This is the time of year we focus a little more on what is
really important in the world and in our lives. Families are emphasized as
we all try and share time together and reflect on the big picture.
This too is the time of year for football coaching changes.
That harsh reality hit close to home over the weekend with Steve Logan’s
resignation. There’s always some sadness involved in these situations and
enough fault to go around.
Logan has the security of three more years of base salary at
$200,000.00 per year. That’s the advantage of being the head coach.
If you are an assistant coach and the headman is out, your
situation is much different. Assistant coaches by and large don’t have the
multi-year contracts. Most of them work year to year with contracts that go
though the end of the fiscal year, which is June 30th.
Put yourself in the position of guys like Doug Martin, Tim
Rose, Steve Shankweiler, Bob Leahy, Jerry McManus, Terry Tilghman, Tony
Oden, Don Yanowsky and Ted Daisher.
Those guys are at the mercy of the new head coach. If you
are any of the above right now the phone lines are burning up. I’ve often
thought, not only is the business tough, it’s also a little sad.
Take Cliff Yoshida for instance. What a good man and a good
football coach. Cliff ended up this year at North Carolina A&T — and the new
Director of Athletics, Charles Davis, just fired long time head coach Bill
Hayes.
Here’s a guy now past 60 years old and all he’s done is
coach football. Now that I think about it though, that’s not all he’s done.
Following his reassignment to a lower-paying position on Steve Logan’s ECU
staff a few years ago, Coach Yo worked nights driving a forklift and working
in a local warehouse. He would come to work at ECU at 8:00 a.m. and work
till 5:00 p.m. and then head to his 'other' job and work until 11:00 p.m.
every night. He kept that schedule for the last two years he worked here.
Most assistants land on their feet. Certainly they don’t get
the kind of jobs they really want, and some go back to high school, like
Shankweiler did when Bill Lewis was fired at Georgia Tech.
I feel for the younger guys on the staff with school age
children. It’s tough to move a family and Greenville is a good place to
live. I can’t tell you how many coaches who’ve left Pirate Land that say the
most enjoyable years they’ve spent have been in Greenville. Most of these
folks don’t want to move but they’ll have to.
Tim Rose had already cleared out when we left Saturday
afternoon for Old Dominion. He wants to continue his coaching career and Tim
will land on his feet. Bob Leahy tells me this is the sixth time he’s been
involved in a coaching change. Bob is a survivor and he’ll also get another
job.
All of these guys know when they get into the coaching
profession that it’s a transient business and not always fair. People say
they know what they’re getting into and that’s true, but you still have
compassion for them and their families. Coaching changes affect dozens of
people. It’s never easy.
News “N Notes
What a great crowd at Monday night's ECU-Virginia Tech
basketball game. The official attendance was 7,012 and the atmosphere was
electric. I turned to Si Seymour on the Pirate Sports Radio Network and
commented to him that there were no more student seats around the floor
and those folks were being sent upstairs. What a great problem to have.
The new guys on the team are fitting in beautifully. Derek Wiley gets
better every game and Belton Rivers has incredible potential. These guys
are a lot of fun to watch.
Join us this week for Coach Herrion’s Radio Call-In Show
Thursday night at 8:00 p.m. Better yet, join us in person at Logan’s
Roadhouse Restaurant on Greenville Boulevard.
Airtime Saturday night for East Carolina and Mount Olive
is 6:30 p.m.
Join us for Coach Herrion’s Television Show Sunday at
12:00 noon on WITN Channel 7.
