How Alabama native Earl Etheridge became a game changer with impactful career in Savannah sports – Savannah Morning News

A native of Alabama, Earl Etheridge came to Savannah in 1963 and has been entrenched in the high school sports scene in the Hostess City and Georgia ever since.
Now 87 years old, Etheridge just recently stepped down from his day-to-day duties as an athletic administrator with the city’s Athletic Department, where he worked for nearly three decades in his second career after working as a coach and teacher in the Savannah Chatham County Public School system. He had coaching and teaching stints at Savannah High, Windsor Forest and Beach before stepping away to work for the City. He has also worked with the Georgia High School Association since 1967.
A member of multiple Hall of Fames, including the Greater Savannah Athletic HOF, where he has also served as the organization’s president, Etheridge and his wife of 61 years, Becky, still live near Lake Mayer and have two sons and two grandsons.
Etheridge will pick up another honor for his impact on the local sports scene as the recipient of the Lifetime Achievement Award at the Coastal Empire Sports Awards show, presented by Georgia Ports, on May 27th at the Johnny Mercer Theater. 
He recently took some time to talk about his life and career and why sports has been the perfect venue for his legendary work ethic.
A standout baseball and football player, as a running back and defensive back, at Escambia County High in Alabama, he started his college career at Auburn playing football before moving on to Southern Mississippi where he played baseball and earned his degree.
He and Becky came to Savannah in 1963 and he started at Savannah High as a baseball coach, assistant football coach and teacher, with classes that included typing.
“I remember those classes where we had the old Corona typewriters and the big old football players would get their fingers caught between the keys,” Etheridge said with a laugh. “But when Becky and I came to Savannah we had no idea about the city. But the people were so nice, we thought we ought to stay here,”
After four years at Savannah High, Etheridge moved on to Windsor Forest, which opened its doors in 1967. He did it all for the Knights serving as the schools football coach from 1968 through 1983, while also coaching the baseball teams and tripling up as the school’s athletic director.
“The kids at Windsor Forest gave their all — whether they were big or small or fast or slow, they gave everything they had an put in that effort,” said Etheridge, who posted a 73-84-2 record in 16 seasons leading the Knights. “I was a player’s coach. I tried to have a different approach with each player. They have different personalities, just like coaches do. I was hard on some and easier on others. I remember we had two players get into a fight at practice one day, so I made them walk around the track holding hands for the rest of the practice. I think that made an impact on them. They were good friends and never did that again.”
John Sanders is a Windsor Forest graduate from the class of 1980. He was a standout golfer who didn’t play on Etheridge’s teams, but said everyone knew the man.
“He was loved and feared at the same time,” Sanders said. “But Earl did so much for the school and for sports in the Savannah community. He had a big impact on his players’ lives and then when he started working with the GHSA he always looked out for the Savannah schools. He is respected by everyone in Savannah and throughout the state.”
Etheridge started working with the GHSA in 1967 and was the Region Secretary for Savannah area schools until 2021. He has worked behind the scenes helping to organize state playoff events in football, baseball, basketball and softball and also served on reclassification committees helping to shape the competitive environment for his school sports throughout the state.
Mitchell “Mouse” Minick has known Etheridge since he was a kid growing up in Savannah as Etheridge was close friends with his late father, Guy, another man who had a big impact in the Savannah sports community. Mouse Minick has been working with the GHSA and traveling with Etheridge to events since the late 1990s.
“The best way to describe Earl for me is that he’s a combination between a father figure and a boss,” Minick said. “When we drive to events, he always sits in the last seat that is the farthest away from the driver. And we’ll take his two cell phones during the ride. He will get calls from everyone — including coaches like Kirby Smart and Nick Saban, who are looking to get sideline passes to see prospects playing in state championship games.”
Minick said Etheridge is a hard working, personable man who has had a big impact on the lives of those he has worked with including some of Savannah’s best coaches like the late Terry Webb, James “Buddy” Hardy and Gary Shephard.
He said Etheridge came from the “Old School” style of coaching, and some of his Windsor Forest players would have tobacco stains on the front of their helmets after receiving a tongue lashing from their no-nonsense coach. He said that tough personality belies a hidden talent of Etheridge, who plays the piano very well.
“Earl is a hard worker and such a great family man,” Minick said. “And he’s in so many Halls of Fame I’m not sure he’s sure about which ones he is in. We’ll be at a game and a police officer will come up to say hello and say he was a defensive tackle who played for Earl back in the day at Windsor Forest, and then every college coach will come by to talk with him. He knows everyone and has done so much for sports in Savannah and in Georgia.”
Etheridge said he can’t explain why only recently retired and continues helping with the GHSA.
“I can’t answer that,” he said. “I guess it’s because I’ve always enjoyed what I’m doing and feel like I have something to offer. I think sports are important because they teach kids to compete and be successful in other areas of life. Sometimes you win, and sometimes you lose, but you always have to try to play your best.”
Dennis Knight covers sports for the Savannah Morning News. Contact him at Dknight@savannahnow.com. Twitter: @DennisKnightSMN

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