When LeeAnne Shurette made the difficult decision late this past summer to quit coaching softball at Central High School, she did so only after she "had a peace about it" following a lot of prayer.
She resigned so she could spend more time with her sons, ages 11 and 7, but she had a motherly instinct for the Harrison school's softball players.
"I knew God would not give me that peace unless he had something good for the girls," said Shurette, who in eight years as head coach transformed the Lady Purple Pounders into a fixture in the Class AA state sectionals and regulars in the state tournament.
Her successor became one of her former coaches, Randy Crawford, who had been a college head coach the last six years at Tennessee Temple and Brewton-Parker but already had "come home" to Chattanooga. Crawford, 61, had been Shurette's head coach at Ooltewah Middle and Norma Nelson's assistant when she played at Ooltewah High before starring at Tennessee Tech.
Crawford later helped Sandy Mauser at East Ridge High for nine years while completing 23 years as Ooltewah Middle's head coach.
When Nelson, now at East Hamilton, passed the word that Crawford might be available, Shurette said, "Oh, that would be great," she recalled. And when she heard he was interested, her first response was "Yeah!"
It's a case of a mentor taking over for a star student.
"He's good at it. He knows the game, he has three daughters himself and I know he cares about the girls who play for him," Shurette said. "And he coaches similarly to me and my dad (Jerry Mongar, who helped her)."
Central athletic director Steve Lewis sees the choice the same way.
"I got physically sick when Coach Shurette told me she wanted to resign," Lewis said Monday afternoon while Crawford was meeting with the team for the first time. "But when she told me the reason why, I supported her. Family has to come first.
"After meeting Coach Crawford and talking to him, my physical sickness began to ease. I feel good about him. We're still going to miss Shurette on the field, but we still have her in the building. She's a very good teacher, too."
Shurette continues to teach wellness and weight training. And Crawford did not require a faculty spot because he has retired as a teacher.
Kelli Solock, a former Central standout who teaches at Ooltewah, will be his assistant.
Crawford doesn't mind at all that he's taking over a successful program. He had plenty of practice building programs in his college jobs.
"LeeAnne turned it around here," he said. "I just want to build on what she's started. I know these players have been well-coached."
Contact Ron Bush at rbush@timesfreepress.com or 423-757-6291.