OldStoneFort

LC no longer gets the talented and athletic kids who live inside the city limits. LC was down three years ago and was in decline even a year before that but now they have fewer athletes in the system because Fayetteville City schools catch most if not all of the inner city kids. Giles County, Franklin County, and Lawrence County do not have that handicap.

FC seems to be improved over last year and should make a better showing than last year but the long trip to the Devil's Den will have it's affect on the game. WHY THE HECK WOULD ANYONE SCHEDULE A GAME SO FAR AWAY?

If I were making decisions at Henry Co I would play my starters for one quarter or at least three series... then put in the seconds for the rest of the first half and into the third, then play the JV until the MERCY RULE ends the game.

I said it in late May and I'll say it today: Clarksville NW administration is to blame for the problems at NW in all sports. The outgoing principal didn't give a darn about anything. The new guy decided to go with a young gun who has zero chance of winning in the next three years. He has no support and very few experienced coaches to GUIDE him. There is talent at NW but getting them out to play as a team is the challenge.

Football is allowed THREE non-faculty assistant football coaches. As long as the A.D. lists ALL the assistant coaches on the sheet he submits to the TSSAA they should be ok to work with the team.

I would love to hear the details someday. I know Stratford is going through a lot of changes from a Comprehensive High School (an old term used for vocational schools) to a Magnet school. I also understand they are having the building remodeled. Football is very different on the East side of Nashville. Some of the athletes may not be available until school starts. It is a very different world. Having said that, the switch to a Magnet school should improve things greatly over time. It will draw in students from various parts of Nashville and change the dynamic at SHS. Whatever the reasons the coach said he left, he will not find any more support at MCHS. They too have their issues with the administration.

I'm not talking about a handshake deal. In most every school district legal contracts are signed. These are binding in a court of law for both parties and require a one year minimum committment. THis is why I have said and others have agreed this man will never coach in Nashville Metro Schools again. It is a matter of professionalism. The only out I can see is if they lied about his salary or the terms of his compensation package and that is clearly spelled out on the MNPS website. He is taking a paycut to leave Metro. Say what you want about Metro schools but they do treat coaches with respect and you will never lose your job as a teacher or coach if you keep your nose clean. They will move you to another school and you will be able to coach until you retire. No other Metro school system I am aware of in TN does so much for those in the profession. Contracts and agreements do mean something to some in our profession. Very few coaches leave Metro once they are invited in. It's just too hard to get in to walk away.

Good luck to the Interim head coach, he will need it. I have spoken to a person who knows a little more about the situation and it seems this move as less to do with the drive to and from Nashville and more to do with the unique difficulties that a coach or teacher would face at Stratford High School. On one hand, I guess it is a feather in anyone's cap to accept a leadership position at a Metro School but to walk away so late in the game shows the coach was not ready to be a head football coach. A head coach has to live up to his commitments and this man clearly walked out on a group of young men who badly needed leadership. He took the easier road and offered up his wife and kids as an excuse. In his mind, that may be true; but I bet there is much more to the story. Maybe he was afraid of the neighborhood or Stratford community? Maybe he discovered there are few perks for working with inner city kids. I know he took a huge paycut to go to Marshall County. My source says he was afraid of the kids. I don't know what the truth is but I know it was a poor decision for any head coach in any sport. He should have passed on the Marshall County job and finished his first year as a head football coach. I promise you Lewisberg would have been available in two years. Who knows, the coach may have won district at Stratford and not wanted to leave for greener pastures down the road?

Cowboy, the coaching profession has some good and bad individuals working as football coaches. One of the things one can quickly determine about a coach is how he treats his players. I would suggest to you and the coach in question that he knew what he was getting into when he accepted the position at Stratford. I know not a lot of men applied for the position but he is the one who got the offer and accepted the position. THEY SHOULD HAVE HAD HIM SIGN A CONTRACT that week and I net they will not wait the next time someone is offered the position but he should not have said YES unless he was willing to see it through for at least one year. People in my profession understand these are ONE YEAR AGREEMENTS and to walk away before he even stepped onto the field of competition is unacceptable behavior. No matter what excuse is given, he should have not accepted the position at Stratford, PERIOD! You can't make excuses for him any longer. He committed to a job, put his hands to the plow then walked away before the crop was brought in. Coaches and principals will take note and the next time he goes to apply for a position at another school district people will remember! I hope he has a lot of success and develops a long career in Lewisberg but the truth is the Tiger fans are not very forgiving. If he doesn't win this year he will be looking for employment next summer!

I feel bad for the Spartans. Many of these kids have little support in their community for the football program. Coaches are men they look up to and male leadership roles fill in a niche for these East Side boys that is much needed. What does it say to them when a man comes in and takes the reigns of head coach in the Spring only to leave them in the lurch during 7 on 7 time in July? I don't think we will ever see Coach Pitts wearing a METRO SCHOOL coaching hat and whistle at any time in the future. He may have discovered he does not have what it takes to coach in such a challenging environment. He may have decided he didn't like the administration? Whatever the truth is we will likely never know. Spartans, I will be pulling for you in the fall. I hope you find a way to win!

