AppalachianTactician

per the BG Daily News: The Russellville football team will have a new face on the sidelines following the dismissal of longtime head coach and alum Mikie Benton earlier this week. Benton, a star for the Panthers who played at the University of Kentucky before returning to take the reins in 2018, said he was informed of the decision on Monday. The decision came after several offseason meetings with Russellville Independent School District superintendent Tim Guinn. The first came right after the season in November. “He made a statement that I guess the discipline of the team wasn’t up to par like what he wanted,” Benton said. “Basically he wanted me to put a plan together that fixed it, so you know I was like OK cool, no problem.” Benton said he went back and put together a plan with the coaching staff that he presented to Guinn a few weeks later. “He was like I still think you need to add a veteran coach that’ll help you out, so I was like OK cool,” Benton said. “We went on the search. It was a bit of a struggle, but ended up finding somebody. I let them know that we had somebody hired and he was like OK cool, we’ll talk soon. “I came to work Monday morning and I got pulled into the principal’s office. He basically told me you know we gotta have a tough conversation that basically the superintendent wanted me gone. It just literally caught me by surprise.” Read more at: https://bgdailynews.com/2026/01/07/benton-out-as-russellville-coach/ https://bgdailynews.com/2026/01/07/benton-out-as-russellville-coach/

Could this be a situation where the upper administrators said “We need you to focus on being the Dean of students or the football coach and you have to choose?” I know some schools do not like admin as coaches. I am not saying this happened, I am just curious and don’t seem to know anyone who knows what happened.

I have often thought that percentage based stipends would work best for teachers in the building. With so many paraprofessionals it almost seems like a mute point unless the schools base it on their non school job which seems crazy to me. I was looking at Sumner County TN pay scales and appreciate the system they have in place for their coaching stipends. I don't know if JCPS is similar or not. Coaches do not do it for the pay, but I do think they need to be compensated enough to be able to afford to coach and not have that second job instead. I added that pdf for that TN district I was looking at. ex. HC is 18% of their salary. ($60k salary would be a $10,800 stipend) assistant Coach is 8%($60k would be $4,800) Also says based on the size of the school determines the number of paid assistants 1A-5 Assistants 2A/3A- 6 4A/5A-7 6A-8 SCS_Coaching_Supplements_24-25.pdf

Did he ruffle feathers with somebody? I highly doubt this is a football performance based decision, at the 1A level dealing with such small class sizes that rarely is the case and his first few years Russellville was very very bad and they allowed him to grow out of it. This has the smell of him upsetting someone in power or maybe an in the school classroom issue rather than a football decision.

I’ve heard they have offered their first choice and he’s supposed to let them know by Friday.

Any old player coaches from before the KHSAA playoff days? lol.

I heard they had some/most of the interviews yesterday. Heard Mills and Harris are the two favorites.

Feel like this will be one of those where you can only pick 3/4 LOL Proven Head Coach Hungry/Energetic Relatable/Personable There for the long haul

Will Jack Herron, Glasgow DC and former Southwestern DC be interested in this opening? He did just have one of the best overall statistical defenses in the entire state.

Very excited about this kid.

Hearing rumblings.

Any updates on this job? Need to know if we need to open a search party for new Glasgow assistant since they keep getting brought up.

Glasgow struggles to shoot the ball consistently and has trouble against the 2-3 zone as well as escaping traps. A lot of talent on their roster athletically in Jerrick martin and Jaylen Bradley. Not sure why they can't seem to win more games.

Multiple Middle Schools is a big bonus opportunity. Just think about development in each position. Two QB from every school in every class that could get meaningful reps at the young age across the board at the other positions as well. having one school limits how many kids can move into the high school. Imagine one school: 2 QB 2 RB 3-4WR etc... VS 3 schools: 6QB 6RB 12WR OL/DL... so much more depth being developed.

He was mentioned a lot when they talked about the job potentially being open. I wonder what his thoughts are.

I agree. Old school hard working guy, but young and enthusiastic. He’s around 30 years old and lives in BG now. Hopefully coach Arnett at Glasgow can keep him around. He’s been at Glasgow around 5 years now. Also a math teacher. I wonder if he’s interested in leaving?

Jack Herron, Very young but very talented, had a great season at Glasgow, and also an alumni? Justin Hoosier from Green County, who is from Taylor County, been a DC before a couple times and has been on staff there at Taylor county before? Foley to return? not having a great last few season at Southwestern. Will Harris, Been the DC and has done a great job. It has looked like a HC in waiting situation there. Anyone else that could be intriguing?

Hey Coach, Many new administrators are purely from academia and younger and younger when they take over. The days of the old man with a few years left until he retires and is also the school's football coach seem to be a way of the past. My question I guess is how can can we as coaches and people in the community guide our new leaders into truly supporting us. I do believe they want us to succeed, but with many of them not having a sports background, I don't think they really know how to help us. We can be mad at them all we want for "not supporting our athletic programs" but that doesn't really solve the problem and just creates negative attention and resentment. We coach our kids to become what we want them to be, I think we have to coach our administrators as well, again many of them being receptive to the idea that they want to help. What are maybe 5 examples of good administrator support and maybe what are signs of neglect. What would be a few ideas we can help our guys grow into? Thanks again, frequent listener and long-time supporter.

Hiring before the State Finals can give the impression that the search wasn’t fully inclusive, because many qualified coaches are still actively coaching and may not have been able to apply or interview yet. Coaches who are preparing for postseason play typically can’t step away from their teams, so waiting ensures you’re considering the full pool of candidates.

Owensboro Catholic Raceland Owensboro Boyle Trinity CAL 90 points

I’d have to imagine they’d wait until at least after the state finals because it looks bad to do it before and then try and get it hired by the 1st of the year.

They did that in the state finals a few years ago, kept the ball the entire 1st Qtr and scored the first play of the second quarter. CAL still beat them 41-16. I think about a similar score here.

3 remaining in 3A... and all four teams in 3A have a combined 1 loss this season, Bell to Pulaski by a single point. Pretty amazing.

Which of these open Louisville area jobs is the most attractive and why? Like how would we rank them and the reason, including X next season.

Frederick Douglas Bell County Mayfield Boyle Bowling Green 59 points