T. McFerrin/Notes

Background

• McFerrin was born and raised in Murfreesboro, Tenn. He was a three-year letterman in football at Murfreesboro High School under coach Lee Pate. As a junior, McFerrin was a starting free safety and a primary kickoff and punt returner in helping Murfreesboro to a 10-0 regular-season record and berth in the Clinic Bowl in Vanderbilt University’s stadium, then known as Dudley Field. Murfreesboro was beaten by Isaac Litton High in a game that many viewed as an unofficial state-championship contest. There were no state playoffs in Tennessee at the time.
• McFerrin attended Millsaps College, a Division III school in Jackson, Miss., playing football there for two seasons before transferring to Middle Tennessee in his hometown. McFerrin did not play football at Middle Tennessee but lettered in tennis.
• McFerrin earned a bachelor’s degree in social studies with an emphasis in history from Middle Tennessee in 1964. He received a master’s degree in history from Florida State University in 1965.

Coaching career

• McFerrin is best known for his ability to win at multiple schools. He is the only Georgia head coach to lead four GHSA schools to the state finals, five to the state semifinals and seven to the state quarterfinals. He is the only Georgia coach to lead seven GHSA schools to region championships. He is one of 14 coaches in the GHSA to win state titles at two schools (1995 Elbert County, 2012 Jefferson).
• McFerrin's first coaching experience came in high school and later in college, when he coached years of summer Little League baseball in Murfreesboro. Also while at Middle Tennessee, he coached an elementary-school football team.
• McFerrin’s first high school job came in 1965 when he applied to coach with DeKalb County Schools in Georgia and was assigned to Druid Hills High and head coach Crawford Kennedy. McFerrin was a backfield coach for the B team in 1965 and then for the varsity in 1966 and 1967. It was Kennedy who introduced McFerrin to his wife, Jane.
• McFerrin was a head coach for the first time in 1968 at Lithonia, another DeKalb school. "It was out in the country, and I had never heard of it," McFerrin said. "I had to get the map out to find it." But McFerrin did some research and liked the program’s potential. The all-black school in Lithonia, Bruce Street, was closing and consolidating with Lithonia. Bruce Street had several good teams under head coach Cecil Jones and won a Georgia Interscholastic Association championship in 1963. Jones did not apply for the head-coaching job, leaving it to the 26-year-old McFerrin. With Jones as a top assistant and McFerrin as head coach, Lithonia instantly became a state contender, improving from 1-9 to 8-1-1 in 1968. Lithonia lost only to eventual Class B champion Roswell. In 1969, Lithonia defeated Roswell 18-13, won the Region 6-B championship and played for the Class A championship, losing on the road to Vidalia 7-6. In 1970, Lithonia beat Roswell again but lost a rematch for the region title and finished 9-2.
• The Lithonia job was the first of nine stops as a head coach for McFerrin. He improved the fortunes of each. He won region titles at eight of them (seven in Georgia) and won the first-ever state championships for Elbert County in 1995 and Jefferson in 2012.
• In 1971, McFerrin led Forest Park to a Region 6-AAA championship, the Clayton County school’s first in three years. From 1972 to 1975, he coached in eastern Tennessee at Sullivan Central and won a region title in his final season there.
• In 1976, McFerrin hoped to move back to Georgia and eyed openings at Shamrock, his first choice, and Peachtree. He was offered the job at the latter, which proved fortunate as the DeKalb County school was a sleeping giant coming off a 2-7-1 finish. In McFerrin's first season, Peachtree went 10-1-1. McFerrin was 73-13-2 in seven seasons at the Dunwoody school, winning four region titles and reaching the 1982 GHSA Class AAAA football championship game.
• Citing burnout, McFerrin stepped back from coaching in 1983 and remained a teacher at Peachtree. He coached Southeast Whitfield in northwest Georgia for a season, again achieving a remarkable turnaround in his first season. Southeast Whitfield went from 1-9 in 1983 to 7-3 in McFerrin’s only season.
• McFerrin again stepped away from coaching and returned to DeKalb and taught at Dunwoody High for a year. He became the head at Tucker High in 1986. Tucker would win its first region title in 23 years in 1989, which was McFerrin's fourth and final year there. Also while at Tucker, McFerrin led Tucker's boys tennis teams to three state championships.
• McFerrin would go on to lead Elbert County to its first region title in 1993 in 29 years and its first state title in 1995. McFerrin would lead South Gwinnett to its first region title in 10 years in 2003.
• In 2009, McFerrin came out of retirement for a final four-year run, taking over at Jefferson. In McFerrin’s final season as a head coach, Jefferson finished 14-1 and defeated five ranked opponents, including No. 1 Calhoun 31-14 for the Class AA title, Jefferson’s first state championship.
• McFerrin retired after the 2012 season. In 42 years of high school sports, McFerrin was a head coach in football, tennis (boys and girls), wrestling and volleyball and assisted in basketball and baseball.

Awards

• McFerrin was inducted into the Georgia Athletic Coaches Hall of Fame in 2014.

Personal

• McFerrin's son Tom McFerrin is the principal at Dunwoody High School. His son Rob McFerrin is the athletics director at Winder-Barrow.