Former Ridgeland High School football player and assistant coach Craig Pritchett was confirmed by the Walker County Board of Education as the school's next head football coach.
Pritchett has been the head coach at Brevard High School in western North Carolina since 2015, where he guided a team that had gone winless in the season before he was hired to five winning seasons in seven years, four of them reaching the playoffs. Pritchett's 47-34 record included two 11-win seasons and one 10-win campaign.
Following an all-star playing career at Ridgeland and at Tusculum College, where he was inducted into the school's Hall of Fame, Pritchett coached under Mark Mariakis at Ridgeland for 10 years before taking the Brevard job.
According to the official statement from the Walker County Board of Education, "Coach Pritchett was a part of four region championships, seven state play-off appearances and one state finals appearance during his previous time with the Panthers. He returns home to Ridgeland with a wealth of experience and energy after seven years as head coach at Brevard High School."
Former head coach Kip Klein announced his retirement from coaching in October after 27 years at the school, the last three as Panthers head coach.
Ridgeland, after winning seven region championships and making 12 playoff appearances in 14 seasons, went a combined 2-18 the past two seasons. Beginning next season Ridgeland will drop down to Class AAA.