Thomasville has one of the state's most storied prep football programs but it has fallen on hard times the last several years.

That put it on Doug Robertson's radar.

He likes to build programs and will get the chance after being named coach of the Bulldogs on Tuesday night.

Robertson recently resigned at Eastern Guilford after five years. The last two were spectacular - 15-1 and a 3-AA state championship game appearance in 2016 and 13-2 last fall.

"I just took a liking to building programs that had been struggling," Robertson said. "Eastern came along at a time when I wanted to build something of my own. Now Thomasville has come up and I think Eastern Guilford is now established where it can win. Thomasville came open and it fits a lot of the same mode that Eastern Guilford was then."

Robertson replaces Gil Maxwell, who resigned after a 2-8 season. Thomasville was 16-19 in Maxwell's three seasons.

Given what he did at Eastern Guilford the last two seasons, Robertson's hiring was most welcome in the Chair City.

"I'm really excited," said Thomasville athletic director Steve Bare. "He's a good man. Everyone that I've talked to has high praise for him. We're excited to have him."

Robertson officially starts April 1. He'll teach weight training.

And he'll have plenty of work to do in trying to get Thomasville back to its lofty status. Thomasville has won seven NCHSAA state championships but the last one came in 2008. The Bulldogs are just 29-43 over the last six seasons.

"One thing that is going to happen is we're going to do things the right way all the time," Robertson said. "Thomasville can still be successful and I'm glad to come to a town where football is really important."

Robertson was previously an assistant coach twice at Reidsville, his alma mater, on Jimmy Teague's staff, and was there for one of the Rams' state championships in 2009. He was the head coach at Person for one season before taking the Eastern Guilford job in 2013. Robertson was 46-21 in his five years at Eastern Guilford.
