Coweta Sports Hall of Fame to induct Class of 2025 on March 8

From Special Reports

The Coweta Sports Hall of Fame will induct three new members at its 22nd Annual Banquet on Saturday, March 8 at the Coweta County Fairgrounds and Conference Center.

The 2025 Coweta Sports Hall of Fame class will include Derrick Steagall, Corey Bridges and Tim VanEgmond. The banquet begins at 6 p.m.

Steagall is a former four-sport standout at Newnan High and played at Georgia Tech and briefly in the NFL. Bridges played four sports at Newnan High before starring at South Carolina in football and track and later had a short stint in the NFL. And VanEgmond was a standout in baseball at East Coweta High, played collegiately at Jacksonville State and later in the Major Leagues with Boston and Milwaukee.

Tickets are $45 each and can be purchased at Dunc’s BBQ Kitchen, 98 Jackson Street in Newnan or at the Coweta County Fairgrounds, 255 Pine Road in Newnan, or by calling Cheryl Roberts at 706-672-2311. Tickets can also be purchased online at Eventbrite.com. To purchase tickets, click HERE.

Below, readers will find biographical summaries of each Hall of Fame inductee.

COREY BRIDGES

Corey Bridges was born and raised in Newnan and went on to star on the gridiron for Coach Max Bass, on the baseball diamond for Coach Joe Pope, on the basketball court and in track and field at Newnan High School from 1990-93. That career earned the multi-sport athlete a scholarship to the University of South Carolina where he stared in football and track.

Corey Bridges

During his time at Newnan, Bridges earned 16 letters in three sports and was named to All-State teams in multiple sports and proudly served as Student Body President. In his freshman season the Cougars went 6-5 which was followed by a 6-4 sophomore campaign but proved to be a building block for highly successful junior and senior seasons for Bridges. The 1991 season saw the Cougars go 9-1 in the regular season, with the only blemish a six-point loss to eventual state champion LaGrange. Newnan defeated rival Griffin, 35-26 in the Region 4-AAAA playoffs to earn a trip to the state playoffs. They fell short at Bradwell Institute 21-16 in the state playoffs. That next season the Cougars went 10-0 during the regular season as they averaged 37 points per game on offense and allowed just 7.2 points on defense while recording three shutouts. They defeated Morrow for the second time that season in the region playoffs. Coming out of high school, Bridges was named to the Top 100 prep football players in the country and was named to the Super 11 Georgia high school football players prior to the season. On the baseball diamond, Bridges was an outstanding outfielder and helped lead the Cougars to the Class AAAA State Championship in 1991 and Bridges was named a Golden Glove winner. In track and field, he set school records in the 100 meter and 4×100 meter relay.

At South Carolina, Bridges played football and ran track all four years and earned All-America honors six times. As Co-Captain of the Gamecocks Track & Field team, he set numerous school records including record times in the 55 meters, 60 meters and 100 meters. He was ranked #1 in the NCAA 60 meters, was the Southeastern Conference Champion in the 55 meters and was the National Runner-up in the 60 meters. Bridges played wide receiver and was a kick return specialist for Coach Sparky Woods his freshman year when he played in all 11 games. His final three seasons were under Coach Brad Scott. His career totals at wide receiver included playing in 41 games hauling in 67 catches for 886 yards and eight touchdowns. On special teams he returned 23 punts and eight kickoffs during his career. Bridges first reception in college went for a touchdown against #8 ranked Georgia.

Following his college career, Bridges signed as a free agent with the Minnesota Vikings in 1998 and played a portion of the 1999 season with the Cleveland Browns as well as in the Canadian Football League. In 2000, he signed with the Chicago Bears before being allocated by the team to NFL Europe where his team, the Berlin Thunders, won the World Bowl – NFL Europe’s version of the Super Bowl. He signed with the Miami Dolphins the next year and ended his football career playing for the Grand Rapid Rampage of the Arena Football League during the 2002-2003 seasons.

Following football, Bridges worked as a sprint coach on the high school and collegiate levels and a sports performance trainer and personal trainer. Since 2012, he has been the owner/operator of C4 Performance in Kennesaw, Ga.

Bridges has three daughters, Charlee Grace Bridges, Kori Jae Bridges, Ryan Lacey and parents Emma Jean and Clarence Bridges.

DERRICK STEAGALL

Derrick Steagall was born and raised in Newnan and starred in four varsity sports at Newnan High School from 1989-1992 before going on to play at the collegiate level at Georgia Tech and then with the Miami Dolphins of the National Football League (NFL).

In high school, Steagall lettered in football, baseball, basketball and track, earning a total of 15 letters. Playing football for Max Bass, Steagall was regarded as one of the top high school players in Georgia in 1992. He was a Parade magazine All-American, was the Gatorade Player of the Year in both football and track as a senior, was an honorable mention prep All-American by USA Today. He was named one of the top 50 players in the nation by the Atlanta Journal-Constitution and was a pre-season “Super 11” selection by the paper as one of the top 11 players in the state. Was also a Top 50 pick by the AJC in the Southeast and a Top 50 (one of just four QBs) in the state of Georgia. Steagall was recognized as the state’s Player of the Year by the Macon, Ga. Touchdown Club. His junior and senior seasons the Cougars compiled a record of 21-3 and advanced to the state playoffs both seasons. He completed 42 of 80 passes for 800 yards and 11 touchdowns his senior season. Also rushed for 846 yards and 14 more scores that same season. He was ranked as the second-best option QB in the nation by the Tom Lemming Report and was tabbed by SuperPreps as one of the Top 11 prep quarterbacks in the nation.

