Kevin Gillespie(Page High School) named the new head football coach at Asheboro High School:Norman Weeks may join Gillespie at AHS(from the Asheboro Courier-Tribune)

from Dennis Garcia, at www.courier-tribune.com:

ASHEBORO – Kevin Gillespie said Asheboro High School has always been in the back of his mind as a place where he would love to become the head football coach. Now that is a reality.

The former Asheboro High School assistant football coach, who has spent the past 11 seasons leading one of the most successful 4-A football programs in the state, was introduced as the Blue Comets new coach Monday night. Gillespie takes over for Owen George, who resigned last month.

+++++Interesting note here from Dennis Garcia, at the Asheboro Courier-Tribune…..
There may be another familiar face joining Coach Gillespie. Norman Weeks, a former AHS assistant who has spent many years with Gillespie at Trinity High School and Greensboro Page, may join Gillespie at AHS. Weeks said earlier this year he was going to retire from football, but the change to AHS may cause him to change his mind.
CLICK HERE to read all and read more on this/these moves from Dennis Garcia, at the Asheboro Courier-Tribune….

*****from back on Saturday night as our coverage on the Big Story was breaking:*****

Hate to hear this one and hate it for the players and football families at Page HS, they were lucky to have Coach Kevin Gillespie as their head football coach for 11 years and his record while at Page was (101-45) with a NCHSAA State 4-A Title back in 2011 and back-to-back trips to the 4-A State Title game in 2015 and 2016….The 2011 Page Title team led by QB James Summers, who is now a member of the Arizona Cardinals and in 2015-16, QB Will Jones led the Pirates into the Championship Games and Jones is on is way to Western Carolina University for the Fall of 2017….Coach Gillespie gone from Page and on the way to Asheboro High School and his will be tough shoes to fill at Page…To put it mildly, “this man will be missed”, and you can count on that….Coach Gillespie’s top assistant coach Norman Weeks, the man that led the Pirate defense, had decided to step down and give up coaching during the current off-season….

from the Asheboro Courier-Tribune at www.courier-tribune.com……

ASHEBORO — Asheboro High School is apparently ready to name former Greensboro Page coach Kevin Gillespie as its new football coach Monday evening.

Multiple sources close to the situation have confirmed that Gillespie has stepped down as the head football coach at Page High School to take over the football program at AHS. Gillespie has spent the last 11 seasons at Page and led the Pirates to the 2011 4-AA state championship and was 4-AA state runners-up in 2015 and 2016.

He posted a 101-45 record at Page and has a 135-71 overall coaching record, which included a five year stint as head coach at Trinity High School.

Prior to being named the head coach at Trinity, he was an assistant football coach at AHS under David Moody.

Gillespie takes over at Asheboro for Owen George, who stepped down last month.
+++++Direct link to the Coach Gillespie story at the Asheboro Courier-Tribune CLICK HERE…..+++++

from GreensboroSports.com
*****Yes sir, thanks to Coach Kevin Gillespie for the great years he spent coaching high school football, at Page High School…..*****

32 thoughts on “Kevin Gillespie(Page High School) named the new head football coach at Asheboro High School:Norman Weeks may join Gillespie at AHS(from the Asheboro Courier-Tribune)

  1. The only job I ever thought he might leave Page for was the head job at Thomasville, another program like Page with a storied tradition and Coach Gillespie had some ties to Thomasville….

    Coach Gillespie also with ties to Asheboro….He and Coach Norman Weeks were there together over 20 years ago as assistant coaches under head man, David Moody….

    Good luck to Coach Gillespie…He is tough and he will do well…

    Excellent coach and he will be missed big-time at Page…

  2. Sad for the Page family… Kinda glad we will see him around for the next few years. Will only make this conference stronger!

  3. Who will Page bring in as the new head coach for the Pirates???

    Maybe Coach Norman Weeks will reconsider and return to coaching in a chance to step up and lead the Pirates as their head coach….He knows the program well and if you took a survey of Page Pirate parents, I bet they would be in favor of Coach Weeks leading the Pirates’s Ship….

    Coach Antonio Kirkpatrick, now at Dudley as the OC, was once the Page QB and he has head coaching experience, having led the Smith Golden Eagles…

    Coach Kirkpatrick has always had one heck of an offense and you never know…He should at least apply to be the head man at his old school….

