Old Ric Flair Being Forced Out
Randy Bethel was fired on Friday evening. Thus, everyone on our coaching staff was let go at the same time. Sebastian River High School (SRHS) decided that they wanted to go in a different direction. I guess we all have to face the facts at least once in our life. I am going to do my best to keep this together, and I am going to try and paint a picture of what is happening in my life (and in my head) as I face the facts that I am no longer a Football Coach at SRHS.
You know, it's funny. I am not really sure why I kept this blog in the first place. Truthfully, I never really intended to retire at the end of this season, although Coach Wilson, Coach Brown and I often made false promises that SRHS would miss us when we were not here next year. In fact, in the opening statement of my blog, I stated that this could very possibly be my last year at SRHS. I never really believed it would happen.
Not Being Wanted Anymore is Hell
If this would have happened last year it would have been understandable. If this would have happened two years ago, it would have been even more understandable. We were struggling with a young team, and our win/loss record showed it. People were not interested in our program any longer, and the empty stands were quite disheartening. What were we doing wrong? Why are we not getting the athletes out for football? Why did I feel like hiding every time I walked into a Home Depot or Walmart? Was I ashamed? Absolutely not, but I also got tired our answering the same question: "Whats wrong with the football team?"
This year was different. We knew we had a senior-loaded team coming back for this season. We all felt like this was going to be our year. The kids worked extremely hard during the off-season. Our seniors were showing great leadership, and we had a great looking group of underclassmen. YES! This was it, and we knew it. We knew the parameters we had to meet in order to keep our job:
A: We MUST win the district
B: We MUST get the community behind the program.
The season started off very badly for us. We lost Coach Washington for the year. We lost Coach Matthews for most of the season. We lost Coach Jefferson for six weeks. We lost Coach Wilson for three weeks. We were operating on a skeleton coaching crew for most of the year. All the Varsity coaches were stretched very thin....but we kept pushing forward. We also lost at least five varsity starting players during the season due to injury or otherwise.....but we kept pushing forward. Somehow we were going to get it done. We just knew this was our year.
We dropped a couple of early games to much bigger schools than us. Both Vero Beach and Ft. Pierce Central were state ranked, but we never quit fighting. Then, we accomplished an amazing feat. We ripped off seven straight victories to win the district for the first time in school's history. We did exactly what we had to do. People were excited for us. People wanted to be part of our victory. Our picture was taken and placed on a banner which hangs in the gym. Our team was so proud. Finally our job was safe.....I thought. Then, our world came crashing down. All of a sudden we were being pushed out into the street. What the hell happened? Didn't we just win the district? I guess it was not good enough to survive the ax. Our staff is extremely tight, so I am sure we are all going through the same thing. What is going to happen to Coach Bethel? Where will all my friends coach next year? The young guys will move on, but us older guys will probably never hit the field again.
Who am I? Why do I really care so deeply for my coaching colleagues? Do I have a role in coaching anymore? Who will want a 50 something year old coach who is set in his ways? What happened to me? I used to be such a good football coach, but I guess time has passed me by. I guess I am still useful at fixing or building things for the team, and maybe I could still screw a facemask on a helmet or something. Need something designed? Coach George is your man, but he does not know shit about football (X's & O's) anymore. Maybe I can still be the token old guy on a staff....you know the old guy who is always holding a clipboard?
What about my players? What will they think? I wanted to hang around and see Mason and Zack finish up next year. Did I quit on them? No I did not! I am fighting this mental battle in my head....I am having a hard time dealing with this. I have NEVER been fired at anything. Am I a loser? How the hell did that happen? One minute I want to cry, and the other minute I want to punch a hole in the wall. I feel hurt and I feel betrayed.
Here is the rub. We worked our ass off this year to finish 8-3 to win the district title.....and we still lost our job. Hell, I could have sat on my ass and did absolutely NOTHING to finish 0-10 (and still get fired.) I wonder who is smarter?
Who do I blame? No one really. Maybe I will blame society for placing so much emphasis on winning. Yeah, lets blame society. When did winning become paramount over teaching the "Lessons in Life" that we have to teach every player coming through the system? However, society loves a winner, so winning must be used to judge how successful a coach is to a community. Its a shame really, because there are some awesome coaches looking for jobs right now.
Who am I? Why do I really care so deeply for my coaching colleagues? Do I have a role in coaching anymore? Who will want a 50 something year old coach who is set in his ways? What happened to me? I used to be such a good football coach, but I guess time has passed me by. I guess I am still useful at fixing or building things for the team, and maybe I could still screw a facemask on a helmet or something. Need something designed? Coach George is your man, but he does not know shit about football (X's & O's) anymore. Maybe I can still be the token old guy on a staff....you know the old guy who is always holding a clipboard?
What about my players? What will they think? I wanted to hang around and see Mason and Zack finish up next year. Did I quit on them? No I did not! I am fighting this mental battle in my head....I am having a hard time dealing with this. I have NEVER been fired at anything. Am I a loser? How the hell did that happen? One minute I want to cry, and the other minute I want to punch a hole in the wall. I feel hurt and I feel betrayed.
Here is the rub. We worked our ass off this year to finish 8-3 to win the district title.....and we still lost our job. Hell, I could have sat on my ass and did absolutely NOTHING to finish 0-10 (and still get fired.) I wonder who is smarter?
Who do I blame? No one really. Maybe I will blame society for placing so much emphasis on winning. Yeah, lets blame society. When did winning become paramount over teaching the "Lessons in Life" that we have to teach every player coming through the system? However, society loves a winner, so winning must be used to judge how successful a coach is to a community. Its a shame really, because there are some awesome coaches looking for jobs right now.
