Tennessee Christian Prep was preparing for its second varsity football season, but the Cleveland school's administration decided Thursday night to put the program on hold for at least a year because of diminishing numbers.
Coach Toby McKenzie had put the Hawks through their 7-on-7 paces in July and was working them through preseason drills.
"When we got back from the dead (no-contact) period, we had 25 players. On Monday we were down to 18, and Wednesday afternoon we had three more quit for various reasons," said McKenzie, who has invested at least three years in building the program. "We told the kids last night that we are suspending the program until we get higher enrollment numbers."
Initial indication was that the school would continue its middle school program.
Meanwhile, McKenzie, who has a job in the private sector, was undecided about football and his coaching career.
"I did it more because of my passion for the game and for the kids," he said, adding that numerous friends in the coaching community had reached out with job offers. "I haven't decided what I'm going to do. I'm going to go spend some family time in Gatlinburg, talk with my wife and pray about it."
TCP had 2016 games scheduled with Boyd-Buchanan, Sale Creek, Grace Academy, Copper Basin and Lookout Valley.
"One concern was trying to help those schools find games," McKenzie said. "And then we had a senior prospect I'm trying to help. He needs to play somewhere."
Ron Cox started a program at Sale Creek the same year as TCP started. The biggest difference was Sale Creek jumping straight into varsity competition.
"I understand where he's coming from," Cox said. "We're still struggling a little. I have 26 right now, and five of them are banged up. It can get aggravating. I had three defensive backfield starters who decided not to come back. But the game of football is not for everybody, I don't care how good an athlete they might be.
"I hate it for Toby. He has put a lot of work into it."
Lookout Valley has tightroped through several seasons with two dozen players or fewer. Thanks to a co-op agreement with Richard Hardy, the Yellow Jackets now have 26.
"You hate it for (McKenzie and TCP players)," Lookout Valley coach Tony Webb said. "It's a tough decision, but you can't play high school football with 15 kids. You might for a couple of weeks but no longer."
Boyd-Buchanan was to be the Hawks' opener, and because work on the Buccaneers' new artificial turf took longer than anticipated, the game was going to be in Cleveland.
"We are searching for a game on Aug. 19 or Sept. 9," new Bucs coach Carter Cardwell said. "The first game on our new field will be Aug. 26 versus King's Academy."
Initial indications were that most opponents probably would take forfeit victories because of the lateness of TCP's decision.
Contact Ward Gossett@wgossett@timesfreepress.com or 423-886-4765. Follow him on Twitter @wardgossett.