Dawson Resigns as Cheatham Basketball Coach

[CheathamCoBoardHater]

Thoughts?

[ptc]

no way! he has a good bunch coming back.

[McEwenAlumni]

I heard the administration there has been trying to get him to leave. Would like to know what all happened behind the scenes.

[Gerry Bertier]

Red Flags are going up if two of the most successful coaches in school history leave following two of the most successful seasons. However, some coach will walk into a great situation.

[Eda]

Why did this happen and why isn't anyone from Cheatham County talking?

[ksgovols]

Is there a limit on words per post? It's complicated.

 

1. Cheatham County is an awesome place to live and raise a family. My wife and I were actively seeking something like Harpeth/Sycamore/Cheatham when we moved here and started raising our family. We both went to big AAA schools and they don't always have the community backing that the smaller schools do. The negative is the same as the positive. Everybody knows everybody. At one time there was a teacher living on either side of us and 3 more down the street. Blessing/curse. Same for the rivalries. The Jr. Pro rivalries are great. The kids really get to know each other and by the time they've graduated high school they have competed against each other at least 20 times over the years. There are pros and cons to that, mostly among the adults in the communities rather than the kids, but it's always in the background. You are not just a number. You're #33 from Kingston Springs and I remember when your brother played.

 

2. The other thing that is commonplace with AA schools is that those jobs are entry level jobs for non native coaches that are seeking to make their mark on a program. Good coaches that are successful are going to have opportunities to go to bigger schools where they have more resources and can make more money. There is proximity to Nashville and big private schools as well even for those that want to live in Cheatham County and coach/teach somewhere else. There are Cheatham County kids at DA, CPA, NCS, Ensworth, MBA and Goodpasture. Most of the folks that stick around the longest are Cheatham County natives or from the immediate vicinity. To the rest, these are stepping stone type jobs to bigger programs. Those opportunities are more prevalent when your team is 28-3 than when it's 16-14. Leaving when there's still something in the cupboard rather than milking every win out of the program and leaving just before the down cycle tells me the coach cares about the school and is trying to leave them in the best situation he can while pursuing the bigger opportunity.

 

3. Resources are scarce. Facilities have to be maintained and athletic facilities have historically been at the bottom of the list. Look. The 2 newest high schools in Cheatham County weren't designed to seat enough fans to be eligible to host a district or regional tournament, much less a sectional game. All of Harpeth and Sycamores most competitive teams have hosted sectional games at Fairview, Creek Wood and Cheatham Central. These schools are 20 years old or less. Parents and booster clubs build the football and baseball fields and typically raise monies to maintain them. There is minimal support at the administrative level for athletic improvements and when Cheatham goes looking for the new basketball coach, it won't be the most qualified basketball coach necessarily. It will be a coach that can fill one of the few teaching positions that is available. If it's not a PE position, then the restrictions just make it that much harder.

 

It is what it is. Most coaches are not going to stick around forever in this county.. They either look to leave or they are asked to leave.

Edited March 11, 2013 by ksgovols

[10W40]

Sometimes the princiPAL at CC is not a PAL to athletics.

[saunders]

Sometimes the princiPAL at CC is not a PAL to athletics.

[bigchief]

Sometimes the princiPAL at CC is not a PAL to athletics.

You think? She came in on the day of the sectional game with East and did an unannounced observation of his class during the last period of the day. If that is not a set-up I don't know what would be.

[ksgovols]

That's a shame. There was a UT president that said that athletics were the front porch to the university. I think all of the extra curricular activities that bring the good kind of notoriety to a school should be celebrated instead of investigated.

[willietruth]

I had a principal once that told the coaches "when people drive by the school they don't think to themselves I wonder what is going on in English class today. They are thinking about if the football team is winning or how the basketball team is doing in the tournament etc. etc."

 

He was spot-on.

Edited March 12, 2013 by willietruth

[buledievlpdrie]

What will Cheatham have returning?? Going into what was last year a weak district especially with Goodpasture departing, a new coach could have a chance to make immediate impact and win the district championship, crazy that the coach would be asked to leave after his successes and what IMO would more than likely be more continued success in the new district.