In track and field, he won an individual state championship in the 200 meters and was named a Parade magazine All-American in Track and Field in 1993.

Derrick Steagall

He went on to play at Georgia Tech for then head coach Bill Lewis and was one of the top freshmen in the Atlantic Coast Conference after he led the ACC and was 16th nationally in kickoff returns. He was the team’s second leading receiver with 24 catches for 385 yards. Five games into his sophomore season, Steagall broke his arm in a game against North Carolina which ended his season. Three games later, after a 1-7 start to the season, Lewis was let go and Defensive Coordinator George O’Leary was named interim head coach and was elevated to permanent head coach after the final game. The Jackets went 6-5 in 1995, losing a close 18-17 game to rival Georgia and then fell to 5-6 the following year – Steagall’s senior season. He finished his Tech career third on the school’s all-time single game receiving list. He finished his collegiate career with 99 receptions for 1,639 yards and nine touchdowns. Steagall also ran track at Georgia Tech and was the school record holder in the 55-meter indoor track and field with a time of 6.27.

He played in the National Football League for the Miami Dolphins after signing as a free agent in 1998 and spent the entire season on injured reserve. He was placed on the practice squad in Miami for most of the 1999 season before being released in November.

Following his playing career Steagall went into private business and is currently a Customer Service Manager for a synthetic turf company.

Steagall and his wife, Crystal, have been married for 24 years and have three children. Two sons, Jaden Steagall and Qweston Steagall and a daughter, Maren Steagall.

TIM VANEGMOND

Tim VanEgmond played baseball and football in the 1980s for baseball coaches Dan Pritchett and Tom Murphy and head football coach Vernon Kidd and following his prep career his baseball journey would include two Division II National Championships at the college level and a trip to the big leagues.

In his senior season at East Coweta in 1987, VanEgmond was one of the top pitchers in the state with an 8-0 record; 58 innings pitched with only 22 hits allowed and 80 strikeouts along with a 0.60 ERA. The Atlanta Journal-Constitution named him the Performance of the Week in late April 1987 for his 1-0 shutout of Palmetto where he allowed just three hits and then came back to earn a save in an 6-3 win over Brookstone with two scoreless innings. On the week he struck out 12 batters in nine innings pitched with just one walk. In the spring of 2024 East Coweta retired Tim’s No. 5.

After high school, former Newnan High baseball coach, Jabo Jordan, recruited him to Southern Union College in Alabama where he was the head coach. Following two seasons there, he went on to two ultra successful seasons at Jacksonville State (Ala.) University. The Gamecocks would go on to capture two straight Division II National Championship in 1990 and 1991. VanEgmond led his team as he was named the Most Valuable Player in both post-season runs becoming the only person in NCAA history to win back-to-back MVP honors. Jax State won the 1990 title going 43-9 overall and 4-0 in the tournament defeating Cal State Northridge, 12-8 in the final. They then went 41-12 and 4-1 in the tournament in 1991 earning another championship with a 20-4 win over Missouri Southern State in the final. Following college VanEgmond was named to the NCAA All-Time Division II team.

Tim VanEgmond

VanEgmond was selected in the 7th round of the 1991 Major League Baseball amateur draft by the Boston Red Sox as the club’s 20th pick. He started the season at the Red Sox’s Winter Haven minor league team of the Florida State League where he went 4-5 with a 3.03 earned run average (ERA).  He was called up to the big-league club later that year where he went 2-0 with a .60 ERA and in three games, he struck out 20 batters and allowed only six hits. He played the 1992 season at the Class A Lynchburg affiliate and compiled a 12-4 record in 28 games played. Class AA New Britian was his stop in 1993, and he appeared in 29 games and went 6-12 with a 3.97 ERA and recorded 163 strike outs in 190 1/3 innings pitched. In 1994 he started out a Class AAA Pawtucket where he compiled a 9-5 record. Toward the end of that season, he was called back up to the big leagues where he pitched 38 1/3 innings allowing 38 hits and striking out 22 while compiling a 2-3 record. He improved throughout his stint with the Red Sox that season as in his final three starts here was 2-0 and allowed only two runs in 23 1/3 innings. In his final season he played for the Milwaukee Brewers.

In a 1994 spring training start against the Chicago White Sox, VanEgmond found himself facing the reining American League Most Valuable Player, Frank Thomas. After being told he needed to pitch “The Big Hurt” inside and then away, VanEgmond got the MVP to 1-2 and then put the next pitch on the outside corner for the strikeout and then sprinted to the dugout after a one-two-three inning.

Following baseball VanEgmond returned home to Coweta County and he and his family still reside in the area today. Tim and his wife, Branndan, have two sons, Tate and Tucker. His mother is Betty Cosens.