2004 coaching changes


Region IV

On Dec. 17th, the Bluefield Daily-Telegraph and the Richlands News-Press reported that Tazewell's Harris Hart resigned after 7 seasons at the helm. The former all-SWD & all-Region IV pick under Nick Colobro still plans to teach.

According to an April 7th article in the Bluefield Daily-Telegraph, Bobby Wyatt will take over the Bulldogs reins. The Rich Valley grad had served as head coach at Pocahontas since 1989 & was the state Coach of the Year in 1990.



The Lee Generals completed a trifecta by naming their third coach in less than a year.

Last season's 'replacement' coach, Chris Hagerman, was suspended by the school board in December for a classroom incident which led to Hagerman being convicted of assault, according to a March 31st story in the Kingsport Times-News and an April 1st story from WCYB.

A March 12th article in the Bristol Herald Courier said the Lee caruosel continued to turn as Gary Wolfe was named head coach for 2004. Wolfe was Thomas Walker's first head coach back in 1982, compiling a 4-26 record over 3 seasons, and stepped in as a last-minute replacement for Don Williams at Lee back in 1999.

A follow-up story appeared in the July 29th edition of the Kingsport Times-News.



According to a March 19th article in the Bristol Herald Courier, Va. High's John Adams has hung up his cleats. Adams had a 12-29 record over the last 4 seasons with the Bearcats, and was 110-41 at Lebanon from 1987-99, after serving as an asst. there at his alma mater from '79-'87.

According to a May 15th article in the Roanoke Times (and another one that has disappeared), and a May 18th article in the Lynchburg News-Adance, Terry Smith left Jeff. Forest after 3 years (18-12) for Va. High, even though the Bristol Va. School Board hadn't hired him yet. They met on the 17th, and, according to a brief in the print edition of the Bristol Herald Courier, did not vote on hiring a new coach, although the announcement was made a couple of days later.

The former Radford, Coeburn & U.Va. asst. played for his dad at Abingdon in the mid 80's before heading to Tech, at which time his dad, Larry, also left and went to Halifax Co., leading the Comets to the Div. 6 title in 1992.

His Uncle Mike has also won a state title or two, and 347 games, at Hampton.

A follow-up story appeared in the July 31st edition of the Bristol Herald Courier.



With Henry Co. consolidating 4 schools into 2 over the Summer, a couple of coaches were going to end up with the short straw. According to an April 9th article in the Roanoke Times , Magna Vista will retain Joe Beckelheimer, leaving Laurel Park's Kevin Newman out in the cold.

Jay Gilbert will move from Fieldale-Collinsville to Bassett, replacing Ken Moran, who spent the last 9 of his 28 years as head coach with the Bengals.

Gilbert led F-C to the playoffs in his 1st year as head coach after being an asst. at 2 Henry Co. schools for 14 years.



A June 18th article in the Galax Gazette (and an earlier article on the McDowell Co. school system website) reports that former Carroll Co. coach Dave Haynie has given up his AD position with the Cavs to get back on the sidelines after a 4 year absence. Haynie is heading down to Marion (NC) to take over the reins at McDowell High. The Class 4-A school went 3-8 (yes, they made the playoffs) each of the last two seasons.



Region III

According to March 9th and 10th articles in the Roanoke Times, and a March 11th article in the Salem Times-Register, Willis White has stepped down as head coach after 21 years at Salem. White racked up 201 wins and led the Spartans to FOUR state crowns in 6 trips to the finals.

According to the Roanoke Times, after Franklin Co. coach (and Salem alum) Billy Miles withdrew his name from consideration in late March, Stephen Magenbauer was named as White's replacement. The 30-year-old Magenbauer is also a Salem alum and served as Hidden Valley's first head coach for the past 2 seasons (5-14) after a 2 year stint at Glenvar (13-7).



According to a May 14th article in the Roanoke Times, Hidden Valley named Walter "J.R." Edwards to replace Magenbauer. The Cave Spring Connection also had stories on June 3rd & Aug. 13th.

Edwards has been an asst. coach under Jeff Highfill for the past 11 years at William Byrd and played for the Terriers in the mid 80's.



According to either June 23rd article in the Roanoke Times (funny how an article can disappear, then show up in 2 different places), Don Rice will take over at Jeff. Forest for Terry Smith, who had left to become head coach at Va. High in Bristol.
Rice, who played under Jim Hickam at Northside ('83), has spent the last 3 years at the helm in Waynesboro (6-24). Before that, he had been an asst. at Radford (under Norm Lineburg) and Rustburg (under Mike Scharnus).

