Mark Raynor is the new Trinity football coach. (Courtesy photo)
TRINITY — Mark Raynor was groomed during high school on Trinity football, so he said it’s fitting that he’ll be the next coach of the Bulldogs.
“It was a good opportunity for me to go back and be a head coach,” Raynor said. “It’s a great situation. It’s an opportunity to get back home.”
The 2006 Trinity alum was named the team’s coach last week. He replaces Bear Bradley, who resigned this winter after two seasons to join the staff at Greensboro Grimsley.
Raynor spent last season as defensive coordinator at Southern Guilford following a four-season stint as Northeast Guilford’s head coach. He also had previous four-year stints as an assistant coach at Western Guilford and Southern Guilford.
He said he expects a smoother transition than when he took over at Northeast Guilford, with the first season coming during the pandemic in the spring semester of 2021. His teams there went a combined 13-26, though capped by a Class 3A state-playoff appearance and a 7-4 record in 2023.
“I’m fired up that it’s going to be normal,” he said of getting started compared to the 2020-21 school year.
Raynor, 36, said his time at Northeast Guilford involved various learning experiences.
“There’s a lot of trial and error,” he said. “It taught me how to be a leader. … I got to see how I want to see a program go.”
Trinity hasn’t had a winning season since 2017. The Bulldogs finished 3-7 in 2024.
So for Raynor, he said he understands that might call for creativity.
“You’ve got to be able to adapt,” he said.
Raynor was an offensive lineman, mostly at left tackle, as a Trinity player. He also participated on wrestling and track and field teams with the Bulldogs.
He calls Trinity “the town that kind of built me.”
This brings another alum into the Trinity coaching ranks. Brett Andrews finished his first season as boys’ basketball coach last month.
Raynor will move into a teaching position (weightlifting, physical education, health) at Trinity at the end of March.
