East Ridge has found a football coach with experience both in winning tradition and rebuilding success.
Principal Zac Brown said Monday that he has hired Tracy Malone as the successor to Mike Martin, who resigned as the Pioneers’ coach last month.
“He’s been looking to get back to this area,” Brown said of the McMinn County native. “He’s a high-energy and motivated guy who seems to want to do the right thing by kids and wants to be involved with the community, and that’s what we were looking for.”
Martin’s coaching career began on Gary Rankin’s staff at Murfreesboro Riverdale, which reached three state championship games and won the TSSAA Class AAA title in 2001. Malone has built programs at Ardmore, Ala., and White County into winners.
“Winning the state title was a lot of fun, but as a head coach it was probably turning programs around [that meant the most],” said Malone, who graduated from Middle Tennessee State.