John Coen
Coen, John: Roswell High School
Knight was inducted into the Georgia Dugout Club Hall of Fame in 2025.
John Coen was asked by a college faculty member if he had ever considered coaching.
“I told my advisor in college that I had thought about coaching, but then I would have to teach,” Coen joked.
The longtime coach was graduating with a political science degree and Mary Hepburn, his academic advisor at Georgia, wanted to know how he planned to use his degree in social science.
Some five decades later, Coen is glad he listened to his advisor. The Roswell High School coach enjoyed success as the varsity baseball coach as well as serving as an assistant in wrestling and football. Coen’s baseball success at Roswell landed him in the Georgia Dugout Club Hall of Fame.
“I remember Coach McDonald calling me and telling me that,” Coen said. “I thought he was kidding.”
Coen won’t take credit for his success at Roswell, but he played a big role in helping the Hornets become a baseball power. He led the program from 1977 to 1997, guiding the school to a state baseball championship in 1986. He led the program to multiple region titles and also coached football and wrestling as an assistant during his time and also served as the athletic director. After 40 years at Roswell, Coen retired in 2017.
Coen’s love for Roswell athletics led him back to the school after graduating from college.
He said he would have likely worked for the Parks & Recreation Department had he not received recommendations from his coach, Charlie Horne, and athletic director Ray Manus. Coen had played on two of Horne’s state championship baseball teams in 1970 and ’71.
“I had gotten a master’s degree and they told me I was going to coach JV football, wrestling and be the head baseball coach,” Coen said. “I begged them not to make me the head baseball coach at first. I had an assistant named Pete Poulos and I begged him to take the baseball job. He coached me my senior year and he was sort of going to be my assistant until I got some sea legs.”
In 20-plus years, Coen won more than 265 baseball games and competed with some of the best programs in metro Atlanta. His approach, although unorthodox to some, is a reason many of his former players still hold him in high regard.
Coen worked his team hard, but he was a prankster who joked with his players during school and at practices.
“I wanted my players to have fun,” he said. “Winning is a big deal and we wanted to do everything we could to win. But at the end of the day, I didn’t want to sour my players on athletics because we didn’t have fun. High school athletics should be a special time in a kid’s life.”
Coen also groomed countless assistant coaches, notables such as Georgia Dugout Club Hall of Fame coaches Mike Strickland and Mike Power.
“John Coen loves Roswell,” Strickland said. He has spent a majority of his life dedicating it to the youth of Roswell. Coach Coen genuinely cared about every kid in Roswell, he didn’t care about how much money your family made, or your skin color, or how talented you were, he cared about how you could fit in and be a part of Roswell and being a Hornet. He spent a lot of time working to get better and competing. He loved to win and taught that winning was a by-product of your effort, your sacrifice and your talent.
“Personally, Coach Coen gave me tremendous freedom as a young coach to implement new ideas – to see them succeed or fail, take responsibility for them equally, move on and get better.”
Coen joked that he knew when it was time to quit coaching baseball when he had top-notch assistants like Strickland and Alan Dyer. But when he was honored by the Marietta Umpires Association, he wanted to leave on a high note.
“The Marietta Umpires Association gave a plaque annually for sportsmanship and I got it,” Coen said. “I figured when the umpires started liking me, it was time to get the heck out. So I did.”