'It's like your baby': The main reason Ridge head football coach Richard Tate keeps going
There are pillars in the Polk County football community. And it takes a long tenure to have that label bestowed upon you, and new Ridge Community head football coach Richard Tate has used his coaching template style for the better since he’s been a head football coach in Polk County.
Tate, who just last year was the Bartow High School football coach, is one of the longest tenured head football coaches in Polk County thanks to being at the helm of different Polk County high schools since 2000 — the year he started at Kathleen, turning around a program that went winless, eventually going 19-4 at the school; Tate was also the head coach for George Jenkins. At the inaugural 863 Heartland Media Day at the Refuge Church of Our Lord last Thursday, Tate expounded upon his different coaching experiences since he’s been one of the best in the county.
Second stint: Richard Tate fired as Ridge head coach
Bartow experience: Bartow football wins over Kathleen; takeaways of game
Tate, who took the Ridge job once again in 2023, making it his third stint at the school, addressed his reason to keep going, as he’s been a coach for 35 years.
“It’s the kids and the love for the game. … Really my reasons haven’t changed in my 35 years,” Tate said. “I get up every day. I get to go to school every day and have a positive effect on these kids and get to make them good football players and good kids. … (I like to get) kids to see what’s within themselves. That’s what drives me…”
What also drives Tate is the same principles he’s used since the beginning of time, and he won’t hesitate to use it again for a Ridge program that went 5-4 last year — the program’s third straight winning season.
“I believe in hard work and dedication … and create a bond,” Tate said. “…We’re just trying to build that team chemistry like everybody.”
That’s something that Tate has done since his early days. When Tate first started coaching, Ridge Community in 2005 was a bunch of trees and open fields. Davenport as a city was a baseball city. And back when Tate first started coaching the program, he had similar coaching techniques that were aligned with the times.
But a part of Tate’s coaching template is to learn and adapt to the times, which he has done. Before his 5-6 seasons in Bartow the last two years, the Yellow Jackets were a top team in 2020 thanks to a 9-1 record, but COVID was factor that year.
“I like to think through the years I’ve learned how to handle certain things. Old school principles, that doesn’t mean that you are not keeping up with what is happening in football,” Tate said. “Mentality to me is what you are trying to produce on the field…”
And that’s worked for Tate, even during a time that Ridge didn't have the respect of other programs. In his 11 years as the coach at Ridge, Tate has led the Bolts to five playoff appearances, won the district championship game twice, including a game vs. powerhouse Lakeland in 2012. Those teams in which Tate was leading the way had some fantastic players, including three future NFL players: Mike James and Vince Williams were two of the three who were captains for Tate. James would go on to play for the Tampa Bay Bucs and the Detroit Lions, while Williams competed for the Pittsburg Steelers.
There’s a reason Tate keeps on coming back to Ridge.
“It’s a great place to be. You have kids who are hungry, you have kids that want to work, kids that want to pay attention and you got kids that want to achieve,” Tate said. “That’s what drives me at Ridge.”
Also, what drives him is he was Ridge’s first coach. He said he wants to finish what he started.
“It’s like your baby. … That’s where I’m coming from on that," Tate said.
This article originally appeared on The Ledger: Richard Tate back at Ridge football program, to use winning template
