John Reid held a special football in one hand and a sign in the other and wore a big smile on his face. Friday night’s victory over Kennesaw Mountain finished another stellar regular season for the coach. It also marked his 250th win as a head football coach.
After the game, players, parents, fans, and family all congregated on the turf at Barron Stadium, talking, laughing, and reminiscing while also focusing on the playoffs set to start in a couple of weeks.
Reid, who seems to be in constant motion whenever you see him, took a moment to smile, receive hugs, and accept congratulations from the large crowd gathered at Barron Stadium. The win against Kennesaw Mountain was never in question.
What started for him as a 23-year-old looking for a job has turned into a multi-decade string of victories at several stops.
A tough job market when he graduated led Reid to teaching, where he coached a middle school football team. That team went undefeated and won the region title. The high school’s head football coach then approached Reid, telling him he would be the school’s linebacker coach the next season, beginning his high school coaching journey.
Along the way, Reid’s teams have won 250 games, multiple region titles, and four state championships. He has been recognized as a region or state coach of the year several times. When asked to reflect on some meaningful wins, he waits a moment.
“I think winning a state championship at Alcoa High School in Tennessee with my son on the team was special. There’s a poster or a picture in our basement where he and two coaches are picking me up,” Reid says. “That’s so special because some really good coaches will never get that chance. State championships are rare, and to have a chance at four of them has been awesome.”
Standing a few feet away with a huge smile as she watched her husband do a postgame interview after winning a football game for the 250th time, Julie Reid takes it all in. When asked about the big wins she also mentions the state championships and the special one at Alcoa.
“I think the state championships are special. My son played in the first one that he won at Alcoa, and then my daughter cheered as well. So I think being a part of that and knowing how important those state titles are to the community, the kids, and the families. We get to see the joy that it brings to the community, and how it helps bring everyone together. It's just awesome to be part of a community that loves sports,” Julie Reid says.
The second state title Reid mentions hits close to home for Rome fans.
“I think the second win I really remember is having the whole city of Rome fill that dome. It’s not so much that it’s neat to have that kind of win for yourself because there is some reward to that, but to see the whole town fill the stadium and even the upper decks of the old dome — I’ll never forget that. I’ll never forget it,” he says.
That win was Reid’s third state title and Rome High School’s first when the Wolves defeated Buford 16-7 in the Class 5A State Finals on Dec. 9, 2016. On that day, it seemed the entire population of Rome might have traveled to Atlanta to watch the game at the Georgia Dome.
Two years before that, Reid had been introduced as the new head football coach at Rome High School. In the press conference, he mentioned his plan to bring a state title to Rome — and on that day in the Georgia Dome, standing before a huge crowd of Rome fans, he delivered on his promise.
Getting to Rome was a journey. After coaching in Indiana, Reid moved to Tennessee, winning two state titles at Alcoa before moving to Georgia and taking East Paulding to the state semifinals. He coached Tift County to the playoffs before landing in Rome.
“Tygar (Evans) saw something, and he has to be given a lot of credit because he knew what I was capable of. I thought the opportunity to win a championship at a place that was ready to win one was huge,” Reid says. “I thought the community really fit us. It was something that felt comfortable, and Rome is just a neat town.”
Evans was the Rome High School principal at the time. The Wolves had been a strong program but had yet to win or even play for a state title since the school opened in 1992. That didn’t sit well with many Rome fans, as East Rome and West Rome High Schools had combined to win seven state titles before the schools merged.
Since his arrival, the Wolves have won nine region titles (one of those is a shared title not recognized by the GHSA) and two state championships. The team has reached the state playoffs every season, advancing to the semifinals four times and winning two state titles.
And while the wins are important, so are the relationships the Reid family has been able to build with players, parents and the community.
“He loves to work with the boys. He loves the team, and he gets very committed to the kids. I just think it's a great thing to have relationships with them as well,” Julie Reid says. “So the spaghetti dinners, all the special things that we get to do with them, I get to meet them as well as him. So it kind of becomes a big family, and it's great to be a part of it all.”
One reason the Georgia Dome was packed to the rafters with Rome residents during the 2016 season was the community coming together to cheer the squad, much like they had for the Gladiators and the Chieftains when they won their state titles.
Reid stands among elite company in Floyd County football history, being one of only five coaches to win two GHSA state titles at the same school, joining Coosa’s Branch Bragg, Model’s N.S. Woodard, West Rome’s Mike Hodges, and East Rome’s Jerry Sharp. Reid is the only football coach in Floyd County to win a GHSA state title in the 2000s.
While there are more wins than most could remember, Reid also recalls a few losses.
“I thought we had the best team in the state, and we didn’t finish against Thomas County Central in 2023. I think the winner of that game was, no question, going to have a route to the state championship,” Reid says. “I don’t think I’ll ever forget that one. Those opportunities are so rare. We had a bunch of coaches still here. What they didn’t understand is those chances don’t come around. I think that loss is huge.”
The Wolves lost to Thomas County 19-16 in the third round of the Class 6A playoffs that year, when Thomas County kicked a game-winning field goal as time expired. The Yellow Jackets went on to claim the Class 6A State Title.
Reid also recalled a couple of other games in Indiana — one where his team had a chance to beat the top team in the state but fell short, and another where his squad finished as state runner-up.
While the wins, accolades, and trophies are great, when asked what drives him, Reid pauses before answering.
“We don’t have room in our house for plaques and trophies. So it’s not that. It’s the fact that your body of work goes against somebody else’s body of work every Friday, and it’s a test, and I just want to win that test,” Reid says. “It might have been John Kennedy who said, ‘Never go for second place if first place is available.’ Now, I may have misquoted that, but I’ve used that numerous times, and it probably drives me. I mean, I’m not a second-place guy, so we try to find a way to win.”
Reid misses the quote from Kennedy by just a slight bit. Kennedy is credited with saying, “Once you say you're going to settle for second, that's what happens to you in life.” And there is no one who meets Coach Reid who thinks the man is happy settling for second.
While the wins are great, Reid loves hearing from former players, and with texting and social media, he has the chance to hear from many of them.
“I think we hear from a whole bunch of players every year via email. We’ve had a former player go to Top Gun School. We’ve had players be successful in all types of careers,” Reid says. “I think one of the big things for us is that the message each week is important. It’s more important than the blocking and tackling, because it sets up the blocking and tackling.”
A question often asked of coaches who reach milestones is how long they have left. When asked, Reid laughs before saying that if you ask his wife Julie, it’s not long at all.
“I can’t retire to do nothing. There’s no way. So I have to retire to something. I want that next thing to be something that has meaning and helps people,” he says. “I don’t think I could just get up in the morning, read the paper, and work on the lawn. So I want it to be meaningful, whatever I do.”
Although Coach Reid says his wife is ready for him to retire, when she is asked, her statements echo her husband.
“I don't think he can quit. He asked me the other day. I just think he loves it. He loves it too much, and he can't sit still. It will all be up to him. It's his decision. So I have no idea. Some days he says right away, and some days he says he could do it forever,” she says with a laugh.
As for his legacy and what he hopes people remember about him, Reid has a quick, succinct answer.
“I think the biggest thing you want to be remembered for is that you were a man of your word. Whatever you said was what you were all about,” he says. “You were straightforward, and you gave everybody all you had every day.”
As the crowd thins and players head to the locker room, Reid hands the sign and the football to family members. The Wolves have two weeks to get ready for the Class 5A State Playoffs. As great as win 250 was, Rome has more goals to accomplish this season, and that’s what Reid is focusing on now.