And a July 14th article in Harrisonburg's Daily News-Record says that def. coord. Danny Dorton was promoted to replace Rice at Waynesboro. The 25-year-old Dorton played for E&H. just a handful of years ago.

According to a Dec. 2nd, 2003 article in the Roanoke Times, Patrick Henry (Roanoke) removed the 'interim' from head coach Bobby Ross' title. Ross, who was head coach at James River from 1984 - 2000, was hired as a last-minute replacement last July when Kevin Clifford resigned.



And according to a July 9th article in the Roanoke Times, former William Fleming coach George "Kila" Miller has un-retired and is the new principal at the Noel C. Taylor Academy in Roanoke.



Region D

According to an April 13th article in the Bristol Herald Courier, B.I. Salyers leaves Castlewood after just one year to take over at his alma mater, JJ Kelly ('86). Salyers was 5-6 with the Devils last year, and 21-13 over the 3 prior seasons at St. Paul. He replaces Kevin Saunders, who resigned last October after almost 5 seasons (31-18).

A related story appeared in the July 5th edition of the Coalfield Progress.

Four days later, the Bristol Herald Courier said that Castlewood replaced Salyers with David Scammell. The Grundy & Emory grad has spent the last 2 years as an asst. at Martinsville.



According to an March 12th article in the Bristol Herald Courier, Brian Lee gets a stint as the Thomas Walker head coach this season. See if you can follow this (Brian) Lee carousel : he was an asst. at TW last year, the head coach at Lee (High) from 2000-02 (2-8 each year), and an asst. at TW from 91-99.

Last season's coach, Dorris Miles, stepped down after a promotion in the central office.



According to a June 30th article in the Coalfield Progress, Ervinton has replaced 6 year veteran coach Mike Setser (13-46), who resigned last year, with Chris Crabtree, who was last on the gridiron about 10 years ago as a player at J.J. Kelly.



And I read somewhere that former Appy coach William Lloyd Wells passed away in March at the age of 51.



Region C

According to Jan. 17th articles in the Roanoke Times and Bristol Herald Courier (gone) and a Jan. 20th article in the Wytheville Enterprise, Rural Retreat promoted offensive coordinator Quinton Hensley to head coach as the replacement for Dean Rhea, who retired with a 135-70 record over 18 years with the Indians. Rhea also served as head coach at Rich Valley for 6 years.

Hensley joined the Indian staff 17 years ago as the 8th grade coach and has served as the varsity O.C. since 1993.

And a Jan. 23rd article in the Wytheville Enterprise says that Rhea will remain w/ the Indians as an asst.



According to an April 7th article in the Roanoke Times, Brett McPherson has stepped down as head coach at Eastern Montgomery. He went 32-36 over 7 years with the Mustangs and Shawsville Shawnees. McPherson is returning to William Monroe (AA-Region B), where he was head coach before coming to Shawsville.

The next day, the Roanoke Times reported that his brother Mark also left East Mont. (after 7 years as an asst.) to become head coach back home at Craig Co., replacing Rod Tenney (5-5). Mark was a 1980 grad. of New Castle H.S. and was commuting to Shawsville.

According to May 15th & Aug. 8th articles in the Roanoke Times, East. Mont. tabbed Jeremy Haymore as their new head coach. The Staunton River alum has been an asst. at Hargrave Military Academy in Chatham under Robert Prunty (the former Gretna coach who was on the sidelines for the Hawks [then state-record] 44th straight loss back in September, 1996, then guided the Hawks to an 11-1 record 2001).


An August 3rd article in the Richlands News-Press said that Pocahontas promoted Matt Quesenberry to replace Bobby Wyatt, who's now at Tazewell.


Longtime Radford wrestling, track & asst. football coach Cecil Phillips has left for greener pastures, or maybe that should be bluer scenery & fewer pastures. According to a June 16th article in the Norfolk Virginian-Pilot, Phillips is now the top (Bull)dog at the new King's Fork H.S. in Suffolk.

Speaking of Radford, Roanoke Times articles of July 31st &, Aug. 1st (gone), and an Aug. 4th article in the Radford News Journal state that Bobcat Stadium now has a seperate name for the field, a la Va. Tech.


A July story in the Lebanon News (cached at Yahoo) says that the Pioneers lost asst. coach Brandon Miller to Honaker, but gained assistants Jared Chandler (from Stuarts Draft) and Mickey Hamilton.



Elsewhere

What's the worst way for a coach to find out he's being replaced?
I dunno, but this has gotta rank WAAAYYYY up there.

