ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Tuesday, October 15, 1996 TAG: 9610150117
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: B-1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: BOB TEITLEBAUM STAFF WRITER
JERRY LITTLE HAS REPLACED Horace Green after a 2-5 start and will be calling the shots for the Eagles on an interim basis.
Franklin County High School couldn't wait for the end of the season to change football coaches.
With only three games left on the schedule, the Rocky Mount school has forced head coach Horace Green to step down.
Green said he was told about the move after Friday night's 49-14 loss to Pulaski County, which left the Eagles with a 2-5 record, but the change wasn't made because of that loss to the perennial Group AAA power. It evidently had been in the making for some time.
Green met with his team Monday to tell the players of the change. Athletic director Jerry Little, a former head coach at Cave Spring and assistant at William Fleming, will coach the Eagles against Halifax County on Friday night and against Patrick Henry (Oct.25) and Fleming (Nov.1).
``You don't win, you get fired. That's their choice,'' Green said. ``I don't quit. They're not going to say that [was the reason for the change]. They just said it was for the betterment of the program.''
Franklin County principal Benny Gibson, a former Eagles coach, declined to say whether Green was outsted or had resigned. ``Somewhere in between that,'' Gibson said. ``He stepped down.
``It was a combination of things that I'm not able to go into right now. Coach Little and I met with Coach Green. All things considered, we thought this was the best time. It wasn't over the record. It was over a number of things.''
Little said the season had gotten to the point ``where it was having a dramatic effect on the kids. Everyone had enough when it starts affecting the kids. All things considered, we felt like this was the only option we had.''
This isn't the first time Franklin County has changed football coaches in recent years.
Dean East was fired before moving to Patrick County as head coach. He no longer is in coaching.
Melvin Martin succeeded East at Franklin County and later was forced out. He is now an assistant coach at Laurel Park.
Green was in his fifth year and had a 10-37 record, including an 0-10 mark in his first season.
As happened before Martin's ouster, there were some meetings to discuss the direction of the football program.
``They had a meeting with the parents to find out what the problem was,'' Green said. ``Things were aired. They had a second meeting to find out what they could do to create a positive atmosphere in the community.
``I had no idea this was coming. Sure, it's devastating not getting to finish something you started. But there are worse things. Franklin County will have a good football program with 18 starters coming back next year.
``I told the kids I expected them to keep working hard and good things will happen. I tried to make [the farewell speech] as brief as possible. I didn't want to belabor the issue.''
The question now is: Who will coach the Eagles next? Gibson said Little was only an interim coach with no eye toward the future.
``I haven't thought past this year,'' Little said when asked if he might return to coaching next year. ``We have virtually four days left to get prepared, get the kids and coaches focused'' on Halifax County.
One name Eagles fans have brought up in the past is that of Kris Kahila, Franklin County's highly successful wrestling coach. Kahila has applied for the job each of the past two times the position was open. He said Monday it was premature for him to consider whether he might apply again.
LENGTH: Medium: 70 lines ILLUSTRATION: PHOTO: (headshot) Green. color.by CNB