    Maybe Jason Lippard will see this as a chance to return to Greensboro from Statesville and want an opportunity to lead a 4-A program…He had a strong offensive game plan too….

    Fritz Hesenthaler has lots of head coaching experience in the area and he knows the Metro 4-A….Many schools would love to have a head man like Coach Fritz on hand because they know he demands discipline from his players, staff and student body….

    Maybe Coach Joe Woodruff, who used to be at Northwest Guilford might consider returning to this area…..

    You just never know when the coaching carousel starts moving again and it is for sure moving right now, with a job opening at Page High School, here in Guilford County….

    Maybe Coach Jones, who used to be at Bishop, would like a shot at a job like Page…..If Coach Westberg had not already landed at Northern last year, he would have been a good candidate…He runs a good offense and knows his defense….

  4. Andy: each coach you mentioned has not demonstrated excellence as coaches. What qualifies and quantifies a coach as excellent? The impact a coach has on his players reflects on them on and off the field. As the MAGA group says, “judge a man by his character and not by his color,” then perform a remotely characterless act. Regardless if Coach G’s departure was leaked by the press, it shows he lacks loyalty. Whenever a [black] father decides to transfer his child from a high school program, the creator of this site and the MAGA group attempt to denigrate the character of those fathers.

    I wonder did the New Irving Park parents know; you know Andy, the same ones who place police patrols in front of their communities when Halloween arrives. I know how other parents discovered the news, by phone calls.

  5. Teddy ole boy, you are clueless. Coach Norman Weeks is a great coach, and a even greater man. He’s chosen to remain an assistant coach, after many attempts to be hired as a head coach. And not really sure how a “black father” issue is connected to Coach G and Page. You need some help!

  6. Agree it does suck this was leaked before the athletes and his staff would know. It’s weird to me. Why leave a top football program in NC to coach Asheboro. Coach G was a great coach though, I just knew he was going to be around for awhile.

  7. Pigs-kin-ump: Norman Weaks retired; Coach G left for a better opportunity. Many black parents transfer their children for better opportunities, yet one group is scrutinized the most. But let us omit the black parents from the discussion at hand. Asheboro’s HC football job opened in April, I mean EARLY April. Spring football begins Monday for Page. Coach G made a business decision, and now parents should freely take their children from schools because of business decisions too.

    Deflecting the blame to the media for leaking the story is some bull crap. Coach G did not feel strongly about his team this year. Excellent coaching…whatever…

  8. Teddy Blow…again, it’s better to thought a fool, than to post here and remove all doubt!

  9. Pigs-Kin-Ump:
    Do you mind answering the questions? Good gracious, these Sean Spicer types are repugnant. Good gracious…

  10. Ok Row, what are your questions? I’ve not seen questions asked, just a lot of dribble and non relatied racial issues you dwell on

  11. I’m going to miss those high-octane games. Unlike many successful programs, these good Page teams seemed to overcome odds. They beat a-lot of teams that the experts said they were going to lose. Butler, Mallard Creek, Dudley, East Forsyth…. What other program has won so many games as the underdog like Page has? I am going to miss that. You could count on an exciting game every game. I for one am envious of Asheboro…

  12. Also, the environment of those games was awesome! That PA guy playing music and announcing first downs, the cannon in the end-zone and the crowd… C’mon, you gotta say it was a magical time for Page. I noticed too how small we always seemed compared to other power-house teams… Did anyone else notice that? We seemed to have great athletes, but some looked like normal kids out there among giants. Just sayin…

  13. I agree somewhat with the Pigskin Ump…

    The deal about the info being leaked before Coach G was able to inform his players is a valid point….

    We could have sit on this here and waited longer, but I don’t think that would make any sense if it was already out there, and it was on the Asheboro Courier-Tribune site and that is where I saw it…

    CarolinaPreps.com also had it up on their site and the sites were reporting that Coach G had taken the job, but I at least put out the point that Coach G was looking to take the job at Asheboro…

    Asheboro Courier-Tribune said Coach G would meet with the players there on Monday at 6pm…

    Like I am saying, we could have sat and waited to release the info, but when the info is already out there, I think that makes you a bigger wash to sit around and say nothing and act like nothing has happened and the news is already on the street….

