Westminster head coach Gerry Romberg announced his retirement on Wednesday—following a 33-year stint at the school and a 42-year coaching career. The news made waves due to Romberg being the second-longest tenured coach in the state this season, but closing this chapter was something the veteran coach was planning to do heading into this year.
“I actually made the decision before the season started, but I didn’t want it to be a distraction to the team, so we waited until our season ended to make the official announcement,” Romberg told the AJC. “I’ve had 42 years of coaching football in college and high school, 33 years as the head coach at Westminster. I wouldn’t want to coach anywhere else, but it’s time for me to spend more time with my family, including my granddaughter.”
His 239 victories rank 31st in GHSA history. Only Marist’s Alan Chadwick, in his 40th season, had more seasons of service as a Georgia coach this year or more victories at a private school. Romberg has the most victories of any coach in Atlanta or Fulton County history.
The highlight of Romberg’s tenure came in 2015, when Westminster captured the state title in historic fashion. The Wildcats became the first team in state history to win all five playoff games on the road in route to the state title. Additionally, Westminster became the first team to win a state title after trailing by 15 points in the fourth quarter, still a record. Blessed Trinity—led by coach Tim McFarland at the time, had beaten the Wildcats 24-10 two months earlier, and Westminster trailed 24-9 to start the period and 31-17 with 6:25 left but scored two touchdowns in regulation and another in overtime to pull it out in a 38-31 thriller. That game was ranked as the sixth-best championship game in state history just a few years ago.
This year was challenging for Westminster as they battled through a tough Class 4A schedule. The Wildcats’ region was originally slated to have nine teams in it, but appeals sent private schools like Holy Innocents’ out of the original alignment and the region shrunk to just five teams. Additionally, despite Pace Academy and North Springs being close to Westminster, the three schools were separated in different class 4A regions. This presented coach Romberg and the Wildcats with a tall task in creating their schedule and since the Wildcats had to front load the schedule to get those six non-region games in, it forced the team to play eight straight weeks – two scrimmages and six games – without an off week.
Westminster finished the 2024 season 5-6 and was a perfect 5-0 at home, with wins over Pace Academy, GAC, Gilmer, Kell and Centennial.
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