Campbell becomes the nation's fourth-ranked football coach
By T.J. CARANI

Campbell Robertson helps his grandfather, Larry Campbell, celebrate becoming the fourth winningest high school football coach in the nation.

Larry Campbell, head coach of the Lincoln County Red Devils, became the fourth-ranked high school football coach of all time (nationally) after the Red Devils won against the Washington-Wilkes Tigers last week. It was the 406th win of his career.

The 32-0 rout was the result of Campbell's coaching strategy, as well as the team's drive to be successful on the field. His success has been compared to that of "Bear" Bryant, Tom Landry, and Vince Lombardi in recent years. However, Coach Campbell definitely has his own approach to coaching that is made of completely different ingredients than any other coach Lincoln County has seen.

Coach Campbell is humble about his impressive record, however. In past interviews, Campbell has said "I give all the credit to the assistant coaches," and "I don't hire anybody not smarter than me. If they're not smarter than I am, I don't need them." He is extremely humble about being the only coach in Georgia to win 400 games in 30 seasons. The Georgia Sports Hall of Fame inductee came to coach for Lincoln County in 1972 and has been in Lincoln County ever since. He has won 11 state titles and has had 27 region marches with perfect records.

Coach Campbell has been on board for 11 state titles in his time coaching for Lincoln County, beginning on December 10, 1976, against Buford with W. A. Norman scoring the game's only touchdown. 1977 saw another state title, this time against Jefferson. The march carried on after Lincoln County became a Class A school. Now, in 2007, Coach Campbell is a living legend.

Coach Campbell has always seen the team as a unit, and has always put the team first. Three generations of Lincoln County Red Devils have played for Coach Campbell since he began coaching in Lincoln County in 1972. 35 years later, two of the Red Devils Coach Campbell has trained have gone on to start in NFLSuper bowl games. Garrison Hearst played for the Phoenix Cardinals for three years, the Cincinnati Bengals for one year, and then transferred to the San Francisco 49ers from 1997 to 2003, then he transferred to the Denver Broncos for his final season.

In an interview following Campbell's 347th win, Hearst said "he'll always be my coach."

Barney Bussey also went on to start in a Super Bowl. He played ten seasons in the NFLfor the Cincinnati Bengals and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. Bussey was an All-American defensive back as well as being an all-state team member in 1979. Also following Campbell's 347th win, Bussey commented, saying "Coach Campbell has some horses come through here, but most of them got where they are because he recognized their talent and knew where and how to use them."

When asked about last week's rout of the Washington-Wilkes Tigers, Coach Campbell said "we didn't play well…but this week's open date afforded us the opportunity to work out the mistakes. Anytime we win against Washington-Wilkes it's a big win. We're looking forward to next week's game against Aquinas." The game is at home this week beginning at 7:30 p.m. Friday night.