JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – Orange Park has found its new head football coach.
The Raiders hired Marcus Wimberly on Monday afternoon to help try and bring the program back to prominence. Orange Park has had just two seasons above .500 in the last 10 years, 2013 and ‘18.
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The Raiders last qualified for the playoffs in 2010, although did reach the postseason in 2020 when there was no qualifying criteria due to the pandemic.
The biggest remaining jobs in the area are Brunswick, Ga. (Sean Pender left for North Hall High in Gainesville) and Ribault (Marlon White resigned). New St. Johns County program Beachside is also poised to hire its first coach in the coming weeks.
Wimberly played at the University of Miami and became a fifth-round pick of the Falcons in the 1997 NFL draft.
He has been a head coach for 15 seasons, the final four at Cordova (Tenn.). Wimberly went 12-20 in the Wolves’ three seasons on the field. Cordova’s 2020 season was wiped out by the pandemic.
“While we had a very talented pool of applicants for the position, we were looking for exceptional experience to turn the program around and create champions in the classroom and on the gridiron and Coach Wimberly has a proven record of doing just that,” said Orange Park athletic director Destiny Brightman.
His greatest success came in 12 seasons at Memphis East where Wimberly went 81-57 and reached the playoffs nine times. Wimberly led Memphis East to a 13-2 mark in 2016, highlighted by a 27-3 win over Knoxville Central in the Class 4A state championship.
Wimberly replaces Tom MacPherson, who spent six seasons with the Raiders.