Charles E. Horne
Coach Charles E. Horne coached for a total of 37 years, spending most of his time at Winder-Barrow High School and Roswell High School. His career record as a head coach in football was 134-85-4. Coach Horne was Head Coach at Roswell High from 1967 thru 1974 with a football record of 73-18 (.802) winning two State Championships, three Sectional Titles and three Region Championships. His record as a Head Baseball Coach was 170-70 winning two State Championships, two State Runner-Up Titles and five Sectional Titles. Coach Horne has received many awards on state and local levels. Coach Horne’s ability to instill confidence, his meticulous attention to detail and his passion for coaching permeated every practice and game throughout his career. He taught that caring about winning was more important than winning itself. He was “A Championship Coach and a Championship Man.” Coach Horne is a member of the Georgia Athletic Coaches Association Hall of Fame Class of 2007.
Ray Manus
Coach Ray Manus has coached for over 40 years at Roswell High School from 1966 thru 2007. Coach Manus became Head Football Coach in 1975 for 23 years with a career record of 141-101-1. Coach Manus has coached on all 3 of Roswell High School’s Football State Championship teams in 1968, 1970 and 2006 and on 7 Region Championship teams. These Championships reflected Roswell High’s history from a small Class B School in 1968 to a place in the State’s then highest classification Class AAAAA in 2006. He was selected 3 times an All Star Coach by Georgia Athletic Coaches Association for the annual North v. South All Star football games in 1982, 1989 and 1997. As Head Coach of Girls Basketball he led his teams to two State Tournament appearances in the early 1970’s. His record as Head Boys Golf Coach included the 1990 Class AAAA State Championship, State Runner-Up titles in 1992 and 1993 and 3 Individual State Champion Medalists. Coach Manus was Roswell High’s first Athletic Director from 1990 thru 1999. He was selected by the Georgia Athletic Coaches Association as the State Athletic Director of the Year for 1994-95. In recognition of the time, effort and dedication given by Coach Manus for the Roswell High School Community the Fulton County Board of Education approved the naming of our campus stadium to “Ray Manus Stadium” on September 2, 1994.
William “Bill” Yoast
Coach William “Bill” Yoast was the Head Football and Head Track Coach at Roswell High School from 1954 thru 1960. Coach Yoast came to Roswell after a four year stint at Sparta High School, GA. Coach Yoast led the 1956 team to a Region Championship and a berth in Roswell High’s first ever State Championship game in his 3rd year as Head Coach. Roswell was the Class C State Runner Up as the Hornets ran into a 12-0 undefeated team from Monticello. Coach Yoast was an accomplished Track Coach leading the team to the Class C State Runner Up Title in 1957 and to the Class C State Championship Title in 1959. He was instrumental in organizing the first ever Roswell Relays which quickly grew into the largest high school invitational track meet in the State. In 1960 Coach Yoast returned to his home state of Virginia where he spent several decades and earned his greatest fame. Coach Yoast’s 1971 season at T.C.Williams High School served as the inspiration for the movie “Remember the Titans.” Coach Yoast worked as an assistant football coach to Head Coach Herman Boone at the newly integrated school. Together they led the team to a dominant season winning the State Championship and taking a second-place national ranking. Coach Yoast was ahead of the times fighting racial injustice and behind the times seeking personal glory. Coach Yoast is one of the most respected coaches of our times for one reason. He anchored himself to the principal of integrity. He preached it, he lived it, and he protected it. Integrity was not a word but a lifestyle. His wisdom comes from experience and we are thankful for the time he spent and the lives he touched at Roswell High School.
W.L. “Pug” Mabry
Community Contributor W.L. “Pug” Mabry was the City of Roswell’s Mayor for 31 years from 1967 thru 1997. As Mayor and the father of two former athletes from Roswell High he was the Hornets most enthusiastic booster. In the early days he could often been seen before Home football games stringing phone wire for the Coaches. During his tenure as Mayor he was passionate about Youth Sports in the City of Roswell. During his tenure the City of Roswell purchased land for the Roswell Area Park and the Roswell Parks and Recreation became a State and nationally recognized department under his administration. During Mayor Mabry’s tenure Roswell High School participated in 20 State Championships in 8 different sports winning 10 titles. Mayor Mabry may best be remembered for his succinct response at a public hearing chaired by the Fulton County School Superintendent on the naming of the then “new” high school on King Road. He stated “ I have 3 possible recommendations: # 1 Roswell High; # 2 Roswell High School and # 3 THE Roswell High School.”
*William “Bill” Hobbs
Community Contributor William “Bill” Hobbs participated in Roswell High School Athletics for nearly 45 years. He was a fixture at Roswell Football and Baseball games most notably as a Team Statistician and confidant for the Coaches. “Coach Hobbs” as he was affectionately known to the hundreds of athletes that came thru Roswell High was supremely loyal and volunteered countless hours towards the youth of Roswell as a long standing member of the City of Roswell Recreation Commission. If there was an equivalent of Mount Rushmore for Roswell High “Coach Hobbs” face would be on it. In the end we are all both Givers and Takers. We hope that we have given more than we have taken. No one has ever given more to the Youth of the City of Roswell and Roswell High School than “Coach Hobbs.”
