THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Friday, February 9, 1996 TAG: 9602070182
SECTION: CHESAPEAKE CLIPPER PAGE: 23 EDITION: FINAL
TYPE: Sports
SOURCE: BY PATTI WALSH, CLIPPER SPORTS EDITOR
LENGTH: Medium: 66 lines
HOW LONG WILL the Great Bridge football program continue to struggle?
The Wildcats, once dominant on the gridiron in the late '60s and '70s, have gone 6-24 over the last three years, have had only one winning record in the last six years, face the loss of half the student body to the new Hickory High next year and are in the market to replace head coach Phil Webb, who resigned several weeks ago.
Webb, who took over reins of the fledging program in 1993, stepped down to spend more time with his family.
``We've been rebuilding for the last three years,'' Webb said. ``I have a 14-year-old daughter and an 11-year-old boy and a 4-year-old boy. If I take three more years to rebuild - I think that's a general time frame for most coaches - I'm going to look up and they'll be gone. I want to spend more time with my kids.''
Thus leaving someone else - the fourth person in 10 years - to spend more time with the ailing football program.
``Maybe the next person can get it done,'' Webb said. ``I hope they do.''
According to Great Bridge principal and former head coach Bob Robinson, there are no front runners for the job. But he said, Great Bridge is hoping to find someone who will breathe life into the program, one which has problems that can't seem to be diagnosed and mended by anyone.
``If I had a prescription for what has happened,'' Robinson said, ``I would have filled it. Hopefully we would have recovered.''
Added Webb: ``I can't say anything specific has happened. I hate to be vague. It's not something I was happy with. But we worked every day to be successful. And we saw success in other ways than by wins and losses. I think the kids learned a lot. We played an awful lot of close games, but we could never seem to get over the hump. Sometimes it's a matter of timing.''
And the opening of Hickory couldn't come at a worse time for the Wildcats, who will also graduate 12 seniors from the squad.
``Any time you take a school and split it in half,'' Webb said, ``it's like starting over.''
Great Bridge, the largest school in the Southeastern District with about 2,100 students, will share similar enrollment numbers with the other Southeastern District schools.
Deep Creek coach Jerry Carter, who draws his team from about 1,100 students, says that numbers shouldn't hurt the Wildcats. The key, he said, is getting more athletes to compete in more than one sport. The tendency for athletes to specialize in one sport - like wrestling, for example - may be drawing the limelight away from the other programs.
As for the numbers, Carter said the loss just might be what Great Bridge needs.
``It might be a blessing in disguise,'' he said. ``Sometimes at the smaller schools, less kids get lost in the shuffle.''
One thing's for sure: the new Great Bridge coach will have his work cut out for him. ILLUSTRATION: HIGH SCHOOL FOOTBALL
Great Bridge head coach Phil Webb resigned several weeks ago.
AT A GLANCE
[For a copy of the graphic, see microfilm for this date.]
by CNB