After overseeing the football program at his high school alma mater for four seasons, Goose Manning has stepped down as head coach at Ooltewah.
Manning, a 2011 graduate of the school, informed the team of his decision Thursday morning.
“I met with our administration earlier this week, and we were all in agreement that it’s just time for someone else to try and get the program back to where it needs to be,” Manning said. “I’m an Ooltewah guy, and I don’t want to be the reason we’re not winning. If it takes someone else coming in and getting us over the hump, then I’m OK with that.
“We’ve done everything right. Our culture is good, our team GPA was 3.5 this year, but our kids need to learn how to win, and I’m about what’s good for the kids ultimately. I can lay my head down and know we did everything the right way, but the lesson there that nobody wants to learn is that doing everything right doesn’t always translate into winning.”
The decision makes Ooltewah the first Hamilton County prep football head coaching job to become available since the TSSAA regular season ended two weeks ago.