Richard Smith
Coach Richard Smith began his career in 1959 coaching 8th grade basketball in Irwin County, Georgia. The next year he became Head Boys’ and Girls’ Varsity Basketball Coach, Assistant Football Coach and Head Baseball Coach at Irwin County High. In 1961 he moved to Roswell and began his twenty-eight year career at Roswell High School. He was best known as the head coach for the Varsity Boys Basketball teams, holding that position for twenty-two years. During his time at RHS, he also was head coach for the Varsity Girls Basketball teams for six years, head coach for the Track and Cross-Country teams for fifteen years and an Assistant Football Coach for six years. His teams’ career record in basketball was 384 wins and 186 losses. In 1971, he coached the Roswell High Varsity Boys Basketball team to a Class A State Championship and was named 1971 Class A Coach of the Year by the Georgia Athletic Coaches Association. During his tenure at RHS, his basketball teams also won nine Sub-Region Championships, two Region Championships and six Holiday Invitational Tournaments. His 1973 RHS Cross-Country team won the Region and finished third in the Class A State Finals. He coached the 1974 Roswell Track team to a second-place Class A finish at State. In the 1960’s, he helped start the Roswell Booster Club and had the first football program printed. He was the first summer Recreation Director for the City of Roswell, running a varied program for two summers in 1965 and 1966.
After retiring from Roswell High in 1989, he continued to coach in Highlands, North Carolina where he served head coach for the Varsity Girls’ Basketball team, head coach for the Track and Cross-Country teams, and the assistant coach for the baseball team. In 2004, Coach Smith retired for a second time, finishing a forty-five year career as a teacher and coach.
Fred Williams
Coach and Community Contributor Fred Williams coached for 15 years at Roswell High from 1967 through 1981. Coach Williams coached Receivers and Defensive Ends on two State Championship Football Teams. The Class B 1968 State Championship team and 1970 Class A State Championship team. Coach Williams was the assistant boys basketball coach for the 1971 Class A State Championship Boys Basketball team giving him 3 State Championships at Roswell. In 1975, Coach Williams was named the head girls basketball coach. In five seasons he had 4 straight years of 18 plus wins including an undefeated regular season of 17-0 in 1977-78. His teams were in the Fulton County Tournament Finals 4 consecutive seasons. In the season of 1978-79, Coach Williams took his team to a 20-9 overall Record and continued the streak of regular season wins to 24. That team climbed to the 2nd Round of the State AAA Tournament losing to eventual AAA State Champion Cairo High School. That game was memorable as former UGA and Olympic Star Theresa Edwards and Roswell’s current Hall of Fame member and All Time leading scorer Lisa Parker Clock battled it out. Coach Williams was a coach on and off the court for his players. He provided support for all his players not only as athletes but also as students. His players fondly remember him as a role model teaching them how to work toward goals, compete at the highest level while maintaining respect for each opponent along with the proper perspective to have of athletics in their lives. After leaving coaching for private business, Coach Williams continued his relationship with Roswell High volunteering countless hours fundraising, organizing events and supporting the Students and Coaches. As a member of the City of Roswell Recreation Commission for 24 years and the Chairman for 18 years his leadership has impacted thousands of young people in the City of Roswell. During his time on the Commission the City of Roswell was recognized 5 times as the “Georgia Recreation and Parks Department Agency of the Year” and one time as a finalist for the Gold Medal Award given by the National Recreation and Parks Department. In recognition of his contributions, the City dedicated a new Fitness Center in the Roswell Adult Recreation Center to Coach Williams and he continues to sit on the Board of Trustees of the Georgia Recreation and Parks Department. As the owner of Marietta Trophy and Engraving, Coach Williams has been a loyal partner to the Athletic Department at Roswell High School for over 30 years providing hundreds of awards, trophies and mementos for our student-athletes and coaches including the Roswell High Hall of Fame Display in our Gym Lobby that now bears his name.
*John Coen Sr.
Community Contributor John P. Coen Sr. participated in Roswell High School Athletics from 1968 until his passing in 2001. Mr. Coen a native of Jersey City, N.J. was transferred from his office in Wilmington, Delaware to Roswell in 1968. He became President of the Roswell All-Sports Booster Club for two years including the 1970-71 school year when Roswell High became the first Georgia High School to capture State Championships in football, basketball, and baseball all in the same year. Mr. Coen coached in the City of Roswell’s Connie Mack Baseball program for over 30 years. He honed his coaching skills while serving in the U.S. Air Force as a member of Air Force base teams. He coached youth football and officiated girls softball and girls basketball. For over 25 years, he volunteered in the Roswell High School’s football press box and baseball dugout keeping statistics and/or announcing. Mr. Coen was appointed by the Mayor of Roswell to serve on the City of Roswell Recreation Commission beginning in 1977. In January of 2001, he was selected as the “State Volunteer of the Year” by the Georgia Recreation and Parks Society. In his retirement years, Mr. Coen became known as “Super Sub” at Roswell High School, substitute teaching for over ten years. He could often be seen at numerous high school athletic and school events. Mr. Coen had a passion for Roswell High Students and Staff and was always involved while his four children attended and graduated from Roswell High in the 70’s. Upon his passing in 2001, the Roswell High Senior Class of 2002 dedicated their Yearbook to his memory. In 2005, the Roswell Athletic Department named the Roswell High Baseball facility “John P. Coen Sr. Field.” Mr. Coen will fondly be remembered for his two favorite sayings, “anything is possible as long as you don’t care who gets the credit” and “All I need is a kind word and a smile.”
