
                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: THURSDAY, June 14, 1990                   TAG: 9006140161
SECTION: SPORTS                    PAGE: C5   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: Ray Cox/sportswriter
DATELINE:                                 LENGTH: Short

CANNADAY JOINS STAFF OF EAGLES EX-BASSETT COACH WILL RUN OFFENSE

Jerry Cannaday, who resigned recently as football coach at Bassett High in order to be able to be closer to his mother in Roanoke, has taken a job as offensive coordinator at Franklin County High, he said Wednesday.

"It was a tough decision to leave Bassett, but now it's the right thing to do family-wise," he said.

Cannaday, the coach at Bassett the past six years, will live in Roanoke and commute to Rocky Mount.

Asked if he will be troubled by being an assistant after having his own team, he said he would not.

"I enjoy coaching and I enjoy football," said Cannaday, 57. "My question beforehand was would it be a problem for [head coach] Melvin Martin that I was on the staff? He said it would not. He said he was trying to assemble the best possible staff and that he'd be happy to have me."

Cannaday's credentials as a teacher of offensive football are well known. Among his triumphs at Bassett was the development of All-Timesland quarterback Maurice DeShazo, who was deemed one of the top-five prospects in the state by the Roanoke Times & World-News. DeShazo signed with Virginia Tech.

Cannaday will keep his options open.

"In the future, if something comes up for a head coaching job, I'd always be interested," he said. "Right now, I'm very happy with this decision and I'll be glad to be at Franklin County."

by CNB