Westminster football coach Gerry Romberg announced his retirement Wednesday morning after 33 years on the job, the second-longest tenure among active GHSA coaches.
Romberg led Westminster to 27 playoff berths, seven region titles, three state semifinal berths and the 2015 Class 3A championship. His record, coaching entirely at the Atlanta private school Westminster, was 239-146.
“I actually made the decision before the season started, but I didn’t want it to be a distraction to the team, so we waited until our season ended to make the official announcement,” Romberg said. “I’ve had 42 years of coaching football in college and high school, 33 years as the head coach at Westminster. I wouldn’t want to coach anywhere else, but it’s time for me to spend more time with my family, including my granddaughter.”
His 239 victories rank 31st in GHSA history. Only Marist’s Alan Chadwick, in his 40th season, had more seasons of service as a Georgia coach this year or more victories at a private school. Romberg has the most victories of any coach in Atlanta or Fulton County history.
In 2015, Romberg’s Westminster team became the first to win five playoff games away from home in one postseason. The last one came in the Georgia Dome, nine miles from Westminster’s Buckhead campus. The 38-31 victory over Blessed Trinity was listed as the sixth-best championship game in GHSA history in a 2023 AJC article.
Westminster became the first team to win a state title after trailing by 15 points in the fourth quarter, still a record. Blessed Trinity had beaten the Wildcats 24-10 two months earlier, and Westminster trailed 24-9 to start the period and 31-17 with 6:25 left but scored two touchdowns in regulation and another in overtime to pull it out.
When hired in 1992, Romberg had been Dunwoody’s defensive coordinator for two seasons. Romberg had been a defensive assistant at The Citadel. He also had coached at the U.S. Coast Guard. Romberg attended Marist in high school but finished up at Bishop O’Connell in Arlington, Va.
Romberg’s final team was 5-6. He told his players Wednesday ahead of the announcement. He says he won’t be looking for another job.
“I’ll also be spending a lot of time improving my golf game,” Romberg said. “I am not looking for another opportunity. It’s simply time to move from one chapter of my life to another.”
Westminster announced that it would conduct a national search for a successor.
2024 coaches with the longest tenure at their schools:
40 - Alan Chadwick, Marist
33 - Gerry Romberg, Westminster
26 - Keith Maloof, Norcross
23 - Roger Holmes, Dublin
23 - Chris Kelley, Glascock County
21 - Eric Williams, Maynard Jackson
20 - Pete Wiggins, Callaway
20 - Darren Myles, Carver (Atlanta)
20 - Mike Muschamp, Lovett
19 - Shane Queen, North Cobb
19 - Franklin Pridgen, Wesleyan
18 - Don Norton, Johnson County
16 - Timothy Floyd, Jonesboro
16 - Dean Fabrizio, Lee County
16 - James Teter, Sequoyah
16 - Sheddrick Risper, Westside (Macon)
