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Change in AD isn’t solution for SMHS woes
Once again, members of the Jackson County Board of Education have shown they just don’t get it when it comes to problems facing the athletic program at Smoky Mountain High School.
It doesn’t take a very big magnifying glass to read between the lines and realize Athletic Director Si Simmons’ request for a reassignment to teaching duties was not voluntary.
We believe Simmons is being made a scapegoat for the Mustangs’ recent lack of success in some high profile sports. The problem with that thinking is most of the issues hurting athletics are out of Simmons’ control.
Until the school board gives the principal and athletic director some flexibility in looking for people who can work as head coaches and assistants when hiring teachers, things won’t get better.
Until board members face reality and address how the lack of a middle school is hampering athletics, things won’t get better.
The bottom line is that a change in athletic directors won’t address the major problems without a change in thinking at the top. With Simmons forced out, perhaps board members will feel an urgency to be more supportive of the new athletic director and provide the resources necessary to make Mustang athletics competitive across the board.
If that occurs, then we can hold the new AD and members of the coaching staff accountable for their success or lack thereof. Until then, it’s unfair to expect our coaches to field competitive teams with one hand tied behind their backs.
Simmons has been a loyal employee of the school system for nearly 20 years. He never sought the limelight, preferring to stay in the background while the student-athletes and coaches were center stage. Flamboyance and fireworks aren’t his style, but caring about kids is.
That seems like the kind of person we would want to reward, but we don’t always do business that way in Jackson County. School system politics can be an ugly thing as we have learned in the past. Many still feel that it was the firing of Babe Howell as football coach 15 years ago (another example of school system politics at its worst), that started us down this slippery slope of athletic decline.
Despite these shenanigans, we pledge to support and work with the new athletic director.
If school board members want to discover who is responsible for problems with Mustang athletics, we have a suggestion. They should take a look in the mirror.
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