Official word via his daughters Facebook. Will post the text below. 

From Kennadi Kirk Facebook:

I know this is a long post, (added to a previous post) but I promise it’s worth reading. I feel best you hear it from me, his daughter first. We love our dad!

To say the least, you’d be surprised at what comes with the game of basketball. You’d think it’s just two goals and two teams with one orange ball. However, there comes ups and downs, wins and loses, best friends and enemies, tears and laughter and so much more.

So far, my dad has been a coach for 20 years. Twenty years (and I’m 21) he has put his all into the game of basketball to do what he loves. The dedication he has will never be matched by some. In these years he’s had to make some really tough decisions, but also a lot of very easy decisions. The name calling, harassment, bashing, threatening and whatever else towards my father has NEVER slowed him down. Besides the negative aspect that being a coach comes with that you can’t control, coaching also has lots of lost time he has missed out on with his family. He doesn’t do this because he’s forced to, he does this to be able to put his all into being a coach and giving kids what they deserve. There have been many many late nights of being stuck in a gym until midnight, many many early morning practices, not getting home until late evenings on days he has practice, hours spent traveling on a bus, watching film at the house and so much more that nobody sees. But, throughout everything his family, friends, and people he doesn’t even know exist have supported him and loved him as much as they could.

Within dad’s 20 years of coaching he has made some big accomplishments with a great coaching staff and team of athletes that stand behind him and believe in him. 

• 10th Region Hall of Fame Inductee 2010

• He has won 205 games (143 of those wins being at Mason County)

• Won the 2016 District Championship at Augusta •Has won the last EIGHT District Championship games at Mason County. 

• 2023 KY 2A Championships Boys Basketball State CHAMPS! 

• 10th Region Coach of the Year 2016, 2021 and 2023 

• KABC 2021 and 2023

With that being said, there has been some very extremely hard and difficult days within our family. After now 20 years of dedication, sacrifice, and love for the game and kids he has coached, dad has been let go from his coaching position. There was no real explanation that could justify the amount of time, heart, and effort he has poured into this program. Sometimes in life decisions are made not made based on character, hard work, or end results, but on [redacted], SELFISHNESS, COWARDS, AND PERSONAL OPINIONS. Some people can’t accept the truth being said to them, but would rather bring someone else down than accept defeat upon themselves.

What many of you may not know is that over the past year our family has also been facing one of our hardest battles. My mom has been very sick and has been fighting through serious health issues for over a year now, receiving no answers of what is causing her body to decline. Undergoing one surgery, and an immediate second surgery almost losing her life due to a surgical mess up, 1000 of doctor’s appointments later, and no improvements in her body. Despite everything going on at home and in our personal life, my dad never stopped showing up for his players, his team, his program, and even the school district. He carried the weight of worrying about his family, and dealing with all the hatred received from different people while still giving everything he had to those kids and to the game he loves the most.

But if there’s one thing I know about my dad, it’s that a title will never define who he is. Coaching was never just a job for him, it was a passion and a calling that he loved doing even on the hardest days. The impact he has made on hundreds of kids over the last 20 years, and 8 years being at mason county cannot be taken away by one decision. The lessons he’s taught, the relationships he’s built, the confidence he’s given young athletes, and the memories created in those gyms will last far beyond any season he has had.

While this chapter of our lives has ended, it does not erase all that he has done. The wins, the championships, the FIGHT BACK THIS YEAR, the long nights, early mornings, bus rides, laughter, and tears, every bit of it mattered. And most importantly, the players and coaches who believed in him and the community that has supported him will always know what he truly stood for.

Forever will be proud to call him my dad. Not because of what he’s done, or the awards he has received, but because of the man he is, the coach he was to so many young athletes, and the example he continues to set even through hatred. 

This may be the end of one chapter, but I promise you insensitive people will NEVER be able to completely bring him down. Mason county, DO BETTER ?

I'm hearing this isn't the only one in the area opening today.