Oak Ridge baseball coach Mark Garrison retires to move to administration

The timing is right for Mark Garrison. The Oak Ridge baseball coach is retiring from coaching to take a new position in administration.

He will be the dean of students at Robertsville Middle School. Garrison has a background in administration, spending 12 years as the assistant principal at Woodlands Elementary School.

Garrison spent 25 years in coaching, including the last five as Oak Ridge's head baseball coach and four as golf coach from 1997-2001, and goes out on a high note. The Wildcats had a winning record for the first time since 2013, finishing at 17-13 after losing in the District 3-AAA tournament.

"It played out incredibly," Garrison said. "To finish (17-13) with a great season. If you're going to go out, I couldn't have written it better."

Garrison specified that he did not script this timing. The opportunity to move into administration just came up after the season ended.

He also was inducted into the East Tennessee Baseball Coaches Association Hall of Fame this year, which contributes to the high note.

"It's probably for my longevity more than anything else," Garrison said. "My record isn't anything special, but I've been around for a long time."

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Garrison, whose record as a head coach was 62-96, has had other opportunities to return to administration, but the timing was never right. He wanted to commit more than just a couple of years as head coach before considering anything else.

Asked about moments or highlights that stood out from his 25 years of coaching, Garrison couldn't pick.

"The relationships that I've developed, mainly with the young men but sometimes their families, is the biggest thing," he said. "The number of young men who come back to share what they're doing, to me, that was the best part."