A June 19th article in the Norfolk Virginian-Pilot says that Roscoe Coles wasn't happy with Woodrow Wilson's method. "Too Too", who was 12-18 in 3 seasons with the Presidents, had previously coached at Kecoughton for 3 years (1998-2000, 10-20) and at Salem-Va. Beach.

Another NVP story says that Coles' replacement, former asst. Brian Bynum, expects 15-20 returnees (an Aug. 10th story says about 35 players showed up on the 1st day of practice). No wonder this AAA school has only won 17 games in 8 years.


Other new coaches statewide :

The Aug. 10th edition of the Fredericksburg Free Lance-Star, & Feb. 11th edition of the Washington Post said that Tim Coleman has replaced Karl Buckwalter at Colonial Forge. Coleman won 3 state titles in 15 years at Spotsy and was an asst. on 4 title teams at Courtland.

Spotsylvania replaced Coleman with asst. Myron Matthias Jr.

The July 14th editions of the Staunton News-Leader and Harrisonburg Daily News-Record said that Tom Goforth has climbed the ladder to A.D. at Stuarts Draft H.S., with asst. Jake Grey taking the place of the 14 year veteran.

The Aug. 4th edition of the South Hill Enterprise said that Harold Williams left his asst. position at (defending state champion) Sussex-Central to take over at Brunswick, where his son plays.

The Feb. 20th edition of the Augusta Free Press and the Feb. 21st edition of the Staunton News-Leader said Wilson Memorial named Derek McDaniel to replace 6 year vet. Leon Franklin. McDaniel has been an asst. coach for over 20 years and was head baseball coach at Waynesboro for 16 years. The Hornet alum ('77) led WM to the state baseball title his Sr. year, thanks to an 11-0 effort on the mound.

The July 20th edition of the Richmond Times-Dispatch talked about the merger of Armstrong & the John F. Kennedy School for Math, Science & Technology. They say that JFK coach Mark Robinson will lead the new team by default as former Armstrong coach Dennis Harris took a college position as RB coach at Va. Union.

The Aug. 18th edition of the Richmond Times-Dispatch says John Marshall has replaced Kevin Burden (5-34) with one-time Redskin Darnell Wall, a teacher at Marshall who was also the D-line coach at Va. Union Univ. for the past 5 years.

According to an Aug. 15th article in the Newport News Daily Press, David Ward left Maryland to become Gloucester's 2nd head coach in 3 years. An April 7th article (gone) said Paul Wright resigned from Gloucester (2-18) to take over at Mathews, replacing 6 year vet. Matt Lawson (37-31), who moved to Tabb.

According to an Aug. 15th article in the Washington Post, Jim Poythress moves from Gar-Field to Lake Braddock, with former Stonewall Jackson (Manassas) asst. Joe Mangano taking his place.

The May 12th edition of the Fredericksburg Free Lance-Star says that Caroline replaced 3 year vet. Ron Prady (9-20) with former asst. Robert Jenkins.

The July 13th edition of the Richmond Times-Dispatch says Atlee has replaced Terry Meeks (18-21) with former Petersburg and Courtland boss Steve Havens.

And according to the Aug 25th edition of the Rappahannock Times, Kemp Pullin is the 1st head coach for the Rappahannock County Panthers.


Across the state lines :

Those who remember former Grundy coach John Curia might be interested to know he's back on the sidelines again. According to a July 23rd article in the Beckley Register-Herald, Curia has retired from the Va. school system and is back in Hinton again to coach Summers Co. H.S.

According to a July 14th article in the Beckley Register-Herald, Andy Grogg is the new head coach at Greenbrier East, replacing 8 year vet. Bob McClintic. Grogg, a 1973 grad. of the old Mullens H.S., was once head coach at Baileysville, and has been the O. Line coach at Riverside (just south of Charleston) which has made the playoffs all 5 years of their existance. His brother Kevin is head coach at Wyoming East near Mullens.

According to August 5th & 16th stories in the Logan Banner, 25 year old Gary Mullins moves up from middle school coach to take over as head coach of the Logan Wildcats, replacing 6 year vet. George Barker, who went back to coach his alma mater, Chapmanville, for the first time since 1986.


Over in Ky., Jim Matney has left Sheldon Clark after 20 years to replace Bill Tom Ross (3-17) at Johnson Central, according to the March 16th edition of Louisville's Courier-Journal. Asst. Shawn Hager was promoted to fill Matney's shoes.

According to an August 6th story in the Floyd Co. Times, former Betsy Layne head coach (and Prestonsburg asst.) Jackie Bush is now an asst. at East Ridge, and an Aug. 13th story says that Glen Ripkoski has returned to the Bobcat sidelines after a one-year absence.

