Georgia high school football coaching legend T McFerrin dies
Among those to pay tribute to Coach T. McFerrin after his passing was Gov. Brian Kemp.
ATLANTA — A Georgia high school coaching legend, who won state championships at Jefferson and Elbert County and more than 300 games across more than four decades with stops at several metro Atlanta schools, died this week at the age of 83.
Among those to pay tribute upon the news of his passing were his former state champion schools Jefferson and Elbert County, as well as Gov. Brian Kemp.
“Coach McFerrin was a legend, both throughout Georgia and in the field of high school athletics,” the governor said in a statement. “As the first head coach to lead four different schools to the state finals, five different schools to the state semifinals and seven different schools to the state quarterfinals… his impact will not only live on through his incredible record, but even more so through the generations of athletes who stepped off of his field as better men because of his influence.”
McFerrin coached from 1968, starting at Lithonia, until 2012 with Jefferson, where he won the second of his two state titles. He totaled 38 seasons in Georgia, with another four in Tennessee, compiling a record in Georgia of 317-84-4. He had 341 career wins, including the years in Tennessee.
Besides Lithonia, who he took to the 1969 Region 6-B state final, he coached at Forest Park (reaching a semifinal in 1971), Peachtree (state final in 1982), Southeast Whitfield, Tucker (quarterfinal in 1989), Elbert County (1995 Region 4-AA championship), South Gwinnett (quarterfinal in 2003) and Jefferson (2012 Region 8-AA championship).
“It is with great sadness that we announce the passing of Coach T. McFerrin. Georgia’s greatest high school football coach was about far more than just winning games. The life lessons he taught will live on through the thousands of people who had the privilege of knowing and learning from him,” the Jefferson Dragons Football account on Facebook posted.
The Elbert County Blue Devils account wrote: “Coach T served as the head coach for the Blue Devils from 1990-1996, had a 75-13 record, and led the Blue Devils to the 1995 State Championship. He passed away peacefully and surrounded by his family. Our thoughts and prayers are with his wife, Jane, and his sons, Rob and Tom.”