    Tough sit back with your head in the sand when things are already happening and many people look to us and I do not by any means say all people look to us, but many people look to us to be on top of these things and getting the word and I think we need to try and stay as close to the game as we can, especially when it is going on locally here…

    I wish Coach G the best and like I said, he is a tough coach, but he is a Winner and he is very passionate about his work as a high school football coach and that is why he has been successful…

    As far a the coaching candidates go, I tried to give you some names that would get you talking and they did and I tried to go with names that are outside the box a bit and not go with then norm names, other that Coach Norman Weeks, and give you some names that you might not be seeing everywhere else…

    That’s what makes us at least a little bit different here, we give you some fodder that you don’t see at all of the other sites….

    We don’t have all the answers, but we do you give you something to think about….

    Also I called over to Page as soon as one our readers alerted me that something was going on and then I began researching and found the info at the Asheboro Courier-Tribune web site…..

    The new coach will be an interesting selection…Back when Page brought Coach Gillespie, he was not a huge household name, but he was an up-and-coming coach, who had the drive and instinct to be a success and he did that at Page….

    If you are looking for black American coach and not an African-American coach, I would say bring on Ron Simmons, the former All-American at Florida State and the WWE Hall of Famer…..Ron says he is not an African American, he is a black American and I like what Ron is bringing to the table….He probably wouldn’t take the job, but I like what he is saying….

    Ron Simmons could make things stick over on Alma Pinnix Drive….

    Who will be the next head football coach at Page High School???

    Coach Gillespie will officially join the Asheboro Blue Comets as their head football coach on Monday at 6pm and for now, the job is OPEN for the new coach at Page…..

    New coach at Page High School and that is the question for now and for Coach Weeks, I really like the way he handled his part of the football business while he was coaching with Coach Gillespie at Page….

    Page has had some very good assistants over the years, Ken Page, Clayton Nance, Frank Stallings, and Coach Weeks ranks right up there, with all of those men…

    If they named Ethan Albright at the new head football coach at Page, as someone had mentioned, I don’t too many people would have a problem with that…He could probably put together a pretty good coaching staff too…

    New coach at Page?

    The door is open, come on in…….

    *****Just my two cents worth for today….*****

  14. One of the names many people are talking about in terms of who will take that Page Pirates’ football job….

    Todd Willert(East Forsyth)…..

    Just seems hard to see a coach full-force into building and maintaining a program one day at EF and then just leaving and giving up all that you built to go to Page, with that job now available…

    Just an open question, is the Page job that much better than the East Forsyth job???

    Say back in the day and if I am Western and I leave Western and went to Grimsley, am I making and taking a huge step up????

    Just saying and thinking out loud here….

  15. The thought just hit me this afternoon…What about former Smith coach Rodney Brewington to Page…

    He had Smith sharing a conference title with Page back in Eric Ebron’s senior season and he has proven in the past that he can get things shakin’…

    Just a thought and I bet there will be close to 250 of those thoughts/names applying for the Page post….

  16. Any chance any of his staff can take the position, if they’re not going to go along with him to Asheboro.

  17. Page has the largest district in Guilty County. It touches six public school lines and the IB, ROTC and other specialized programs allow for transfers. Page should have easily won 4-5 state championships in the years Coach G has been there. If such feats were accomplished in the 80s, why weren’t they achieved in the 90s, 00s, and 2010s?

    Andy said he was an excellent coach. He is a high school teacher and coach. Did he instill character in this players? Did he place many in professional programs or D-1 schools? I told everyone after the 2011 state game that it would curse the school. Expectations became high; coaching and players’ IQ did not grow as others’ gained ground. At one time, Smith HS under Coach KP sent more football players to college than Page.

    Please read my post clearly. Tangibles were produced. What makes a coach excellent?

  18. Not sure how all of the numbers fare out, but off of that Page 2011 team you had quite a few sign/commit and most went on to play college football….

    Christian Cranford-Washington and Lee
    Shaun Workinger-Concord
    Ed Britt-Presbyterian
    Isaiah Towns-WSSU
    Blake Hickman-Pembroke
    Deanthony Brooks-Fayetteville State
    Savon Wall-Fayetteville State
    Orlando Hatfield-WSSU
    James Summers-Hargrave-Hinds CC-East Carolina
    Will Henry-Not sure….Possibly Brian Spain to Guilford too….

    But like most sports observers from over the years will tell you, you can lead a horse to water/player to college, but what they do after they get there is up to them….Whether or not they choose to drink from the fountain, is up to them….

    Got to commend any and all of the coaches that get their sports kids/athletes to college….

