DALTON, Ga. — In the coming months there won’t be a lot of complication in Ronnie McClurg’s schedule. The now-retired former Dalton High School football coach and athletic director will spend his days on the golf course and his Friday nights at Harmon Field/Bill Chappell Stadium.
“I hope to have a lot of golf in my future,” said McClurg, who just turned 70. “I don’t know if my game is getting any better, but I sure enjoy playing it. It’s tough to leave a job you love so much, but I’ll still be involved and I’ll be their biggest supporter, no doubt.”
McClurg spent more than 40 years at the school, including three decades as an assistant coach under the legendary Bill Chappell. After spending a brief time in private business following Chappell’s retirement, he returned as head football coach and athletic director. During his tenure, prep sports have undergone tremendous change, a direction the veteran coach believes isn’t in the interest of the student athlete or the coach.
“The big change in high school sports, no doubt, is the presence of year-round programs now,” he said. “Kids don’t have the chance to be kids these days, but coaches are in a no-win situation. If your opponent is working year-round now to get better, then you’ve got to do it.”
There also has been tremendous change in the student demographics at the school, which, according to state statistics, was predominantly Hispanic (59 percent) last year. No school, based on state records, has undergone as radical a demographic change over the past dozen years, yet the Catamounts have managed to extend their streak of consecutive winning football seasons to 50 years, the longest streak in the country.
According to new football coach Matt Land, a former Catamount player who also coached under McClurg, the expectations of winning never lessened during McClurg’s tenure.
“In a program like Dalton’s, you hesitate to say someone is Mr. Dalton or Mr. Catamount, but you cannot underscore in any way all the things Coach McClurg has done for this program,” Land said. “As a coach on the field to his leadership as athletic director to a teacher to just being a community person, his influence has sifted throughout the entire community as to what at Catamount is.
“What it says about Ronnie is that he has done it the Catamount way. There is an absolute expectation here to win. Demograhpics, location, regions, classifications, where you play a game … none of it matters. We have an expectation to win and to win the right way. I think Coach McClurg continued that mantra and has extended that to the rest of the coaches on staff in other sports.”
Ron Ward, an educator with strong Dalton ties, has been named as McClurg’s successor, a choice popular among the community. As for McClurg, he heads into retirement with few regrets and with the knowledge the school’s programs will be in good hands.
“It’s been fun. I wouldn’t do it any other way,” he said. “My dream was being a coach and athletic director. I enjoyed every day of it. I worked with some great people, and that made all the difference, from the coaches to the players to the administration. I’ve been blessed.”