Livingston Academy football head coach and athletic director Bruce Lamb announced his resignation on Friday.
Lamb, who was head coach at LA for 13 years and an assistant since 2002, said he felt like it was time to step down and allow someone new to take the reins in Livingston.
“It’s been on my mind for a while,” said Lamb. “I didn’t want to be one of those guys who sticks around too long. I just think it’s time for some new blood to come in. I love these kids and I’m going to miss going up and down Tom Davis Memorial Stadium watching those young men give everything they’ve got for Livingston… but I just thought it was time.”
Lamb won 88 games in his tenure at head coach, including two trips to the quarterfinal round of the postseason and an undefeated regular season in 2019. He was an assistant for the 2005 team that won a state championship.
Lamb said he will always appreciate how the community in Livingston embraced him.
“I’m originally from Cookeville,” said Lamb. “I came (to Livingston) in my first three years of teaching in 1993. I was there for three years and left and came back because it felt like home. The people here have treated my family great. They’ve made us feel like we are a part of Hogeye football. I can’t say enough about the support. I wouldn’t trade it for anything.”
Lamb also thanked the assistants and his wife for the support he’s had over the years.
“I have had great guys that I’ve worked with,” said Lamb. “You’re only as good as the people who are around you, and I’ve been so lucky to have those guys with me. The biggest (supporter) was my wife. She has been the best wife a football coach could ever ask for. She’s been my rock.”
He said the highlight of his coaching career at LA was entering the stadium at MTSU for the state championship game in 2005.
“Winning the state championship was just incredible,” said Lamb. “The biggest moment I think I ever had in coaching was bringing the linemen down the tunnel in MTSU’s stadium… and we walk out of that tunnel and it was like the entire town of Livingston was up in the stands. That’s when it hit you ‘we’ve done it, we’ve made it’. It was just an incredible feeling.”
Lamb’s teams became known for their toughness and physicality during his tenure. While they found success on the field, Lamb said he hopes he is remembered for loving his players.
“I love those guys, and I hope they realize that,” said Lamb. “Even when they graduate and go on, you still think about those kids. I hope they know that I love them and I gave everything I could to them and I know they did to me. I appreciate that.”
Lamb said he will make a decision on what he will do in the future in the coming weeks and months.