  19. Ted you are obviously so oblivious to the situation at page. The IB program is an extremely rigerous course selection in which about and if you don’t pass then you don’t get to stay. So IB doesn’t get them any football players hardly. And as far as ROTC, many school around have an ROTC program. All together page may have 5 players, not even starters, that Are on special assignment. Dudley on the other hand has an “academy” which allows them to have half of their starters come from out of district to play. Hendon Hooker among other starters never took one class inside the actual Dudley school. Page never had the talent that teams like, Dudley, Mallard creek, wake forest, Vance, or Butler had it was heart and coaching that allowed them to compete and win those games

  20. Ol’ Teddy Roe wants to have it both ways. First, he talks about all the talent Page has had in recent years and how they underachieved. But then, he says other schools in Guilford County produce more college players. So are college coaches missing all the talent at Page during the last few years or is there not as much talent at Page is there is at Dudley (or Smith)? It can’t be both, Teddy.

    Then he’s touting the job KP did at Smith? KP is a great guy, but his Smith teams couldn’t get a play called half the time and had trouble getting the right number of guys on the field during his entire tenure, and that’s on him. Maybe it was because he spent more time during practices on the phone with his boys at Dudley than he did coaching the Golden Eagles. He is back where he belongs as OC at Dudley.

  21. I think there might be at least one thing everyone could agree on and that is the fact that those games with Page vs. Butler and Page vs. Mallard Creek were two of the best games that we have ever seen in this town….

    And this past Fall(2016) I really enjoyed the Dudley at Davie County and Dudley at Charlotte Catholic games too…They were great ones on the road and Dudley behind QB Hendon Hooker and OC AK, found a way to pick up some extra large wins on those Friday nights…

    And as follower of the local games, we have had a chance to witness some great ones over the years….

    And talk about a Wild Game, that Page-Dudley game was one for the ages this past October….That game had as much intensity as you will ever see on a high school football filed…

    Just goes to show you lucky and fortunate the local fans are to have been treated to some great games like the ones we are talking about here….

  22. Why waste your time arguing with people like Ted Roe or is really John, Mike, or Nancy?..

    Obviously this person is jealous of the Page program or has sour grapes becaue their kid couldn’t play for Coach G…You guys have no idea what that man does behind the scenes…I do though, because I use to live next to the man, I use to coach with the man, and I seen and heard A LOT of conversations that he has had with recruiters…Btw, there are kids going to college consistently from his program…Hell, I coach in Florida now at a 6a school and havent had as many kids as he has go to college to play…He has been to the state finals the last two years and had some unlucky breaks…Blame the six fumbles against Mallard Creek on him I guess…I was there in 2011, and I know how much time and effort it took from the coaches, our players, and our families to help us win it all…Dont try to bring him down for his work…If you just dont like him, then you just dont like him…If you dont know him personally or have never coached with him, then why say anything?..Taking shots at somebody who has won everywhere he has been and has helped TONS of kids get to the next level is a bit unnecessary if not asinine…That isnt my opinion, that is just the truth…The past four years that I have been down here in Florida, I would be thrilled if he helped my program rebuild…

    Lastly Asheboro Blue Comets, you are getting a good man and a great coach…Dont pay any attention to these Joe Blows that armchair every coach or program because they are too sorry to get out there and sweat with the kids themselves…These type of people like to sit comfortably in the stands and hide behind a screen name if that tells you anything…Your kids at Asheboro will be treated with respect and treated fairly…Thats what most parents should be happy with, oh, and they will have fun playing and learning football too…It will take time, but he will get it going there in Asheboro…

    Good luck Coach G…I wish I was there to help you out…If you need anymore answers Joe Blow or Teddy Roe, please feel free to ask…

  23. Why waste your time arguing with people like Ted Roe or is really John, Mike, or Nancy?..

    Obviously this person is jealous of the Page program or has sour grapes because their kid couldn’t play for Coach G…You guys have no idea what that man does behind the scenes…I do though, because I use to live next to the man, I use to coach with the man, and I seen and heard A LOT of conversations that he has had with recruiters…Btw, there are kids going to college consistently from his program…Hell, I coach in Florida now at a 6a school and haven’t had as many kids as he has go to college to play…He has been to the state finals the last two years and had some unlucky breaks…Blame the six fumbles against Mallard Creek on him I guess…I was there in 2011, and I know how much time and effort it took from the coaches, our players, and our families to help us win it all…There is no reason for any negativity towards this man…He used to preach to us coaches and players all the time about leaving the program better than we found it…He certainly has made the Page program better since he took over…If you just don’t the man, then you just don’t like him…If you don’t know him personally or have never coached with him, then why say anything?..Taking shots at somebody who has won everywhere he has been and has helped TONS of kids get to the next level is a bit unnecessary if not asinine…That isn’t my opinion, that is just the truth…The past four years that I have been down here in Florida, I would be thrilled if he helped my program rebuild…

