Hawks

Oakland’s Mack Hawks made an official decision back in February, and he officially called it a career on Friday.

The longtime Patriot baseball coach ended a 37-year run when he announced his retirement.

Hawks, 66, who was named Oakland’s coach in 1989, put together an incredible career over his 37 seasons. He had a 760-446 record, and his Patriots won back-to-back Class AAA state championships in 1999 and 2000.

“It’s going to be different not coaching,” said Hawks, who is also retiring from teaching. “I’ve been coaching something (including an assistant football coach) for 44 years. It’s going to be a big difference retiring from coaching and teaching.”

Hawks said he has been considering retiring for a few years but definitively made the decision in February.

“I’ve thought about it the last few years,” he said. “I guess I knew going into this year I was going to retire. In February in a meeting with Mr. (Principal John) Marshall, I told him this would be my last season. I decided this would be it win or lose.”

Hawks said he will definitely miss coaching but looks forward to his retirement.

“I think I’m going to miss the coaching part,” he said. “As a head coach, the coaching part is a small percentage of what you do. The coaching is the fun part of what you do. I’ll miss that, relationships with coaches and talking the game is a fun part, and the players you coach.

“My youngest son coaches pro ball and I’d like to see him coach. My oldest son is a lawyer in Birmingham. I’ve got two grandkids I can spend more time with. And then my wife (Sharron). She has been one of my main assets. She’s been there with the kids when I couldn’t and she sacrificed so much. If it wasn’t for her, we wouldn’t have the program we’ve had, and I probably wouldn’t have been able to coach. She’s as invested as I am. I’ve been very blessed.”

Hawks’ 2000 team finished ranked sixth nationally by Baseball America and seventh by USA Today after posting an impressive 40-3 record.

Oakland made seven TSSAA state tournament appearances under Hawks, 13 sectional berths, seven region titles and nine district championships.

Hawks was inducted into the Tennessee Baseball Coaches Association Hall of Fame in 2014, and his 37 years as the Patriots’ head coach is a school record for any coach.