Coach Russ Russell is in his 25th year in education and his 12th year as a teacher and coach for the Bucs. This year, he will teach English 3 and English 4 as part of our Special Education Department. Since joining Allatoona in 2014, Russell has enjoyed coaching every season in Baseball, three seasons in Softball and Volleyball, and two seasons with our Flag Football program. He has been a staff member as a Buccaneer for one State Championship, two Runner-Up finishes, three Final Fours, and numerous state playoff appearances and Region Championships.

Coach Russell’s professional career started as a graduate intern with the New York Yankees in 1996. He was part of the staff that opened Legends Field (now Steinbrenner Field) in Tampa, serving as the Spring Training home, and was responsible for both Joe DiMaggio and Phil Rizzuto on their honored days. Later that year, he moved to Atlanta to work on basketball for the Centennial Olympic Games. In 1997, Coach Russell was named Pitching Coach at Oglethorpe University in Atlanta, where he stayed for two seasons under Coach Bill Popp. He left Oglethorpe in 1998 to serve as the Recreation Ministry Director for two years at Johns Creek United Methodist Church in Duluth, GA. His teaching career began in the fall of 2000 when Coach took the roles of Athletic Director and Physical Education Teacher at Pinecrest Academy in Cumming, GA.

As the first Athletic Director at Pinecrest, Coach Russell led the development of eight sports, helped transition the school into competitive high school athletics, and served as the inaugural Head Coach in Baseball, Basketball, and Football. Coach Russell left Pinecrest in summer 2004 to take on a new role as Athletic Director at Mt. Paran Christian School. In addition to his AD responsibilities, he spent four seasons as Head Baseball Coach and two seasons each as Head Boys’ Basketball Coach and Head Softball Coach. He guided five teams to the state playoffs, including finishing as the State Runner-Up in Baseball (2005). Coach Russell was named the 2005 Atlanta Journal-Constitution-Cobb County Baseball Coach of the Year and received the Region Athletic Director of the Year award twice (2007 & 2008). In Softball, he led the Eagles to their first two state playoff appearances in school history (2006 & 2007). In 2008, he completed the requirements for Certified Master Athletic Administrator (CMAA) by the NFHS/NIAAA.

Leaving the private world for public school, Coach Russell arrived at McEachern in 2009, where he began working in Special Education. At McEachern, he coached five baseball and softball seasons and served as the Head Softball Coach for the last three years. Coach helped the 2012 Baseball Indians reach the State Playoffs after a five-year drought, and the 2013 team won a Region Championship and achieved the #1 AAAAAA state ranking (regular season). Several of Coach Russell’s former Baseball & Softball Indians went on to compete at the collegiate level, with four baseball players in the minor leagues and two MLB players. In 2013, Coach Russell was named an Atlanta Falcons/Symetra Hero in the Classroom for his work as a Special Education Teacher and was recognized prior to the Falcons/Patriots game in the Georgia Dome.

Coach is married to the former Genie Parker and is proud to have both of his children graduate from Allatoona. Rett ‘18 (Football) played six years in college, earning an Economics Degree from Wofford College in ’22 and his MBA from The Citadel in ’23. As a Buc, Rett was part of our 2015 State Champion Football Team and our 2018 State Runner-Up Baseball Team. Chamblee (Drake) ’20 recently graduated from Georgia Southern University with a degree in Business Management after completing her four-year volleyball career as an outside hitter. As a Buc, Chamblee was part of our 2019 State Champion Volleyball Team and our 2018 State Runner-Up team, earning multiple awards, including Georgia AAAAAA Player of the Year, MDJ Player of the Year, and two-time Region Player of the Year.

Coach Russell is a native of Savannah, graduating from Benedictine Military High School in 1989. He was a pitcher at Georgia Southern University under Coach Jack Stallings. During his freshman season, the Eagles won the Midwest Regional Championship, defeating UCLA, Wichita State, and South Alabama, and advanced to the 1990 College World Series in Omaha. Coach Russell earned both his Bachelor’s degree in ’94 and Master’s degree in ’96 from GSU. He completed a Specialist degree from Lincoln Memorial University in ’12 and recently finished his Doctoral studies in Educational Leadership through the American College of Education in ’25.