Smith High School Football Coaching Change

Word coming in this morning, after we had already gone to mid-morning/mid-day wordpress, the Smith Golden Eagles are going to be making a football coaching change now that 2015 is complete….Smith and former coach Antonio Kirkpatrick could not get together on the future direction of the program and Smith will begin a search to hire a new head football coach….Coach Kirkpatrick has a very bright offensive mind and he should not have much trouble at all landing a new job as a football coach…..We wish him luck because he is about as local as you can get, having been the starting quarterback for Page back in the 90’s and he was the offensive coordinator over at Dudley and directed the Dudley offenses that won back-to-back State 3-AA Titles….Best of luck again to Coach Kirkpatrick as he looks to land at a new spot/school and good luck to Smith too, as they try and find the right man to lead their Golden Eagles’ football program…The search is now on, a new football coach for the Smith Golden Eagles…

Coach Kirkpatrick’s record at Smith High School:
2015:2-9/1-4
2014:4-7/2-3
2013:3-8/0-5

Overall:9-24
Conference:3-12

13 thoughts on “Smith High School Football Coaching Change

  1. Andy, Smith is not only a hard place to teach, but a hard place to coach. There is nothing good about that high school. Any coach with half a brain would not want to work there. However there are coaches out there who will do anything, work anywhere to get a job…Smith is not one of those places.

    terrible place to work.

  2. I guess sometimes you have to jump into the fire to see if you can put the fire out and start a new movement…

    Not sure who goes after this job, but if you do win at Smith, you are in line for Coach of the Year and if you are looking to move up the ladder, you could climb it coming out of Smith as a winner…

    It will be tough, but as you said, somebody out there is ready for the challenge….That one year Coach Brewington did go (10-2) with the Eagles back when they had Eric Ebron, Jeff Sims, Elijah Jordan, Ramses Rojas, Duke McCoy, Quinton Able and others…

    Gonna be tough no doubt about that, but it can be done, but it will take time….No way to overnight it…

  3. If other schools did not take the talent out of Smith year in and year out Smith could be a winner. Guilford County Schools allows this to happen. Smith has the worse facilities in the county but they jump them and fix other schools that are in a lot better shape. Why let one school go? ( PROPASSER probably cheers for Smith kids on the team he/she supports ) By the way Smiths offensive was the worse I have seen in many years.

  4. Smith has sent a lot of student athletes to school on scholarships, so it’s obviously something good about the school.

  5. GREAT guy KP is also a excellent coach,shouldn’t be hard for him to find work Dudley should be in line to get him back p.s. I doubt it but Andy grimsley should really throw everything at KP to come there I’m just saying wat a great idea3

  6. Smith is a tough nut to crack…

    The wrestling guys got it going, but Football is a whole different animal…

    If a kid moved into the district and his parents took him over to Smith to see the stadium and the facilities, he might just be apt to put in for a transfer….

    Need to update/facelift that Stadium and tear down the Press Box and build a new one….Many times your Press Box kind of sets the tone for how your stadium looks….

    If the city can put money into rebuilding the Phillips Avenue Shopping Center, the county ought to be able to put money into upgrading the Smith football facilities and the Phillips Avenue Center is coming along real good right now, but Smith needs help….

    Maybe they can cut a deal with the Bostic Brothers and they can go in there and do some building…Joe could be the man with the plan but bring some life back into the stadium named after his and Jeff’s old coach, Claude Manzi…

    If Claude Manzi was still around, I’m not sure it would be safe for him to set foot in that Press Box….

    Back in the day when things were right, Tony McKee did a very good job over at Smith….

    We need more positive suggestions here……

    Quinton Goods made good on his promise and he came back to help coach basketball and maybe they can find some other former Smith Golden Eagles to come back and breathe some new life into that football program….

  7. Yea that is all Grimsley needs is another coaching change, what would that be 7 coaches since 2000. Places like Grimsley/Smith are tough to coach and teach at because it is not 1980 any more and the Admin/AD’s do not care about the programs. Smith has been allowed to crumble and Guilford county should be ashamed about that happening. Whomever gets that Smith job will have an almost impossible feat but moving down to 3A might help, now if they could only keep Dudley from getting their players they might be OK

  8. AMEN Antispin
    I was working the Smith concession stand for JV football and a PAGE parent said that the facilities were the worse she had ever seen. And it was very sad that GC is letting this happen at one of there schools. Last I checked Ben L. Smith High School still represents GCS.

