Mark Kimbro: Central Gwinnett High School

Kimbro was inducted into the Georgia Dugout Club Hall of Fame in 2014.

It’s hard to mention anything about Central Gwinnett and Mark Kimbro’s name not come up. Kimbro was a standout player at the school where he played football and baseball. Following college at Mercer, he returned to lead the baseball program for 22 seasons. He was inducted into the Georgia Dugout Hall of Fame in 2014.

He remained in that capacity until he had to give up coaching baseball when he became the athletic director at Gwinnett County rival Brookwood.

Kimbro graduated from Central in 1980 and is a member of the Central Gwinnett Hall of Fame as well as the Gwinnett County Hall of Fame. He was Central’s head coach for 21 seasons. He may also be the school’s biggest fan.

“I was a big fan of Central Gwinnett from the time I was born,” Kimbro told the Gwinnett Daily Post. “I've missed only 10 Central football games in my life, and my dad has probably missed less than 10. And it wasn't just football, we went to every sporting event. Our whole lives revolved around Central Gwinnett.”

The longtime coach also helped Central Gwinnett head football coach Tally Johnson with the athletic director duties until Brookwood offered him its athletic director post in 2006.

Under Kimbro’s tenure at Brookwood, the Broncos combined to win 17 team state championships in various sports and the school never finished lower than fourth in the Georgia Athletic Directors Association Directors Cup standings while competing in the state’s highest classification.

Kimbro retired on Nov. 30, 2015 with 31 ½ years of service with the Gwinnett County Public School System.

In late 2016, Kimbro came out of retirement and took over as head baseball coach at Loganville Christian Academy. He earned his 300th baseball coaching victory with the Lions in the spring of 2017.

Some information in this article was used from the Gwinnett Daily Post.