Letcher High has decided to field a team in their final year of existence before consolidating with Whitesburg & Fleming-Neon to form Letcher Co. Central at Ermine. So when the fans say "Go, Eagles!", they'll really go! Best of luck to Charles Hall.

And the Aug. 20th edition of the Lexington Herald-Leader says Jon Reynolds is the new coach at Cumberland (he coached Knox Central in 2001) and Mark Johnson (apparently not the one at Jenkins) takes over at Fleming-Neon (which was previously coached by Steven Holbrook).


In Tenn., the Elizabethton Star reported on June 4th & August 11th that Gary Keith had been promoted to head coach at Cloudland, replacing 16 year vet Mike Lunsford (136-40) who resigned in January.
The July 10th edition of the Johnson City Press says that Keith had surgery over the Summer & Lunsford is now the O.C. at Avery Co., N.C.

Their Feb. 13th edition said Unicoi Co. named Happy Valley O.C. Drew Pettit as the replacement for Larry Howell.

Their Aug. 20th edition said North Greene promoted asst. James Rosenbalm to replace Tim Bailey.

And their June 11th edition said that Eddie Pless was promoted to head coach at Elizabethton, replacing Tommy Jenkins, who resigned in May (after 4 seasons) for health reasons.

Unfortunately, Coach Jenkins lost his battle with cancer on Wed., Aug, 26th. See stories in the Elizabethton Star and the Bristol Herald Courier.

The Bristol Herald Courier also had 2 other coaching changes in their August 25th football preview section. Daniel Boone alum Jeremy Jenkins has come home after a year at Sullivan South, and South brought Stacy Carter back home from Sullivan East, where he coached baseball.



The "volunteer" coach has been drawing a lot of attention lately.
Newspapers across the state have been doing articles this Summer on how the Fair Labor Standards Act is affecting local school systems. Here are some recent articles :
Roanoke Times - July 2nd
Va. Gazette (Williamsburg) - July 28th
Norfolk Virginian-Pilot : June 30th, July 9th & 10th

An article that I found very helpful to understanding the FLSA can be found in a story (not a series, as it implies) published last Fall in the Washington (NC) Daily News (have you ever been across that bridge???)




NEW : Sept. 4 - The Sept. 2nd edition of the Washington Post says the Northern Region has 10 new coaches, with 5 of them in the Liberty District. Here's what I could find out about them :

At Gar-Field, Joe Mangano takes over for Jim Poythress (22-11).
Poythress moved to Lake Braddock, replacing Marty Riddle (19-21) who resigned in Nov.
Riddle moved to Chantilly, replacing 3 year vet. Ken Kincaid.

At Fairfax, former West Springfield asst. Mat Shannon replaces Bill Rechin (15-24) who resigned in Dec. and is now an asst. at Chantilly.

At Washington-Lee, R.J. Windows replaces Chad Lewis (10-29).
Lewis moved to R. E. Lee-Springfield, replacing Gerry Pannoni (21-29).
Pannoni moved to W.T. Woodson, replacing Mark Cox (46-45), who went to Battlefield.

At Wakefield, asst. Tim Churchill takes over for Joseph Donnelly (1-9).

At McLean, former Colonial Forge O.C. Rick Rivera replaces Joe Muskett (17-32), who wants to watch his son play for George Mason.

At South Lakes, John Ellenberger moves up from O.C. to replace Joe Trabucco (14-9), who left for Orlando.

At West Potomac, the Sept. 2nd edition of the Alexandria Gazette says former asst. Eric Henderson replaces Chris Davidson (3-7), who moved to La Plata, Md..


According to a Sept. 2nd article in the Norfolk Virginian-Pilot, Norview hired alum Robert Toran, who's been an asst. at B.T. Washington the past 11 years, to replace Carlton Thomas (29-33).

And a March 13th article in the Virginian-Pilot said that Maury has hired former East Carolina lineman (and Granby alum) Dealton Cotton to replace Todd Mitchell (3-17), who stepped down in Feb..


According to a pre-season preview article in the Newport News Daily Press, the Franklin Broncos promoted asst. Darren Parker to replace Kinsey Bynum, who became asst. principal over the Summer.


According to an August 25th article in the Lexington News-Gazette, Parry McCluer named long-time asst. Rad Patterson to replace Billy Thomas (1-16), who is now asst. principal at the middle school.


NEW : Sept. 9 - The Rappahannock Record recently said that Northumberland named co-offensive coordinator & '96 alum Tony Booth as their replacement for Terry Meehan (6-24).