Coach Charles Newton
Coach Charles Newton was an active coach at Roswell from 1949-1967.He began his coaching and teaching career in 1934 at Smyrna Elementary School teaching the 7th grade and as Assistant Principle until 1940. He also taught at Fitzhugh Lee Elementary 1938-1939 the 7th grade and Boys’ Basketball. After his service during WWII he went to Royston High School to teach Social Studies and coach the Boys’ Basketball and Baseball teams. It was at Royston he met and took advice for the baseball team from Ty Cobb, a resident of Royston who would drop by the field to watch practices. He then went to Smyrna High School to teach Social Studies and coach Track and Field as well as boys’ basketball. In 1949 he was brought to Roswell High to teach and stat the athletic program.
He coached boys and girls basketball, and brought in Bill Yoast to coach football and track, he was the assistant coach with Bill for those sports. He eventually just coached the boys and girls basketball teams Hs teams won region titles every year. Towards the end of his coaching career he had just the JV and regular Boys teams as well as taught American History and was the History Department Chainman. He retired in 1977 after 28 years at Roswell.
He was a founder with several other members in starting the Roswell Youth Day and served as Grand Marshall 2 times. He was a charter member of the Roswell Lions Club, a member and officer in the Roswell Masonic Lodge, A founding member of a committee to develop a Parks and Rec. for the city, A member and winner of the WSB Georgia Game and Fish Commission Sportsman Award Sports Hall of Fame, Roswell Historical Society and Deacon at the Presbyterian Church for several years.
He graduated from Milton High, Young Harris College (1934), Oglethorpe University with a BA in 1939 and Peabody College for Teachers in 1959 with Masters of Arts degree (Vanderbilt). He loved to teach and to coach and dedicated countless hours to his teams and students who were frequent visitors to his home. He was always there to listen and every team member was allowed to play in games. He loved to fish as all that knew him would tell you and share his adventures with students of hunting, fishing and war stories.
Coach Wayne Smith
Coach Smith coached at Roswell High School from 1975 through 2010. He coached football for 32 years, 30 as a varsity coach, primarily as an offensive line coach and special teams coordinator. During this time, Roswell was 17 years a playoff team with a State Championship in 2006. He became the head wrestling coach in 1976 and held that title for the next 31 years. As coach, his teams won 281 dual meets and produced seven Fulton County Championships and seven Fulton County Runners-Up; four top ten state finishes, including two individual state champions and nine runners-up. He was awarded the Gene Collins Award in 2007 by the State Wrestling Committee for his outstanding contribution to wrestling in the state of Georgia. Coach Smith was the Boys’ Track Head Coach from 1977-81 and in 1981 became the Girls’ Head Coach from 1981-2006. During his time as Girls’ Head Coach, Roswell was six times Fulton County Champions and had 32 girls state qualified with one state champion, three runners-up and two 3rd Place finishers. He served as Associate AD for seven years. Coach Smith will long be remembered and revered as a tirelessly dedicated coach, more concerned about others than himself, always willing to take on the most difficult tasks, and supportive of the entire Roswell High School community. He was a blessing to all that love Roswell High School and the Roswell community.
*Coach 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.
Coach 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.
Coach 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 principle 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.
Coach 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.
Coach 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.
Coach Natalie Stucky
Following graduation from Auburn Univ, Natalie began her teaching career at a small private school in Montgomery, Ala in 1991. Wishing to be closer to family,-.she moved to Atlanta and began teaching at Haynes Bridge Middle School in 1992 and transferred to Crabapple MS in 1993. It was then that Natalie got her coaching start at Roswell High School as Head Coach of the Varsity Competition Cheerleading and Gymnastics teams from 1994 -2000. She states ” it was a dream job” – ” I had the opportunity to work with amazing people : Coach Ray Manus, Coach Tim Mcfarlin, Counselor Jenny Cole, Carole Williams, David Young, and many others- all people I still admire.” Natalie’s coaching career at RHS lasted 8 years.
Natalie started the competition cheerleading team in 1995 at RHS. When a group of cheerleaders approached her about coaching a gymnastics team, she nervously agreed ! She states -“it was one of the best decisions of my career !” I had the chance to meet some amazing young ladies and reminisce often on those years and am truly grateful for the time and valuable experience I gained at Roswell High School. Roswell was “my place” and I never thought I would leave !”
However, Natalie’s path led her to a full time teaching and coaching position at Milton High in 2000 – Coaching duties there included Varsity/ Head Competition Cheer.
Honors and Awards :
Ga Athletic Coaches Assoc State – Coach of the Year – 1997, 1998, 2000, and 2001
Key to the City of Roswell 1997
Teacher of the Year Nominee -2018
Spotlight Teacher of the Year – 2022
Natalie Stucky coached teams – Won State Gymnastics Championships in 1997 , 2000, and 2001
Natalie has stated : “the greatest honor was receiving a plaque from Roswell that read “You leave with the total respect, best wishes, and love of the Roswell Athletic Community.”
She continues by saying : “Since Roswell was my first “home” it will always be a special place for me. I was lucky to have nephews and a niece graduate from RHS who were involved in Wrestling, Volleyball, Lacrosse, and Basketball, which allowed me to return , once again , to cheer on the Hornets”
Coach Tim McFarlin
Coach Tim McFarlin came to Roswell High in 1981 which started his 41 year coaching career…..
As all young coaches do, Tim coached not only Football, but also Basketball, Baseball, and for a few years was Head Track and Golf Coach. He became the Head Football Coach in 1998 until 2008 and had a strong winning record of 84-31-1, which included a 5A State Championship in 2006, as well as 2 region titles in 2000 and 2005. He was named as 2006 5-A State and Region Coach of the Year. Tim then became the Head Football Coach at Blessed Trinity and served there from 2011-2020. During his years at BT he won 3 State Championships – 2017, 2018, 2019, a remarkable accomplishment, and 4 Region Titles with an overall record of 112-20-1. He was awarded the State 4-A Coach of the Year in 2017, 18, and 19. His state championships at 2 different schools is an achievement that only some 15 other coaches have achieved in the history of Georgia High School Football. Tim concluded his coaching career at Fellowship Christian as Head Football Coach for the next 2 seasons and won 2 region championships. Currently Tim continues his connection to high school football as the Director of High School Relations at Georgia Tech. We induct him tonight not only for his terrific success as a Coach, but also as a Coach that has inspired many others by his commitment as a Coach/Person to always be about doing all the right things that lead to a meaningful life.