  9. I have to say I would be lying if I said I didn’t see this coming. Many good coaches have come through Ben L. Smith and left scratching thier head as to what happened during thier tenure.
    Lynwood Gerald (State Champion Defensive Coordinator Parkland High School Now Athletic Director)
    Coach Oakley (Defensive Back Coach Guilford College)
    Rodney Brewington ( 17 wins at Smith/District Championship in Florida/Coaching at Alma Mater)
    Antonio KirkPatrick(2x State Champion Offensive Coordinator)

    It is obvious that very qualified coaches have come and tried to tackle Ben L. Smith but all have ended up in frustrations, resignations, Terminations and a program left in pure shambles. Building a program does not start with the right football coach, I repeat building a program does not start with the right football coach. Building a program starts with the principal not wanting his/her school to be the laughing stock of the state as is the case with Smith. The principal must make a decision to commit 1.Time 2. Resources 3. Money into rebuilding the program. Next the principal must meet with his Ahtletic Director/committee and see what does the best programs in the State Offer that we do not. When the audit is finished if the best programs in the state does A-Z then we he must be willing to do as much as possible to have an equal playing field. For Example, making sure the football coach has a football class, coaches in the building, facilities etc…When the fundamentals are in place or a true plan in place then you have to make in Smith’s case a 7-10 year committment to the next man in charge. Why 7-10 years? Here’s why, the coach must come in and establish a relationship with the local rec football team and the middle schools. He must then convience them that he will be at Smith long term and introduce them to his offensive and defensive system. The current underclassmen are all now trying to figure where they are going to transfer, the border line players now have stopped trying to remain eligible and the move in kids are now looking to go elsewhere. The next 2 season are now rebuilding maybe 3 because you lost your coach(s) and you have to start all over. So you must allow the new coach to get through the transition years then start fresh with his program. By doing this it will build trust with the elementary and middle school kids that are zoned for Smith. Winning starts with the Principal, The Assistant Principal over athletics, The AD, The football Coach and Staff, The community then the kids. The programs that understand this Hit and those that don’t Miss just that simple. To he new Coach: Work Hard-Win-Get the Hell out Quick!!

  10. I would say you can put several schools in the Area in the category (Trinity, Smith, Grimsley, RJRenyolds, Parkland, Lexington, Southern Alamance, South Stokes, Forbush, McMichael

  11. SMITHFAN must not really be a Smith fan. If you are you have a fun way of showing it. Why would you want a coach win and get out. (2x State Champion Offensive Coordinator at Dudley where the O-line was better and strong than every team around. So the quarterback getting the ball and running into the line 6 or 7 times back to back worked. That did not work because Smith did not have that and will not because the kids are not at Smith that should be.

  12. @CLINT,

    I really don’t know if you understand the politics at Ben L. Smith because if you did you would understand the post in it’s context. I tried to list as accurately as possible the process to building a football program. I have been in the profession long enough to know that winning is way of life, a culture, mindset and ultimately a tradition. If the Smith Administration and Booster Club would get on board instead of fault finding the program could gain respectability. Living In Greensboro and watching the kids make a mass exodus to Western, Dudley, Ragsdale and Southern Guilford you have to ask what will ever stop the bleeding. Since I know that this administration is not prepared or even leadership driven enough to undergo this type of committment you know that they will hire some bright-eyed eager coach. If he does not the get the support that the others got then he should “WORK HARD-WIN-AND GET THE HELL OUT QUICK!!” If he doesn’t, he will follow the trail of the coaches before him. Luckily for KirkPatrick all the coaches who have left the program are doing well now.

    Gerald-Smith-A.D. Parkland
    Oakley-Smith-DB Coach Guilford College
    Brewington-Smith-South View Head Coach
    Kirk Patrick-Smith-?

    I hope the Green and Gold mighty Eagles can bring a solid coach. Clint, let’s both cheer for Smith and not fight each other, but I am truly a fan pulling for the Eagles!

  13. Clint, I dont have any kids playing sports in Guilford County. The problem, like alot of the other schools in Guilford County, starts with Administration of the school board, which affects administration at the school level. Smith has different languages spoke at the school, they have gangs, and they never had a n administrator that supported sports. The previous Administrator wanted to fire everyone. That seems to be a common thread in GCS. Just take a look at Northeast. Same situation.

Comments are closed.