S

Former Franklin County High football coach Harold “Red” Roberts was recently named to the Ohio Valley Conference’s 75^th Anniversary Team for football in recognition of his accomplishments as a college player.

While Roberts gained his local notoriety as the head coach of the FCHS Rebels for 21 years from 1979 to 1999, he was previously regarded as one of the best receivers in the OVC during his playing days at Austin Peay State University from 1967 to 1970.

Roberts caught 232 passes for 2,999 yards and 31 touchdowns during his four years at Austin Peay and was named to the all-OVC team in all four seasons. Roberts capped off his time with the APSU Governors by being named a Little All-American by the Associated Press during his 1970 senior campaign.

Roberts was inducted into the APSU Athletics Hall of Fame in 1979 and later had his number retired by his alma mater in 1991 alongside fellow Governors great John Ogles. Roberts and Ogles remain the only football players to have their numbers retired by Austin Peay.

Roberts is one of 11 Austin Peay alumni to be named to the football portion of the 75^th Anniversary Team and one of 18 wide receivers to be honored with the accolade.

Prior to his college successes, Roberts was born and raised in Brunswick, Georgia, and attended high school at Glynn County High where he was a standout football player. His team won the 1964 state championship in Georgia.

After graduating from APSU, Roberts became an assistant coach for a year and then became the head coach at Todd County High School in Elkton, Kentucky, where his record was 5-5.

After taking time off to join the Army National Guard, completing basic training at Fort Knox, Kentucky, and returning to school to complete his master’s degree, Roberts was next hired at Moore County High School, where he coached from 1974 to 1978 with an overall record of 40-14.

While at Moore County, he was involved in several playoff and bowl appearances and was selected as an assistant for the Tennessee All-Star Football teams.

In 1979, he took over at FCHS and led the Rebels to multiple bowl games and playoff appearances until retiring from coaching in 1999. Roberts ended his tenure at FCHS with an overall record of 149-74.

In addition to being inducted into the APSU Athletics Hall of Fame, Roberts has also been enshrined in the Glynn County Sports Hall of Fame, the Franklin County High School Football Hall of Fame and the Tennessee Football Coaches Association Hall of Fame.

Parallel to his coaching career, Roberts was also a Tennessee Army national guardsman, serving in armor, artillery and Military Academy positions, rising from private to the rank of colonel.

He received his commission from the Officer Candidate School in Fort Benning, Georgia.

He was selected as a colonel to lead his unit in their deployment to Afghanistan, where he was an army liaison to the civilian government and U.S. ambassador during the conflict in Kabul, Afghanistan, as part of Operation Enduring Freedom.

Roberts met and married his wife, Stephanie, while at APSU, and they have two children and several grandchildren. 

Stephanie was also an employee of the Franklin County School System where she served as a guidance counselor before moving on to a similar position at Independence High School following Red’s retirement.