Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: WEDNESDAY, February 5, 1992 TAG: 9202050064
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: C4 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: BOB TEITLEBAUM SPORTSWRITER
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
ROCKBRIDGE HIRES 2 COACHES
The man who rebuilt the football program at Natural Bridge High School will take on the task of challenging Salem's dominance in the Blue Ridge District.Jamie Talbott was approved by the Rockbridge County school board as the coach of the new Rockbridge County High School, which opens next year. The school will replace Lexington, Rockbridge and Natural Bridge, all of which will close after this year.
Talbott, 28, had been the coach at Natural Bridge for three years. He was an assistant at Rockbridge before that.
Natural Bridge had only 17 players on the team the year before Talbott arrived and had been in the basement of the Group A Pioneer District.
Under Talbott, the Rockets were 17-14. His past two teams won seven games each year and, in 1990, the Rockets made the Group A Division 1 playoffs for the first time in 20 years.
This year, Natural Bridge just missed the playoffs, but had 26 or 27 players most of the year for what was one of the smaller high schools in Virginia.
John Reynolds, the principal of the new Rockbridge High School, said all interviews were with candidates from within the school system.
"We feel like Jamie has proven himself in a situation that required a solid effort. I feel like he's young and has a chance to grow with this program. He knows the kids of this county," Reynolds said.
Talbott, who played at Natural Bridge, gave the school some days of glory as it's football history came to an end. Now, he will be at the helm as Rockbridge County plots its football future.
Prominent in that future will be the Salem Spartans, a team that has lost once in the Blue Ridge District since joining the league after the 1987 season.
"It's going to be a challenge," Talbott said. "I know the Blue Ridge is a very competitive district. I think it's going to be a big adjustment for the three county schools to combine and compete.
"But I don't think it'll be too much of a problem to bring the kids together."
Reynolds also announced that Sherry Wilhelm, who has been at Natural Bridge for six years, will be the girls' basketball coach at Rockbridge. In three years as a varsity head coach, Wilhelm's teams have gone 29-33.
Reynolds said he hoped to appoint the new boys' basketball coach by next month, and complete the rest of the coaching staff soon after that.
Memo: shorter version ran in the Metro edition.