Bobby Ramsay, 2018 FHSAA champion coach, hired to start new Impact Christian football team

Three-and-a-half years after leading a near-worst-to-first turnaround to remember, Bobby Ramsay is ready for a new challenge.

The former state champion is taking over as the inaugural head coach of 11-man football at Impact Christian, a hiring that became official Friday.

"It kind of felt like, when I got to know more about the details and know more about the plans in place, I thought, 'I could see myself here,'" Ramsay said.

Ramsay holds a career record of 91-62 in 14 seasons as a head coach, nine at Yulee (2008-2016) and five at Mandarin (2017-2021), bringing a big-time resume to a program building from the ground up.

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In 2018, Ramsay helped the Mustangs rally from 2-8 in the 2017 season to the Florida High School Athletic Association championship in Class 8A, stunning Miami Columbus 37-35 at Camping World Stadium in Orlando. His effort there earned the Florida Dairy Farmers Coach of the Year award.

He also coached a 2012 state semifinal team at Yulee, riding the churning legs and flattening stiff-arms of national record-breaker, Heisman Trophy winner and NFL rushing king Derrick Henry.

He departed the Mandarin job in November, after a school decision that he said at the time left him "surprised but not shocked." Mandarin subsequently promoted offensive coordinator Toby Bullock to the head coaching position.

Ramsay now moves from one of the largest schools in Northeast Florida football to one of the smallest. Impact Christian, based in Arlington, competed last year at the 6-man level within the Florida Christian Association of Private and Parochial Schools (FCAPPS), finishing with a 5-4 record.

Ramsay said the strong support of the administration and the school's long-term aspirations made the Impact job attractive.

"It's not very often the opportunity to grow a program in the way that you'd like to grow it becomes available," he said.

For Impact, Ramsay's hiring in some ways parallels the blueprint used by the school's boys basketball program during its mid-2010s launch. On that occasion, the Lions also hired a coach with a successful track record in Duval County (White's Ben Jones) and proceeded to qualify for the state final four three times in five years.

"The goal is eventually to compete on the state level," Ramsay said. "The basketball program has had a lot of success, and our goal in football is to do the same thing."

The FHSAA classifies Impact Christian as an independent in 2022, a category that also includes Bishop Snyder, Cedar Creek Christian, Eagle's View, Global Outreach Charter Academy, Harvest Community and the Gateway Conference pair of Paxon and Stanton.

Ramsay is the second experienced Gateway Conference coach to take over at a Jacksonvlile private school in as many months. Former Westside coach Rodney DuBose, who led the Wolverines for nine years going back to their days as the Forrest Rebels, is scheduled to lead North Florida Educational Institute in 2022.

Ramsay said he's still in the process of assembling a coaching staff and finalizing the 2022 schedule ahead of Monday's opening to spring practice. He said the Lions have scheduled a spring game against TDH Academy.

While he acknowledges his work at Impact Christian will be a "gradual build," he's optimistic for the long-term prospects.

"The support is there. The want-to is there," he said. "We just have to keep moving forward... it's got a chance to be something that can be really special."

Clayton Freeman covers high school sports and more for the Florida Times-Union. Follow him on Twitter at @CFreemanJAX.

This article originally appeared on Florida Times-Union: Impact Christian football hires Bobby Ramsay as head coach