Bigredbird has some good points. I can see why a coach would want to live close to home but the coach knew how far it was to drive to Nashville when he accepted the position. I'm sure other coaches have jumped ship so late in the year but I can't remember one. My take on this is as follows: Pitts was looking for a way to move up to the head coaching ranks. He made a good pitch to Principal Steele and he offered him the job. Pitts got to Stratford and discovered just how bad his situation was and began second guessing his decision to be a head coach. There is very little financial or public support on the East Side for football and the school is being transformed into a Magnet school meaning some of the current athletes may not be back. I can assure you Steele gave Pitts his backing because he does not want the team to fail but Pitts didn't even respect him enough to give him a headsup about the job at MCHS. He sent him an e-mail which he received after he was approached by the media about losing his coach. What Pitts should have done is to have went to Principal Steele after Spring practice or sometime in May and said: "I'm in way over my head and I made a mistake." That would have given the school plenty of time to bring in their other candidates to interview. In Metro as in most other school districts they have to open up interviews to everyone by posting the position for ten days. They have to interview with a committee of administrators, teachers, and coaches and the principal reccommends a name to the Central Office who then conduicts a background check. It takes several weeks to play out (4 to 5) and then the Central Office makes the recommendation. Pitt's decision to leave the way he is disrespectful to Metro schools, SHS, and the boys he committed to lead into battle. There can be little doubt this will affect him down the road because people remember. I don't have a dog in this hunt and I am happy for MCHS in hiring a coach. But this is not a typical head coach leaving his school in the Spring to accept a job at another school. Anyone who leaves his school after the dead period is looking to jump ship in a bad way. There can be no doubt Metro will NEVER hire this man again. They will red flag him and he won't work at a Metro School EVER!

The word out of Lewisburg is that the head coaching search is not going to begin until the second week of July and they hope to have someone in place before the start of football camp the last week of July. I can't say why it is taking so long but my guess is they are required to post the position for 5 to 10 days before they can interview. I can't imagine them firing the previous coach without having someone in mind for the job. If they didn't, this could become a three ring circus. Most coaches will have completed three weeks of non-padded practice and 7 on 7's before the Tigers name a coach. What kind of coach will they find this close to the start of the season? Maybe a retired coach or someone willing to jump ship and take the job without time to build a quality staff. As Charlie Brown says: "Good Grief!"

In the state of TN, public school principals can't officially offer employment or make contractual agreements. Only the legal CEO of the public school system can make such arrangements and it must be in writing and included in the budget and/or contract. Any additional monies that do not go through the system are a violation of BOE policies in most systems and the TSSAA regulations prohibit coaches from receiving money not directly approved by the BOE. I heard from a Williamson County sports reporter that the story boils down to did the coaches in question complete work during the school year they were paid to do outside of the scope of their coaching duties. I would only be speculating as to what type of work that might be but he seemed confident enough to be running with the story. Who knows what is really going on, maybe the board is using the superintendent to clean house? The bottom line is any non-tenured teacher can be dismissed without cause and any tenured teacher can be dismissed with cause. The new school year has not begun; therefore, any promises made by the principal or outgoing Superintendent don't mean anything. The new teacher contracts are always contingent on the new budget being approved and that's where the school board is at this time.

Good luck to the new coach and the Vikings.

Let me add some clarity to this matter: 1. The TSSAA regulations state that all monies (salaries) paid to a coach MUST BE APPROVED BY THE SCHOOL BOARD. So if there are extra funds paid by outside sources, the school board must approve of the payments. I know of coaches who earn beyond the scheduled supplement, it happens in big programs around the state but for it to be legal the school board must approve of the increase and know the source of the payments. One would think that since the former Director of Schools, Roy Duke knew about the payments the coaching staff and principal would have assumed that it was OK since the DOS is the chief financial operating officer in public schools in TN? Could it be the Board is using the new Director to clean up some mess created by the outgoing Director of Schools? I think there is more to the story than is being reported. 2. Any non-tenured employee may be dismissed without stated reason at the end of the school year, before July 1st without recourse. The Head Coach may have legal recourse to file a complaint against the Director of Schools but only if he is tenured teacher in the school system. It sucks for him and his three assistant coaches who were cut but that's the deal. Marshall County will be OK when the smoke clears. It will be an emotional rollercoaster for some members of the team who will have to adjust to the changes but it will happen. Some may quit in protest but they will only be hurting themselves. The biggest problem will be for the new coach (whoever gets the job). The challenge of winning over the team and getting past the negativity resulting from the way the change went down will require skill and patients.