Former NFL, UGA football player leaves local school for another coaching job in Columbus

Mark Rice
·2 min read

A former Muscogee County high school football standout who played at the University of Georgia and in the NFL has landed a coaching job back in Columbus.

Bruce Figgins, who graduated from Shaw High School in 2007, is now an assistant high school football coach at St. Anne-Pacelli Catholic School.

Figgins played tight end and fullback for UGA (2007-11). He signed as an undrafted free agent with the Baltimore Ravens in 2012, when he played on their practice squad.

Bruce Figgins
Bruce Figgins

After playing fullback for the New Orleans Voodoo of the Arena Football League in 2013, Figgins became a coach. His career includes the following assistant coaching stints:

  • 2013-14, defensive coordinator, Riverdale High School, Jefferson, Louisiana

  • 2015-16 tight ends, then defensive line, Geneva College, Beaver Falls, Pennsylvania

  • 2018, offensive line, East Hall High School, Gainesville, Georgia.

  • 2019-2021, offensive line, strength & conditioning, Gainesville (Ga.) High School.

  • 2022, tight ends, Cherokee Bluff High School, Flowery Branch, Georgia.

In addition to his high school duties at St. Anne-Pacelli, Figgins will coach the middle school team.

“This is a wonderful opportunity for me to share my time and talents with these young students who aspire to do great things,” he said in the school’s news release Monday.

St. Anne-Pacelli athletics director Corry Black said Figgins’ experience “will be a huge benefit to our students. It is a blessing to have him join our Viking family.”

Before he joined St. Anne-Pacelli, Figgins was hired in January as Harris County High School’s offensive line coach. Asked why he left, Figgins told the Ledger-Enquirer in an email Monday, “Pacelli offered me a wonderful opportunity to work with students in the classroom (as a teacher’s aide in the middle school) and on the field as a coach. I also was drawn to Pacelli because of the faith-based education it provides its students. Today is my first day, and it already feels like a family.”