Coach James “Friday” Richards has been honored by the Marietta Board of Education with the dedication of the Marietta High School Blue Devils Locker Room at the newly renovated Northcutt Stadium “in appreciation of his legacy and for the many lives he impacted through the years.”
Already in the first class of inductees to the Marietta Hall of Fame with his No. 44 jersey retired, Richards now has a cast bronze plaque at the entrance of the locker room.
A 1972 graduate of Marietta High School, where he was a star athlete, Richards played football for the University of Florida, the Washington Redskins and the New York Jets.
After playing two seasons with the National Football League, Richards returned to Marietta High School as the assistant football coach from 1978 to 1994 and the head football coach from 1995 to 2009, retiring in 2010.
His all-time coaching record was 108 wins and 57 losses, including four region titles and four 10-win seasons.
Richards’ leadership led to more than 130 players receiving athletic scholarships to college.
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