BBBTV12 Serving Anderson, Roane, and Morgan Counties
(Oak Ridge Schools Press Release)
Oak Ridge High School has named Derek Rang as its new head football coach. Coach Rang’s Dresden High School Lions won the 2016 State Championship. Coach Rang has an overall head coaching record of 86 – 29 at Powell, Dresden, Gatlinburg-Pittman, and Lewis County High Schools. Each school has advanced to the TSSAA Quarterfinals or beyond, as Rang has won 18 postseason games as a head coach. He has been the recipient of numerous coaching awards, including being a three-time Region Coach of the Year, North Knox Coach of the Year, and USA Today State Coach of the Year, and he has been a finalist for Tennessee Titans coach of the year. Coach Rang has coached a Mr. Football Winner, two Mr. Football Semifinalists, and 29 All State players. Rang was a three-time state champion at Maryville High School, where he played for the legendary coach George Quarles. He teaches math and has taught Algebra I, Geometry and SAILS Statistics.
(End Press Release)
Rang Coached last season at Lewis County High School (2A) and went 11-2 and lost in the state quarterfinals.
Coach Joe Gaddis told Jesse Smithey of 5starpreps.com that they had well over 50 applicants from mostly instate, but some were out of state. He said it’s been an exhaustive search.
Coach Rang was 31-17 at Gatlinburg-Pittman before stepping down in 2021 to become an assistant coach with a friend in Mississippi. In March 2022 he joined Lewis County as the head coach.
Rang was 12-2 in his one season at Powell High School before leaving to work on his master’s degree at Carson Newman College, becoming an offensive assistant there.
Rang coached at Dresden High School where he led them to the 2016 State Championship. He was 32-8 while at Dresden.
Rang was born in Illinois before moving to Maryville as a kid.
