Reid Daniels has announced that he is resigning as boys' basketball coach at Soddy-Daisy High School.
Daniels was a standout player at Soddy-Daisy and graduated in 1996. He signed a basketball scholarship with Bryan College and played two years before transferring to the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga. He spent one redshirt season with the Mocs.
Daniels' coaching stints included jobs at Hixson Middle and Hixson High School. He was an assistant at Soddy-Daisy before taking over the program four seasons ago. In all he's spent 14 years in coaching.
"My kids are at the ages in life where I kind of feel like I need to be there more," Daniels said of his daughters Leah, Sidney and Julia, ranging in ages from 8 to 2. "Every year at the end of the season I sit down with my wife and say, 'Do I need to spend more family time?' I was thinking maybe this is the year. I wish we could've ended on a better season."
The Trojans struggled in District 5-AAA this season and ended up seeded seventh out of seven teams in the district tournament. Their season ended Wednesday with a loss to Ooltewah.
Daniels said he was grateful to principal Steve Henry and athletic director Jared Hensley for the opportunity to coach at his alma mater. Daniels isn't ruling out coaching again at some point but noted that he has a master's degree in education leadership from Trevecca Nazarene and may look to get into administration in the future. In the meantime he's content teaching U.S. history at Soddy-Daisy.
"We appreciate everything Coach Daniels has done for our program here, as an assistant and head coach, and even as a player," Hensley said. "He's put a lot of time into this school and the players, and I respect all that he's done. Our next step will be to begin taking applications immediately, and we hope to have a decision in the coming weeks once we find the person we feel is the right fit for our program."
Contact Kelley Smiddie at ksmiddie@timesfreepress.com or 423-757-6653. Follow him on Twitter @KelleySmiddie.