    Lastly Asheboro Blue Comets, you are getting a good man and a great coach…Don’t pay any attention to these Joe Blows that armchair every coach or program because they are too sorry to get out there and sweat with the kids themselves…These type of people like to sit comfortably in the stands and hide behind a screen name if that tells you anything about these people’s character…And these people question Coach G?..Yes, that is pretty laughable…Your kids at Asheboro will be treated with respect and treated fairly…That is what most parents should be happy with, oh, and they will have fun playing and learning football too…It will take time, but he will get it going there in Asheboro…

    Good luck Coach G…I wish I was there to help you build it…Build it and they will come…”Field of Dreams” baby!!!

  24. Andy, thank you for this post. However, I think these responders miss the point that Page has the largest district that pulls from Western, Dudley, Northwest, Northern and Northeast. I will not mention names. I will say that for some to suggest I do not like the man is preposterous. I do know that he did what was best for his family. I urge anyone unhappy with his/her child’s school to relocate. Business decisions are made by the coaches; therefore, business decisions should be fair to the parents of players who play at schools where children are intentionally mistreated.

  25. Ted, even though page pulls from the biggest district, that doesn’t necessarily mean they should have the best athletes. The majority of athletes at page are privileged white kids that have never seen the inside of a weight room, and if they have they don’t know how to train. If you actually look at the page football team, they are strong but not as strong as most the top teams they compete against and on average smaller. My point is that even though they pull from the largest district, they still aren’t getting the top athletes in the area

  26. HSFootball Fan: Thanks for the tone of your post. If the others had high literacy rates, my criticism wasn’t malicious. It was MY assessment of the situation. I recently read the News and Record story. He did what was best for his family. The same folks who lambaste parents for taking their children out of Page and other schools for better situations always say they are wrong. That was my initial point. I know some black fathers who removed their sons from Page and received criticism.

    Regardless, it is what it is. This post did illustrate that the players on the football, the “guidance,” “leadership,” and “character” coaches supposed to inculcate in their players is a farce.

  27. First of all, H. Klaw take my name out your mouth.. secondly, how do you know what I did at Smith.. Lastly, don’t try to down play my ability as a coach and the things I did accomplish at Smith.. I take full responsibility for what did or didn’t happen at Smith.. I bust my butt everyday for them kids. they respected me with all they had.. So don’t try to attack me as person or a coach.. I have worked hard to get to the place where I am now.. but you are right about one thing.. I am back to where I belong and that’s winning championships, so thank you…

  28. Many of the players are from homes where men have abandoned, and this is not the first time a man has resigned to do what is best for his family.

    I must remember this is the same group of people who block their North Elm Street neighborhoods with police and and private security firms so that outsiders cannot trick or treat for halloween. Hypocrites.

    No person with ties to East Greensboro should not want his or her child to play at no school besides Dudley. If anyone with past ties to Dudley has his or her child at Page, then…3rd game of the season should tell the tale…

    *Do not try to enter New Irving Park Halloween. GPD may arrest adolescents and teens…

  29. Well we tried to let everyone have their say, but the say got too strong…

    Information is a good thing, but we have to look out how we express ourselves when we open up a topic for discussion….

    There seems to be a divide among our people and maybe some do the sports community will find a way to step up and support each other….

    We try to have some fun and enjoy some talking about the local sports, but for some reason, some don’t want to enjoy it, they want to break it down and that ends up tearing it down….

    I still say we are in this daily sports life together, no matter if you are from Page, Dudley or any other school…

    Kids trying to better themselves we need to support them and support our coaches too….

    Coach KP/Antonio Kirkpatrick works hard and he is a good father, along with being a good and devoted coach…

    It looks overall like someone feels like they were done wrong somewhere along the way and they can’t let it go…

    Gone here and we can try and keep a long-term discussion going again another day….

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