Amherst football coach Bob Christmas, who once earned back-to-back state titles at Jefferson Forest in the 1990s before returning to the Bedford-based school more than a decade later to find success once more, announced his retirement Tuesday, ending a coaching career that spanned nearly half a century.
Christmas, who made Amherst his final stopping spot with a stint that lasted four years, amassed more than 300 wins during his career as a head coach. His 300th occurred this season, on Sept. 23 against one of his old teams, Jefferson Forest.
During an interview for a piece published by this newspaper on Oct. 4, the 69-year-old Christmas signaled his 48-year career may soon be coming to a close.
"I'm not 100% sure when I'm not gonna do it anymore, but yeah, it's getting close to that time."
He exits with 303 career wins, which will rank him first all-time in the Virginia High School League's Record Book for most wins by coaches who have accomplished feats in Virginia and other states. It's one of two career record categories offered by the league, which also recognizes coaches with the most wins earned only in Virginia. Christmas also spent 17 years in Georgia, where he led Bainbridge High for four years and North Hall for 13 seasons.
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His first wins occurred at a high school in Florida. He then moved to Lynchburg, served a short stint as assistant at Liberty University, and was head coach at LCA for seven seasons.
He took over at Jefferson Forest in 1988, when the school was in a football drought. JF had won just three times in the previous two seasons and was coming off a winless 1987 campaign. Christmas posted just three victories that first season, but by the end of the 1989 season, he had led the Cavaliers to a 7-3 record.
That was the start of a wildly successful nine-year stint at the school. By the time he left after the '96 season, Christmas had led the Cavaliers to 68 victories against just 27 losses, three state championship appearances (1991, '92 and '93) and back-to-back state titles ('92 and '93).
He was so revered by the Cavaliers faithful during that first stint that he was considered the savior of the program, and fans for years after his departure recalled those years, often whispering or hoping or begging for him to return. They got their wish in 2014, when Christmas announced he was leaving North Hall to return as JF head coach.
His second stint in Bedford was successful, too, with back-to-back 12-1 seasons right out of the gate in 2014 and 2015, as JF advanced to the third round of the playoffs both seasons. In five years, he went 39-20 and took the Cavaliers to the playoffs four times.
He took over a beleaguered Amherst program in 2018. Cecil Phillips announced in May of that year he was taking a job in Woodstock, Georgia, and Amherst scrambled to fill the vacancy. The division settled on a 43-year-old coach with just one year of head coaching at the varsity level in Trevor Porter, who almost immediately came under scrutiny.
Less than two months after he was hired, and only a few weeks after he began meeting with players, Porter resigned abruptly after reports of run-ins with players, and assistant coach Jeff Crews took over as interim in an attempt to piece together the season. Amherst went 1-9.
Christmas took over in 2019 and led a rebuild stymied by a fall slate that was postponed by the coronavirus and reshuffled to the spring of 2021. The coach began to see the fruits of his labor this season, as the Lancers went 7-5, won their first five games and advanced to the second round of the playoffs. It was the first time Amherst had advanced that far, and won that many games, since 2016.
"It's flown by," Christmas said in October. "Forty-eight years has flown by. Hard for me to believe it's been that many years."
Amherst now begins searching for his successor. The division should receive a fair amount of interest from coaches, for several reasons. Amherst is a one-high school county, which is attractive for coaches because its population is not divided up among other schools. That means it's easier to identify and build talent at a younger level across the county. And the timing is also optimal; the high school playoffs are still in full swing and coaches on the market will soon begin seeking out vacancies during the offseason.
Amherst athletic director Robert Curd thanked Christmas for his service to the school in a press release issued late Tuesday afternoon.
"Coach Christmas stepped in and helped to not only rebuild our program but his leadership helped us navigate through the pandemic and laid the foundation for our future success," Curd said.
Amherst principal Joey Crawford, the school's former varsity baseball coach and a former football assistant, said in the release: “Coach Christmas has not only won an overwhelming amount of football games throughout his career, but he has also developed quality relationships with his coaches and players that have lasted over time. As the son of two coaches who spent their entire careers in high school sports, I have a great appreciation for what Coach Christmas has accomplished and I am proud to have had him represent our school for the last four years.”