Wilson Central is now OPEN

[Eddie]

www.wilsonpost.com is reporting Dewayne Alexander has been hired as the new coach at Cumberland University.

[2priceless]

Congrats to Alexander on his new position. There are lots of good kids playing football there that will benefit from a fantastic coach like him. Maybe Wilson County will realize that they have a WHOLE lot of fixing to do to keep quality folk there.

 

So Eddie, who is the top dog on the list?

[WCWildcat#1Fan]

Coach Alexander called all of the players today to let them know about his acceptance of the Cumberland position before it hit the media. We are sad to lose him but support his decision and know he will be a success. We have been blessed to have a coach with his talent and integrity. Wilson Central has not only lost a good coach but a good man. He brought a lot of pride to the Wildcat program and put Wilson Central football on the right track as a competitor. The Cumberland position offers him a lot that he could not get at the high school level, mainly more time with his family. In Wilson County coaches are behind the eight ball by having to put in longer hours due to school requirments and Wilson Central's principal has not been supportive.

 

As a parent of a player, I thank Coach Alexander for all he has done for my son and wish him the best in his future. The parents and players hope the replacement will come from within the current staff.

 

THE WILDCATS WILL STILL BE A FORCE IN 2006!!!!!

 

WILDCAT PRIDE

[Eddie]

Aric, Tory Crane and Jody Atwood are all on the staff and would be solid picks. Aric has head coaching experience, Crane was the interim for the 36 hour period Alexander resigned last year and d-coordinator Atwood has been at Central since the doors opened.

 

People tell me principal Kernagis is on the way out with much celebrating from coaches, athletes and parents when he finally goes. Will he be allowed to make this call?

[2priceless]

Aric, Tory Crane and Jody Atwood are all on the staff and would be solid picks. Aric has head coaching experience, Crane was the interim for the 36 hour period Alexander resigned last year and d-coordinator Atwood has been at Central since the doors opened.

 

People tell me principal Kernagis is on the way out with much celebrating from coaches, athletes and parents when he finally goes. Will he be allowed to make this call?

Is Aric the former Beech HC?

[Lost Old Dad]

Congratulations to Coach Alexander!

 

Wilson Central I am truly sorry for y'alls loss. Coach A is a class act and will be a hard man to follow.

 

Now what WILL be interesting is which coaches will be applying.

[wingman10]

Coach Alexander is a class act. Good luck at Cumberland . Very few small colleges can match Cumberland's coaches in baseball, men's basketball and now, football.

[TDCman]

I'm really surprised at this one. Alexander did an awesome job at WC...built a really great team. I would really like to know what prompted this decision.

 

Good luck to Coach Alexander and good luck to WC as you find the right guy to keep things going.

[Eddie]

The principal has yet to step up and make things a little easier for football -- or the entire athletic department. A year ago, Alexander asked that athletes be placed in a block for in-school weight lifting. Principal grudgingly agreed. Today, there's five athletes in that block and 35 or so regular students. Also Alexander's class load is one of the largest in the building.

 

This principal scrubbed Alexander's post-season football awards celebration scheduled for the school auditorium -- instead sliding a choral event in that time slot. Alexander was forced to take his event off-campus to the fairgrounds -- thanks in part to a Lebanon High booster who is the director of the Ward Ag. Center. Alexander said, "It took a Lebanon guy to help us celebrate this great season." Principal Kernagis didn't even attend the fairground event.

[beethoven]

A lot of people truly don't understand how important a supportative administration is. Sometimes its hard to quantify it, but the results are like an open wound....Wilson Central did as well as they could this year, the result of poor support will begin to show as the "program" that Alexander built crumbles back to mediocrity (Assuming the Principal stays in place and hires a yes man in backlash to the driven Alaxander).

 

Congrats to Coach A.

Wilson Co.....You are the victim of over active academics "rescuing" the schools from non-academic activities. The positive impact of athletics and extracurricular activities on student achievment is something that is being lost in the national debate over education.

[msgov]

I would seriously doubt he will spend more time with his family with recruiting and all of the other details that come with the job.

[WCWildcat#1Fan]

I would seriously doubt he will spend more time with his family with recruiting and all of the other details that come with the job.

 

 

What I ment by having more time with his family is based on these facts:

 

1. Coach Alexander teaches 3 full classes and has one planing period during the day. The classes average about 30 students per class. This is one of the heaviest teaching loads at Wilson Central. The time to prepare for the classes and grade papers is enormous. Coach A is a excellent teacher and truly cares about all of his students.

 

2. During the season the team does not start practice until around 3:45 - 4:00 due to the fact school is not dismissed until 3:15 and it takes that time for everyone to get ready for practice. They practice until about 6:30 (the normal 2 - 2 1/2 hours needed to prepare for 5-A football). This not only pushes the coaches late to getting home but the players don't get home until around 7 and then they have to eat and do homework. The coaches stay after practice disussing the day, preparing for the next day and cleaning up. The coaches don't get home until after 8 most of the time. On the nights before home games (be it West Wilson Middle School, Freshmen or Varsity) the coaches do field prep. Most of the time Coach A's kids are in bed when he gets home and doesn't get to see them.

 

3. During the off season, becasue the players don't have the ablity to lift weights during a weigh lifting class, Coach A ususally leaves home at 5:30 to get prepared for the players to arive at 6:30 for workouts. Some of the players stay after school so Coach A stays with them and might get home around 6:00 or 6:30. Therefore he puts in about a 11 or 12 hour day. He tries to split duties with other coaches but most assistant coaches coach another sport during the off season.

 

4. During the Summer, Coach A is always there for work outs and does field maintance (which he does during his planing period during the school year a lot of times).

 

Coach Alexander will have more time even though he will have recruiting and have to spend more time preparing for football. But he will not be teaching a full schedule and having to deal with an administrator that does not support the program. This is the second year in a row that the banquet had to be moved out of the scheduled locations. Last year it was moved to the cafeteria at the last minute and this year to the ag center. The principal left during the last game at Cookeville. He was not there to support the team after the lost. Every other adminstrator was on the field huging the players and telling them what a great season they had had and to hold their heads up.

 

Coach Alexander is a class act (he showed that by trying to contact each and every player before the news broke) and wanted to be treated with respect and face to face. He has earned the respect of every player, football parent, and teacher at Wilson Central and the community as a whole. He just was not given the support from the principal he needed and deserved.

 

The move to Cumberland will be a positive for Coach A. He will build a winning program and Wilson County is lucky to keep him in the community. Who knows, maybe we will see a lot of Wildcats become Bulldogs! They will follow their leader anywhere!