Russellville looks to add to athletic success with addition of new coaches
A group of new coaches have been added by Russellville City Schools to the already impressive roster of leaders that the Golden Tigers have for the 2023-24 season.
RCS recently announced the hiring of Rick Lawson as the new varsity softball head coach at Russellville High School. Lawson comes to RHS from Meridian Community College in Mississippi. He was an assistant at the junior college level for five years and was a head coach for five more in the high school ranks of the Magnolia State.
Lawson is a 1985 graduate of Biggersville (Miss.) High School, and he coached there as an assistant from 2003-2006. He was a Division 1-1A coach of the year twice at his alma mater during his run as head coach from 2012-2016. He has also been an assistant at Tishomingo County High and Itawamba Community College.
Russellville’s baseball program has added to the coaching staff with the return of two familiar alums. Cody Greenhill was a key member of the first three RHS baseball state championship teams before becoming a standout player at Auburn University. After pitching in the Washington Nationals’ organization, Greenhill has now returned to Russellville as an assistant baseball coach.
Cody graduated from RHS in 2017 and was a 2020-2021 SEC Academic Honor Roll member at AU. Omar Tompkins has also returned to Russellville as a baseball assistant coach. Tompkins graduated from RHS in 2018 and was a state champion in 2017 and runner-up his senior year before playing at Crown College in Minnesota in 2018. He later became a three-time SIAC All-Conference team member at Lane College in Tenn. where he was team captain in 2022.
Tompkins served as varsity pitching coach at Florence High School last season.
The Russellville boys’ soccer program also has a history of success and 2007 RHS graduate Gabriel Ramirez has returned to the school as a defensive assistant for the varsity team and will be the head boys’ junior varsity coach. Ramirez has coaching experience earned at Tharptown High School and at the men’s league level.
