Mike Wright resigns as Smyrna boys basketball coach after five seasons

Family comes first for former Smyrna boys basketball coach Mike Wright. 

That's what he stressed when he announced his resignation as coach Monday, stressing the importance of being more involved in his sons' lives as their athletic careers  develop.

"I've got a rising eighth grader and a rising fourth grader, and they're both very involved in sports," said Wright, who went 39-81 in five seasons with the Bulldogs after taking over in May 2016. "At the end of the day, it would take time away from them to coach basketball the way I should, or it would take time away from basketball in order to spend the time I need with them.

"I always put family first. I told my players that. It's time to give them 100% of me while they still have this window of growing up."

Smyrna went 5-16 during a rebuilding season in 2020-21, including 3-11 in District 7-AAA. The Bulldogs return every starter from that squad.

"I'm pleased with how my five years at Smyrna went," Wright said. "The program is heading in the right direction. They have, what should be, a really good team next year. The hardest part was knowing I was going to leave this group. They were a group I really enjoyed coaching.

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"But at the same time, the next coach has the opportunity to come in with a group they can hopefully win with immediately and build the program."

The search for a new coach should be a relatively quick process for Smyrna, with summer camps coming up.

"The administration at Smyrna High School would like to thank Coach Wright for his leadership over the last few years with our basketball program," Smyrna athletic director Billy Harris said.

"We also would like to thank him for continuing to build the program and leaving it in good standing. I have nothing but good things to say about Coach Wright and the example he uses on and off the floor."

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Prior to coming to Smyrna Wright spent a year as an assistant at Siegel and before that coached at Oakland, where he went 91-86. He's also been a head coach at Pigeon Forge and Morristown East.

His father, Ken Wright, is the boys coach at Sevier County and won his 600th game in December.

Wright is the sixth basketball coaching change in Rutherford County during the offseason (Riverdale girls' Amy Josephson, Siegel girls' Shawn Middleton, MTCS girls' Hillary Hodges, MTCS boys' Jason Piercey, Oakland boys' Troy Bond). There were seven head coaching changes in the area prior to the 2020-21 season.

Reach Cecil Joyce at cjoyce@dnj.com or 615-278-5168 and on Twitter @Cecil_Joyce.