Football and Pepperell High School have always been close to Lynn Hunnicutt’s heart.
On Monday night, at the football team’s postseason banquet, he told those who share that love he is going to ease the strain on that Dragon-filled heart.
After being Pepperell’s head coach for 24 years, Hunnicutt announced he will be hanging up his whistle for good.
“It’s a good time to do this,” Hunnicutt said of his retirement, one that brings to a close a stellar career that includes a 186-94-1 record, three region championships, two state semi-final appearances at the Georgia Dome and a state championship in 1990.
“We’ve got a new school, a new gym, a new track — things that have been great additions for the school — and then there’s the health issue,” said Hunnicutt, who suffered a heart attack earlier this year. “I want to enjoy the rest of my life.”
Hunnicutt will remain as a teacher at the school and as its athletic director, according to principal Phil Ray.
“I consider coach Hunnicutt a valuable member of the faculty,” said Ray, who added the job will officially be posted after Christmas. “He is committed to every student and every sport at Pepperell High School. He has the good of the school in mind.”
The close bond between the school and the coach is a lifelong one, with Hunnicutt developing a love for football as a 10th grader, finally convincing his mother he wanted to play.
“When I showed up for practice, I had nothing but tennis shoes,” Hunnicutt recalls, “but coach (Otis) Gilbreath got me some cleats to use.”
By the time he was a high school senior, Hunnicutt emerged as a prized college recruit, opting to play for Vince Dooley at the University of Georgia, where he became a key member of the team and was picked the offensive team captain as a senior.
“I still consider that to be one of the greatest things that ever happened to me,” Hunnicutt said, “being selected by my teammates.”
It was during those years at Georgia that Hunnicutt decided to become a teacher and a coach, and after his playing days with the Bulldogs ended, began his teaching and coaching career.
In 1973, he became an assistant coach at Warner Robins High and in 1981 was named the head coach at Fitzgerald High.
But in 1983, the top position at Pepperell became vacant and Hunnicutt returned to Lindale, not only to take over the football program but also to help revamp the school’s entire athletic program and facilities.
“The only facilities we had was a baseball field and a gym,” Hunnicutt said. “We didn’t have a football field to play on and had to either use Barron Stadium — when East Rome or West Rome wasn’t playing — or another county school’s field.
“Getting everybody on the same page was a major task,” he said. “It took a strong commitment by the coaches, the community and the booster club, and they stayed with me.”
Just six years after coming back to Pepperell, Hunnicutt directed the Dragons to the 1990 state championship, a season that remains special to him.
“That was a very special year,” Hunnicutt said, “but at the same time, some of the best coaching we did as a staff was when we had teams that didn’t have such a good record.
“They were just as special because they were overachievers.”
Hunnicutt knows some outside the Pepperell community consider him a tough, gritty and emotional coach, a trait that was his trademark on the sideline.
“I know that I have that Billy Goat Gruff label,” he said. “But a coach’s relationship is unique, something a lot of people on the outside don’t know about.
“It took a strong commitment to play for me. Sacrifice, commitment and discipline — these were the only way we could be successful.
“We’ve tried to give kids the tools to be successful, tools they can use later on in life. That’s what athletics is all about.”
Hunnicutt, a member of the Rome-Floyd Sports Hall of Fame, is quick to point out he was not alone during his tenure, noting the friendship and support he received from all of his assistants, including Ken Mitchell, Charles Kelly and Joe Knight, and two current assistant coaches who have been with him for most of the 24 years, Jimmy Farrer and Steve Horne.
More than anything, Hunnicutt said, his wife of 34 years, Margie, has been the one person who has been by his side throughout it all.
“Every coach’s wife has to go through so much, the good and the bad,” he said. “When I came back to Pepperell, Margie raised our two sons by herself for six months. I know it was hard.
“She has been real special to me.”
Ray said Hunnicutt will help in finding the school’s new football coach, a process the principal hopes to finalize by February.
“We want to get the best football coach we can hire,” said Ray, who expects a flood of applications. “We want Lynn to help us and I’m proud to have him.”
“I still want to be around the kids,” Hunnicutt said, “and do whatever the school needs me to do.”
