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Riverdale names field house after former Principal Watson




Former Riverdale Principal Hulon Watson speaks after the Warriors' new field house was named in his honor Friday evening. FRANK CAPERTON

Former Riverdale Principal Hulon Watson speaks after the Warriors’ new field house was named in his honor Friday evening. FRANK CAPERTON

Riverdale High School honored former principal and Rutherford County director of schools Hulon Watson on Friday by naming the new football field house after him.

“(Former Riverdale) coach Gary Rankin gave us the blessing to honor Hulon Watson,” Riverdale football coach Will Kriesky said. “We asked coach Rankin first before we decided to honor him.”

Watson was principal at Riverdale for nearly 20 years. He told the audience about how he was always looking for the next job, but when he came to Riverdale he stopped looking.

He also recalled his saying “home to the greatest student body and faculty in the state of Tennessee” was chuckled at when he first said it.

“I thought that being principal at Riverdale was the best job in the state. I looked forward to coming to work every morning,” Watson said. “One morning I did not say that and John Jones, a student at the time, walked down the hall and Watson asked him, What did I do wrong?'”

Watson is best known for hiring Rankin as football coach in 1990. In Rankin’s first season, the team went 4-6 and didn’t make the playoffs. After that, the Warriors won 10 or more games for 14 straight seasons, including four state titles and five runner-ups.

Riverdale's new indoor field house was named after former Principal Hulon Watson on Friday. FRANK CAPERTON

Riverdale’s new indoor field house was named after former Principal Hulon Watson on Friday. FRANK CAPERTON

“When I interviewed coach Rankin I told him that I wanted to win a championship,” Watson said. “He said ‘we will.’ Rankin is the best I have ever seen. He had great attention to detail and he disciplined his players. In fact, one year I went in to see him after the season and he was making out practice plans for the next fall.”

The locker room also was named the Mitchell Maxwell, the son of Austin and Claire Maxwell, two long-time supporters of the school.

The building is 10,500 square feet with a locker room for the varsity and freshmen football players, coaches offices, showers for both coaches and players, laundry room and a media room where the players can meet and watch film.

There are also plans in the future to honor Rankin, the winningest coach in Tennessee high school football.

“We have plans to honor coach Rankin,” said Richard Gipson, president of the Riverdale Quarterback Booster Club. “We have discussed things but we have not come to a decision. But we are going to honor him.”

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