In less than one week, two area high school football coaches either resigned or were fired following disappointing seasons. One thing is ominously certain: There will be more openings soon.
Although I may be anything but an ideal matchmaker or headhunter, I would advise the administrations at Marion County and Walker Valley high schools, which already are looking for head coaches, that there will be plenty more programs to compete against for the best choices in the coming weeks.
And if I learned anything from my high school prom days, it's better to take a chance and ask the best-looking candidates before the competition claims them.
Regardless of whether it's one of the two area programs already searching, or a place that is ready to make a change, there are two young coaches already gainfully employed in our area, and leading their programs into the playoffs tonight, who should be given strong consideration for any vacancy.
Lookout Valley's Tony Webb has earned the chance to prove himself at a bigger program with more resources. Despite coaching at one of the area's smallest schools and a program with virtually no tradition, Webb and his talents should be recognized by the bigger programs.
And while it might be tougher to pry him away from his alma mater, I would love to see what Polk County's Derrick Davis could do at a program that produces more talent. To win as many games as he has for as many years as he has with as little talent as he works with annually, Davis is nothing short of a wizard.
Davis has been Polk's head coach for 12 years, guiding the Wildcats to a program-best 11 straight winning seasons despite having coached just two players who signed college scholarships -- a punter and an offensive lineman, both to FCS programs. In the seven years before Davis returned to his alma mater, Polk County went a combined 14-56, including 0-10 the year before he took over.
Not only has he averaged eight wins in his tenure, but he helped Polk to its only undefeated regular season, three straight district championships and wins over perennial playoff powers such as Tyner and South Pittsburg plus Class 6A member Bradley Central. His Wildcats are the only team eve to have whipped South Pittsburg by the state's 35-point mercy rule, and they did that last year before the Pirates went on to win a state title.
"I've been really impressed with what he has done at that program for a long time," said Cleveland's legendary former coach Benny Monroe, who won three consecutive Class 4A state championships and later guided Ooltewah to the semifinals twice. "He's kind of been in his own world over there, so what he's done has gone unnoticed a lot, but he's one of the best young head coaches I've seen."
While Davis has been a magician despite a lack of natural talent, Webb consistently wins despite being limited numbers. Lookout Valley typically fields a roster of fewer than 25 players, but he continues to find ways to win.
Lookout Valley had won eight games just once and advanced to the playoffs only six times before Webb arrived. But he has taken the Yellow Jackets to the postseason six times in his eight years, averaging eight wins per season.
Webb would be an ideal choice at Walker Valley, where his brother Scott is a teacher and former coach. After one year as an assistant with the Mustangs, Scott Webb coached them from 2002 to '06, winning two region titles and beating Cleveland for the first time in program history. While he has been out of coaching since 2006, he would certainly return to the sideline to help his brother as defensive coordinator or to simply acclimate him to the community.
And before anyone in the Walker Valley community looks down his nose at the prospect of hiring a coach from a tiny Class 1A school, just remember that the Mustangs have had as many 0-10 seasons as winning seasons (2) in the program's 11 years of existence and never won more than seven games in a season.
If Davis and Webb can lead their current programs to success, imagine what they could do at places where they're not shackled by limitations.