Phil Roark’s coaching career at Redwood spanned 35 years, from 1964 through 1999, where he mentored students in wrestling, football and baseball, and guided them to several league championships under his tutelage, including the 1968 MCAL wrestling championship, and the 1972 and 1973 MCAL varsity football championships.

Roark, who was also a woodshop and drafting teacher, found his coaching abilities quickly put to the test. In his first year, he started the school’s wrestling program and saw it quickly develop into a league contender. The same year, 1964, Roark also took on the role of assistant junior varsity football coach.

By 1965, Roark added freshman baseball coach to his to-do list, and in 1969 he was named head varsity football coach, a position he held for nine years.

But Roark was known as more than just a coach who was at home in several sports. The powers that be had noted his administrative skills and named him as the school’s athletic director, a role he carried out for the next 22 years until his retirement in 1999.

As the athletic director, Roark began making his presence known beyond the school, participating in countywide functions:

• 1978-82: MCAL representative to the North Coast Section for football and wrestling
• 1986: Steering committee member for the Community Fields Association. The CFA was the group of risk takers who on their own initiative invited cleanup crews to deposit thousands of tons of mud that had been created by the floods of 1982 on marshy wasteland behind redwood. When they were done, they had created several acres of non-marshy land that could easily be molded into athletic fields.
• 1989-2000: Chairman, Marin County, National Football Foundation High School Hall of Fame
• 1999-2000: Marin County Athletic League assistant commissioner
• 2000-2007: Commissioner of the Marin County Athletic League

Roark received many honors along the way. The ones he treasured most were his induction into the San Francisco State University Football Hall of Fame in 1990, his 1996-97 induction into the North Coast Hall of Fame, his 1998 induction into the Marin County Foundation Hall of Fame, and, the same year, California State Recognition sponsored by Senator John Burton for his civic leadership and administration of athletic programs.

Roark now lives in Gilmer, Texas, a small town about halfway between Dallas and Shreveport, La. His fondest memories, he says, are of Redwood’s role as host for some notable athletic events. “With a great gym and great outside areas, Redwood hosted many North Coast Sectional and MCAL playoff games. But the BIG event always—and still is—the MCAL basketball championship games.”