Cover Story

The Coach

Harris Rainbow

By Ann Marie Quill; photography by Marcy J. Levinson

Harris Rainbow has made a career into transforming down-on-their-luck teams into winners. The head coach at Worth County High School in Sylvester, Rainbow last year led the Rams to the playoffs for the first time in seven years.

"They hired me to rebuild the team," he says. "They had not had a winning season in six years."

Before he took on the Rams, Rainbow, a Columbus native who grew up in East Cobb, was one of Georgia's youngest head coaches when he took that position at Riverwood High School in Sandy Springs. "It was one of the greatest challenges in my life," he says. "Riverwood had never won a game; there were 14 players on the team. It was a pretty big undertaking; it took about three years to get the program on track. It was a good place to start at an early age. I was 24. The principal gave me an opportunity I wouldn't have gotten anywhere else. I hated leaving."

Before Riverwood, Rainbow was defensive line coach at Oconee County High School. The team had won five games in four years, but by the time Rainbow was done with them, the team had made it to the state AAA championship in 1999.

Rainbow's coaching skills come in part from his experience as a football player.

He was an all-county offensive lineman for Wheeler High School and was a walk-on at the University of Georgia.

Rainbow was also up for the challenge of moving from metro Atlanta to South Georgia with his wife, Jennifer, who is from Macon.

"There are probably only two other Jewish people in this community," he says.

"It was definitely a concern when we moved here. But everybody has accepted us. It's not even an issue."

And is there a downside to building on the Rams' victorious season?

"The expectations are pretty high this year," Rainbow says. "But I'm always up for a challenge."