Rick Hawkins
Community Contributor Rickard S. Hawkins Sr. enjoyed a lifelong relationship with Roswell High School athletics and the community as a whole. As a member of Roswell High School’s 1955 graduating class, Rick was extensively involved in the school’s athletic programs both on and off the field. Rick was the captain of the football team, a long-standing record holder in the pole-vaulting, and a member of the basketball team. Off the field, Rick planted the dogwoods that lined the drive to the high school and personally seeded, fertilized and maintained the football field. In addition to his participation in the school’s athletic programs, Rick also showed his support as a member of the high school band, playing at half time before returning to the field for the second half of the game. After high school, Rick attended the University of Georgia, where he majored in Animal Husbandry. Prior to his senior year, Rick married his high school sweetheart, and fellow Roswell native, Norma Fields. Following graduation and three years of service in the Air Force, Rick and Norma returned home to Roswell to raise their three children: Rick, Tonya and Jade. Upon returning home, Rick and Norma were actively involved in the Roswell community. Rick became especially involved in Roswell athletics. In addition to coaching youth football, Rick was President of the Roswell Youth Football Association For over thirty years, Rick volunteered to film the Roswell High School football games and on occasion would film baseball and basketball games as well. He also resumed seeding, fertilizing, and maintaining the football field until the county took over maintenance duties. His contributions to the community extended beyond athletics and into the community. Rick was President of both the Roswell and Regional Jaycee organizations. The Roswell community has always been and continues to be a very important part of the Hawkins family history. Rick and Norma went on to see their children and grandchildren participate in Roswell athletics and graduate from their alma mater. The community was an essential part of shaping not only Rick but also his family, and in return, Rick Hawkins desired to give back to the community, school, and athletic programs that had given him so much.
Pete Poulos
Coach Pete Poulos began his coaching career in the City of Atlanta School System in the mid-1960’s having coached Football, Basketball, and Baseball at West Fulton and Fulton High Schools. In 1970, Coach Poulos came to Roswell High School as a Social Studies Teacher coaching Football, Basketball and Baseball. He coached the 8th grade and “B” teams at Roswell High from 1970 to 1974 in addition to coaching Linebackers on the Varsity. Elevated to Defensive Coordinator by first year Head Coach Ray Manus in 1975 he remained in that capacity for 30 years thru the season of 2004. After stepping down as Defensive Coordinator, he coached Varsity Linebackers until 2008 and finished as a Freshmen Coach after the season of 2014. Coach Poulos coached Defense in 448 games and was a member of two State Championship teams in 1970 and 2006. He coached on 7 Region Championships and in a total of 17 Region and State Playoff games. As Defensive Coordinator he was instrumental in developing future NFL stars and Super Bowl Champions Jermaine Phillips (Tampa Bay Bucs 2003) and Chris Reis (New Orleans Saints 2010.) Coach Poulos was a Boys and Girls Basketball Coach for a total of 29 years as a JV Boys and Girls coach. His teams won a combined six North Fulton Championships and were runners up three times. As an Assistant Baseball Coach, he was a member of the 1971 State Championship Team and was later named Head Coach from 1972 thru 1975 winning two sub-region championships. As a Baseball coach at Roswell High, he coached two future Major League players and World Series Champions in Mike Ramsey (St. Louis Cardinals 1982) and Tony Phillips (Oakland A’s 1988.) Over his 45 years of Coaching at Roswell High School, Coach Poulos coached in over 1,400 combined boys and girls games in three different sports. He was the Department Chair for Social Studies from 1978 thru 2000 and continued teaching part-time until 2005. In 1997, he served as a Defensive Coach for the North All-Star Team in the Georgia Athletic Coaches Association Football All-Star game. Upon his retirement from coaching in 2014, the practice field adjacent to Ray Manus Stadium was dedicated in his honor as the “Pete Poulos Practice Field.” In April of 2015, the Mayor and City Council of Roswell proclaimed April 19 “Ray Manus and Pete Poulos Day.” Coach Poulos will always be remembered fondly as a tough, hard-nosed Coach who was able to balance holding his players accountable while making their high school experience enjoyable forging hundreds of friendships and relationships among all the young men and women he taught and coached.
*posthumous
