Tim Moore resigns as South Pittsburg football coach

photo Tim Moore

What a difference a year makes.

Nearly one year to the day after guiding South Pittsburg to the Class 1A state championship football game, Tim Moore has resigned as the Pirates' coach.

A 1978 SPHS graduate, Moore returned as coach in May 2013, after the program had gone through a tumultuous time in which he became the third head coach in a five-month span. Vic Grider resigned after a 16-year career, and then current Marion County coach Ricky Ross resigned four months after taking the job.

In Moore's first season, the Pirates finished 12-2 and state runners-up. This year they were eliminated in the second round and wound up 6-6.

"There was a difference of opinion on the future of the program," Moore said shortly after informing the team Thursday afternoon. "I wanted to resign to get out of the way so they could find they right guy to take the program where it needs to be.

"I love the school and I want it to do well, and I love the whole community, so I'm disappointed and wish we could have got things where we all wanted it to be. These things happen when you coach. Sometimes it just doesn't work out. I appreciate all the people who supported us."

Moore spent much of his professional career in the midstate, coaching at Battle Ground Academy for 15 years, at Franklin Road Academy and later at LaVergne High. At BGA, first as defensive coordinator, he helped the Wildcats win three state championships (1995, '97 and '98) and finish runner-up in 1992. He won two other state titles as BGA's head coach in 2001 and 2003 and was runner-up in 2002.

"Tim is a class act and he made the best of a really tough situation," said school principal Danny Wilson, who hopes to have a new coach in place by the first of the year. "We appreciate the time and energy he's put into the program.

"We've got a couple of candidates in mind that we're going after and that we feel good about. We learned some things from the last time, and we want to pursue guys we know will fit our program."

Contact Stephen Hargis at shargis@timesfreepress.com or 423-757-6293.

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