders, once a state power under Hall of Fame coach Charles Flowers, haven’t had a winning season since Kyle Adkins went 6-5 in 2012.

Woolbridge came home to his alma mater in 2016, inheriting a 1-9 team at Hardaway. He became the Hawks’ 15^th head football coach since the school opened in 1965. In two years, Woolbridge has recorded a 9-10 record.

Coming on the heels of the school being a state football power, Carver has had four head coaches since Kegler departed in 2015. The Tigers now turn to Corey Joyner, a longtime head coach at Doughterty County High. In six years at the Albany school he compiled a 10-48 record but took the Trojans to the playoffs in his final two seasons. Joyner played college football at Georgia Southern University and professionally for the Montreal Alouettes of the Canadian Football League.

Kendrick continues to struggle. The Cherokees have won only one game in each of the past two seasons and they haven’t made it to post-season play since 2013. Kendrick has hired Andre Slappey, a longtime assistant coach at his alma mater, Americus-Sumter High School. Slappey is a graduate of Albany State, an All-American lineman and the 1997 Player of the Year in the Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Conference.

A former head football coach at two local high schools, Jeff Battles became citywide Athletic Director in 2016, taking over from Todd Stanfill who became principal at Harris County High School. Battles spent 10 years in coaching and was Ledger-Enquirer Coach of the Year in 2010.

Citywide Athletic Director Jeff Battles is a former head coach at Hardaway and Pacelli. He cares. He really cares. But what about the school superintendent, other citywide administrators and members of the school board? And what about local football fans … do they still care … and if they don’t care anymore, what can be done to rekindle their interest?

Consider these questions about the state of high school football?

• Is there a way to slam shut the system’s revolving door of coaches?

• Is the problem poor attendance?

• Is the problem a lack of financial support?

• Is there a reason Muscogee County hires few quality coaches from out of town?

• Is it because our coaching salary supplements can’t compete with other counties?

So do something … before it’s too late.

Flowers and McGee were able to find some answers in their generation. Maybe those two coaching legends and others who found success here should be brought home to help Muscogee County find new answers for today. College football coaches in the region might welcome a chance to get involved for improved high school programs in this area would help their cause.

If stakeholders don’t do something, winning games and winning records might soon be out of the question— other than in very isolated situations. That’s why Jeff Battles and the eight public school football programs in Muscogee County need help.

Is anyone listening?

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Muscogee County Football at a Glance

Three New Coaches Look Very Familiar:  Joe Kegler — Carver and Jordan; Dave Nurnberg — Jordan and Northside; Justin Newman — Jordan and Spencer.

One-and-Done Coaches:  Joe Arnold of Carver (2017); Dremail King of Carver (2016); Brian Barnhill of Columbus (2008); Scott Frederick of Columbus (2000); Robert Dorch of Hardaway (2001); Gerald Turner of Jordan (2008); Tony Graziano of Jordan (2007); Craig Fitts of Shaw (2006).

Recycled Head Coaches:  Calvin Arnold (Carver and Spencer); Joe Kegler (Carver and Jordan); Morgan Ingram (Hardaway and Northside); Oliver Davis (Kendrick and Spencer); Paul Cates (Columbus and Northside); Julian Newman (Jordan and Spencer); Dave Numberg (Jordan and Northside); Dwight Jones (Hardaway and Northside).

Former Dougherty County head football coach Corey Joyner takes over at Carver High School this season hoping to return the Tigers to statewide prominence. He is the school’s fourth head coach since 2015, and Carver’s last two coaches stayed only one season each.

A Contemporary History of High School Coaching

CARVER

Corey Joyner 2018

Calvin Arnold 2017

Dremail King 2016

Joe Kegler 2013-2015

Dell McGee 2005-2012

Wallace Davis 1976-2004

COLUMBUS

Phil Marino 2009-Present

Brian Barnhill 2008

Paul Cates 2001-2007

Scott Frederick 2000

Bobby Howard 1990-1999

HARDAWAY

Michael Woolbridge 2016-Present

Jeff Battles 2008-2015

Morgan Ingram 2006-2007

Mike Glisson 2002-2005

Robert Dorch 2001

Dwight Jones 1995-2000

JORDAN

Joe Kegler 2018

Justin Newman 2016-2017

Jim Brown 2012-2015

David Numberg 2009-2011

Gerald Turner 2008

Tony Graziano 2007

Leo Ellerbee 1995-2006

KENDRICK

Andre Slappey 2018

Cedric Ware 2015-2017

Jerry Dukes 2008-2014

Ahmand Tinker 2003-2007

Oliver Davis 1994-2002

NORTHSIDE

Dave Nurnberg 2018

Morgan Ingram 2013-2017

Paul Cates 2008-2012

Nathan Laney 2006-2007

Dwight Jones 2004-2005

SHAW

Al Pellegrino 2017-Present

Chuck Stamey 2015-2016

Kyle Adkins 2012-2014

Jamie Fox 2010-2011

Scott Newman 2007-2009

Craig Fitts 2006

Charles Flowers 1992-2005

SPENCER

Justin Newman 2018

Pierre Coffey 2015-2017

Calvin Arnold 2013-2014

Oliver Davis 2007-2012

Richard Reese 2005-2006

Collins Jones 1990-2004