Published: June 29, 2009 11:12 am      

Garmon heading home

By Les Dixon / Sports Editor

After spending 17 years with the Corbin Redhound baseball program, Jeff Garmon is going home.

Garmon informed Corbin High School officials this past weekend he is stepping down as the Redhound baseball coach and will return to Glasgow High School to teach.

“Corbin is a special place,” Garmon said. “I compare it to Notre Dame. It has a lot of tradition and pride and even though I didn’t grow up here, I feel like I’ll always be a Redhound.

“I’ve enjoyed my time here,” he added. “It was a pleasure working here. Corbin is just a special place and I’m really going to miss everyone here. I enjoyed being an assistant coach under Randall Sawyers and I enjoyed my time as a middle school basketball coach and an assistant football coach. Everyone in Corbin has been very good to me.”

Garmon pointed out the time was right for his move to Glasgow.

“I’m not a spring chicken anymore,” he laughed. “I’m at a point in my life where I want to go back home and spend time with my family. I’ve got my nieces, nephews, brothers, sisters, my mom and dad there.

“I’m fortunate that I’m getting a chance to go back home,” Garmon added. “I played varsity baseball and football at Glasgow. I’ve done everything I wanted to do here at Corbin, and very few people look forward to going to work each day, but I did. I loved it here at Corbin, and it was a tough decision, but at the same time, it was the right thing for me to do.”

Along with his teaching position, Garmon said that he will apply for the baseball team’s assistant coach opening at Glasgow.

“If everything works out, maybe I’ll be able to help them as an assistant baseball coach,” he said. “I will be applying for that and down the road, I might try to help out the football program, but that will be later because their staff is full for this upcoming year.”

Garmon came to the Corbin baseball program in 1992 and served as an assistant coach under Randall Sawyers for 10 years before taking over the reigns in July 2002.

Garmon knew following Sawyers wasn’t going to be an easy task. Sawyers compiled a 473-215 record during his 18 years as the Redhound baseball coach. He was a part of Sawyers’ staff that guided Corbin to a to a state final appearance in 1994, as the Redhounds dropped a heartbreaking 10-8 loss to Pleasure Ridge Park.

Garmon finished his career as head coach at Corbin with a 150-86 record, which included three 50th District titles, one 13th Region championship, one Semi-State 7 crown and an appearance in the state quarterfinals in 2005.

“I’ll always remember what we accomplished in 1994 and 2005,” Garmon said. “They’re a lot of memories that I can take back with me to Glasgow. I just enjoyed every minute here. Randall built a great tradition here and I was fortunate enough to wait my turn and help keep that tradition going.

“If you know me, it wasn’t just about coaching,” he added. “I enjoyed the people, the kids and everyone else that is associated with Corbin. Corbin is just a special place. I’ll always keep up with the Redhounds and like I said, I’ll always be a Redhound.”