North Laurel looking for a new head coach

[Les]

7-33 record.

[jvdfc]

7-33 record.

 

So what will he do now?

[Bubba Wilson]

Mike Whitaker

 

Interesting name indeed. Good Coach with a potential to draw some players out that have not been playing for the Jags.

[footballhd]

I..

[footballhd]

So what will he do now?

 

I assume he is a teacher, so probably teach!

[Comic Book Guy2]

Whitaker, Duncum, Roark and a coach currently in the district are names I have heard. Les, have you heard what NL's schedule may look like next year? If a new coach could have a winning season next year it would certainly help build some momentum.

[lungbuster]

I agree. I could see a few coaches at smaller schools being attracted to the position. It would be a chance to coach at a large school, lots of talent, great place to play and a community hungry for success. I am sure some will inquire in due time.

 

Maybe so as long as they don't talk to any of the coaches that have coached their before because of a lack of support. Does Laurel really want a football program or are they just giving lip service? I knew one coach who couldn't even get a bus for a JV game more than once. Just a thought.

[Les]

With Durham as athletic director, he has made it a point to make the football program a successful one. It's no lip service.

 

I know they either play Williamsburg or Knox Central in the Cumberland Valley Bowl. I'm not for sure if they have Corbin again.

[sportsfan08]

So what do they have returning? Do they have the caliber of athletes to compete at a high level in 5A, or just in their area?

[MountainThunder]

Mike Whitaker

 

I agree. He has done a good job where he has been and I think he would be a good fit at NL. I think he may have an interest. He likes the area of London and could be a long termer.

 

As far as Abbott is concerned, I knew that David wasn't happy with how things had gone at NL. It was not for a lack of effort and he worked his butt off. I actually started to see improvement in NL this season with the additions to the staff the last 2 seasons and think whomever takes over this job will be loaded with solid young talent with a desire to win.

 

I thought it was extremely classy for the entire team to climb the fence after the game and dedicate the win on Friday to Coach Abbott. He had to sit out because of a ruling by the KHSAA resulting from his ejection at PCC and refusing to leave the field. Everytime they scored the kids pointed towards the top of the hill. I figured out that this is where Abbott had to go where he was not on school property but could see the game.

 

Abbott is a class act and a great guy who really cares about the kids. I wish it would have worked out, but I think he felt it was time for change for the program and for himself, and I don't blame him one bit. I think it shows great class to resign immediately to allow Mike Black and Jimmy Durham to start the search. I also think they have some solid assistants who may not be ready to be a head coach yet, but would be great coaches to keep with the program. Not to miss any names, but Roark, Allen, Dagley, Collier, McWhorter and Carson are all great role models for these young men and I hope they stay. Not sure if McWhorter will as he is the head baseball coach, and tried to resign to focus on that about 6 years ago but Duncum would not let him!

 

Good luck to Coach Abbott and I wish him all the best. :thumb:

 

As far as who will get the job, ... it would hard to not take Duncum if he applied for it. He was the only coach EVER at NL to have 2 straight winning seasons. When he took over, there were only 19 players on the entire team. When he left, there were around 40-50. Now, Abbott has the numbers up to around 72+. David did an excellent job in recruiting kids from the student body and getting more of the kids from the middle school program to stick with it. The athletes are there to compete in the area and be a good team at the 5A level. They were just very young this year.

[Comic Book Guy2]

I agree. He has done a good job where he has been and I think he would be a good fit at NL. I think he may have an interest. He likes the area of London and could be a long termer.

 

As far as Abbott is concerned, I knew that David wasn't happy with how things had gone at NL. It was not for a lack of effort and he worked his butt off. I actually started to see improvement in NL this season with the additions to the staff the last 2 seasons and think whomever takes over this job will be loaded with solid young talent with a desire to win.

 

I thought it was extremely classy for the entire team to climb the fence after the game and dedicate the win on Friday to Coach Abbott. He had to sit out because of a ruling by the KHSAA resulting from his ejection at PCC and refusing to leave the field. Everytime they scored the kids pointed towards the top of the hill. I figured out that this is where Abbott had to go where he was not on school property but could see the game.

 

Abbott is a class act and a great guy who really cares about the kids. I wish it would have worked out, but I think he felt it was time for change for the program and for himself, and I don't blame him one bit. I think it shows great class to resign immediately to allow Mike Black and Jimmy Durham to start the search. I also think they have some solid assistants who may not be ready to be a head coach yet, but would be great coaches to keep with the program. Not to miss any names, but Roark, Allen, Dagley, Collier, McWhorter and Carson are all great role models for these young men and I hope they stay. Not sure if McWhorter will as he is the head baseball coach, and tried to resign to focus on that about 6 years ago but Duncum would not let him!

 

Good luck to Coach Abbott and I wish him all the best. :thumb:

 

As far as who will get the job, ... it would hard to not take Duncum if he applied for it. He was the only coach EVER at NL to have 2 straight winning seasons. When he took over, there were only 19 players on the entire team. When he left, there were around 40-50. Now, Abbott has the numbers up to around 72+. David did an excellent job in recruiting kids from the student body and getting more of the kids from the middle school program to stick with it. The athletes are there to compete in the area and be a good team at the 5A level. They were just very young this year.

 

Is the current staff pretty much the same staff Duncum had? Will a new coach be able to chose his staff? As much as they have struggled recently it would seem odd if there were no changes made with the staff.

[Les]

I was wrong ... he was 9-31.

[cannonball]

They have the right man under their noses in coach Allen.

[MountainThunder]

Is the current staff pretty much the same staff Duncum had? Will a new coach be able to chose his staff? As much as they have struggled recently it would seem odd if there were no changes made with the staff.

 

No. Roark, Dagley, Collier and Allen were not on Duncum's staff and have just come on board at North Laurel either last season or this season. Abbott, McWhorter & Carson were the only coaches remaining from the Duncum staff. My guess is that the new coach will have some flexibility in choosing their staff, but it could be difficult to bring in an entirely new staff as the school won't have jobs for that many new coaches. They do have some good assistants that could be assets if they were to stay on.

[MountainThunder]

I was wrong ... he was 9-31.

 

I was going to correct you but you beat me to it!