By Gene Stanley/Sports Correspondent
Josh Averett based a lot of his decision to resign as Gaston High’s football coach earlier this week on a number, and that number isn’t 0-10.
It’s more like the number of young men who either quit the Bulldog football program or transferred to another school.
“I don’t want to stand in the way of Gaston,” Averett said. “If they weren’t playing or playing somewhere else because of me, I can handle that.”
Averett’s resignation was approved by the Etowah County Board of Education Monday.
The team’s 0-10 last season didn’t help matters, but in Averett’s defense, there were some key injuries.
In his third season, the Bulldogs went winless for only the second time in school history.
The team made the playoffs in each of his first two years.
“It was a rough season, all around,” Averett said. “A lot of things went bad, including the visible ones like the transfers. A lot of less seen things happened, too.”
As of now, Averett wants to land a coaching job a bit closer to home. He is commuting to Odenville each day.
“My wife is having to do more than she should, because of my drive time,” he said. “We’ve got two young children and if I can work closer, so that I can be there when needed, will help us a lot.”
In his three seasons at Gaston, the Bulldogs went 11-20 with two state playoff appearances.