An Exmark 60-inch mulching mower was delivered to Northwood High School Friday afternoon and football coach and athletic director Jim Gatlin hopes it’s the last one he has to deal with.
Gatlin has spent 35 years roaming the sidelines at Bossier, Parkway, Cope Middle School and Northwood, but the 2017 football season was his last. He’ll hang up his gravely coaching voice and the starter key for the new lawnmower at the end of the current school year. There are no more blades of grass in his immediate future.
Northwood principal Shannon Wall said replacing the veteran coach will be difficult because of the legacy he leaves behind.
The 2013 Times All-City Coach of the Year, Gatlin began his coaching career at Bossier High, where he spent 18 years as an assistant. As defensive coordinator for part of that tenure, he coached up former LSU great Tony Moss for four seasons.
Finally landing a head coaching position at Parkway, Gatlin turned around a program that was the laughing stock of Louisiana high school football for a couple of years.
When he decided to step away from the program with Kolby Copeland and Brandon Harris coming in as quarterbacks, Gatlin knew the program was in good shape. He also had 28 years in the Louisiana educational system. He figured he’d do two or three more years, then retire.
After a season at Cope, he received a call from Jerry Burton at Northwood, who had coached Gatlin at Bossier High.
Gatlin has spent the past eight years (7 football seasons) as a Falcon, compiling a 44-34 mark with two district championships and five playoff appearances. His 2017 team has a good contingent returning off a team that advanced to the LHSAA Class 4A state quarterfinals.
Being successful as a head coach is all about hiring the right staff, which Gatlin had a difficult time with initially at Parkway.
Gatlin hasn’t yet decided what the next chapter in his life will entail. He wants to continue working but isn’t sure if it’ll be in education, coaching or selling someting. Right now, he just wants to mellow a bit. He’ll also miss mowing grass to some degree, although he doesn’t plan on volunteering to cut the Northwood football field.
Wall said Gatlin’s departure will leave a hole in his day. When the principal arrives daily at the school around 6:45 a.m., the old ball coach was usually already there.
Northwood girls basketball coach Patrick Lindsey: "Jim is a great coach but an even better man. I am honored and privileged to have had the opportunity to work with him and I owe him a great deal for having the faith to reach out to me and offering me the head girls basketball job here at Northwood. He will truly be missed, but NEVER forgotten."
Terressa Jernigan: "Hate to hear this! Good luck with whatever your future holds Coach!"
Nico Van Thyn: "And I remember when the young Jim Gatlin (and young Mitch Downey) began their coaching careers with the Bossier Bearkats."