ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Wednesday, April 10, 1996 TAG: 9604100041
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: B-4 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: BOB TEITLEBAUM STAFF WRITER
Long-time Timesland football coach and athletic director Jerry Cannaday is calling an end to his career, retiring at the end of the current school year.
Cannaday, a Roanoke native who played football at Jefferson High School and Virginia Tech, is retiring as Shawsville High's athletic director, a post he has held since 1991.
Cannaday has made Timesland football coaching stops at Bassett, where he worked with standout Tech quarterback Maurice DeShazo and North Carolina running back Aaron Staples, and Shawsville. He also coached football at Greensville County and Monacan.
``It's been fun, but you know when it's time,'' said Cannaday, 63, whose resignation was accepted by the Montgomery County school board.
``I've got 12 grandchildren and a lot of traveling I want do. I'll do some work, but nothing steady.''
Cannaday was a part of some of Roanoke's greatest high school football teams at Jefferson under legendary coach Rudy Rohrdanz, who passed away last fall. He played defensive end for the late Frank Moseley at Virginia Tech, though he served in the armed forces during the Korean War and had to take time away from school before finishing his college career in 1959 with a degree in architectural engineering.
Cannaday gave up a career in architectural engineering to coach. His overall head coaching record was 58-81-2 at some of the state's tougher schools to achieve a winning record.
Cannaday's best season was his final one at Bassett in 1989. Led by DeShazo, the Bengals were 10-0 during the regular season to claim the Piedmont District title before losing in the first round of the playoffs.
Cannaday resigned after that season and took an assistant's post at Franklin County so he could move back to Roanoke and be closer to his mother. After taking over at Shawsville, Cannaday tried to give up the football post after the 1992 season. When the coach he had hired during the summer of 1993 decided not to come, Cannaday led the Shawnees for another season.
LENGTH: Short : 44 linesby CNB