After coaching in five decades, Dodge County’s Hardin ready for some family time
By Michael A. Lough
The Sports Report
centralgasports@gmail.com
Ray Hardin didn’t get his first varsity high school head football coaching job until he was 61, having been on scores of staffs as well as running a middle school athletics program.
He had the resume bases covered when he was named as head coach at Dodge County in early June of 2021.
The joy remained, as it battled the stress and frustration of seven single-digit losses in two seasons. But soon, the wear and tear of nearly 40 years of coaching started catching up, and part of the wear and tear is the time involved.
“I’m home,” he said. “I just feel honestly it got to the point where I want to step back a bit. That’s really it for me.”
Hardin wrestled with what to do, and decided it was time for family, turning in his resignation last week as Dodge County’s head coach.
A week later, it still weighs a little bit on Hardin.
“I’m still not sure I’ve decided, to be honest with you,” Hardin said Thursday afternoon. “It’s just a difficult move. You do something for almost 40 years, and one of your philosophies is ‘don’t quit, don’t quit, don’t quit.’ SO it’s hard to, you know, quit. It’s hard to say that word and do it.”
He battled through the Christmas break thinking about it, and kept thinking about it when school re-started.
“I just came to the conclusion, slowly but surely, I guess,” he said.
So, why?
“Well, I don’t, honestly, there’s a lot of answers, I guess, that could fit,” he said. “More time and all that type stuff. And I think that probably wins, to have some time now.”
A friend suggested he take his wife on a big vacation now.
“I felt bad when I thought about that. In the last 37 or 38 years that I’ve been coaching, I’m not sure I’ve made but a couple vacations, a little two-day getaway kind of thing. And I felt kind of guilty, so yeah, I do need to spend more time with my wife, and I’ve got grandkids I feel like I don’t really know.”
He told the team last week, and turned in his resignation. Both were struggles.
“That was tough to turn that letter over,” Hardin said. “Oh my gosh, this is kind of a finality. I’m handing this thing in and boom, it hits.”
The recipient of the letter was interim Dodge County principal Rex Hodges, who was the Indians’ head coach from 2011-2018, then served as superintendent, and then spent a few seasons as an assistant at Westfield.
He returned to Eastman after Dodge County principal Pamela Melvin passed away in December.
“He was like, ‘You sure? You sure? You sure?’” said Hardin. “I said, ‘Well, no, but here.’”
The 62 year old went 11-10 in two seasons, losing to 2021 Class AA champ Fitzgerald 15-6 twice in that season and to 2022 runner-up Fitzgerald 2012 last season.
Of the 10 losses, six were to ranked teams and only one was to a team that didn’t make the playoffs.
Hardin has two members of a Central Georgia football family on his staff, Tyler and Kolby Kinsler, sons of former Northside head coach Kevin Kinsler.
Hardin’s successor will be Dodge County’s seventh coach since 2000, following John Peacock, Greg Robinson, Lee Campbell, Rex Hodges, Ken Cofer, and Hardin.
County neighbor Hawkinsville is also working to find a new head coach.
Hardin didn’t count out the possibility that after a year off, more grandbaby time, and a few longer road trips with his wife that he’d be open to returning to the game in some form.
“I’ll tell you why. People ask me, ‘What do you enjoy most about coaching?’ It’s really not the games. In fact, that’s the worst part. I’m not a contol freak, by any means.
“But practice, I do enjoy practice. I enjoy coaching, I enjoy teaching with the kids, I enjoy the relationships. A lot of times as a head coach, you don’t really have that group that you call your own.” Last season, Hardin did have to step with the offensive line.
“I really had a ball again, because I had my group,” Hardin said. “But I could see myself (returning), I really do.”
Time off is certainly warranted.
“I worked with a coach one times and I remember him telling me on time, ‘if I can make it to 2000, I’ll have coached in five decades,’” Hardin said. “You know, I’ve made five decades. I thought that was impressive when he said that.
“There’s not a whole lot of people that can say that. I’ve been a part of some good programs with a lot of wonderful kids and great coaches. It feels like, honestly, I started last week. Bam! It was quick.
“I’m sure it’ll hit me sometime later, but right now, we’re going to go with it.”