Doug Robertson stepped down today(Wednesday February 28) as the head football coach at Eastern Guilford High School, and he will be named the new head football coach at Thomasville High School….
Meeting with current and former Eastern Guilford football players this afternoon and Coach Robertson announced he is leaving the EG Wildcats and will be joining the Thomasville Bulldogs, as their head football coach..
*****Coach Rob stepped down at Eastern Guilford HS effective immediately….*****
+++++The search has begun for a new head football coach at Eastern Guilford High School….+++++
(Eastern Guilford football 3-AA State Runners-up in 2016 lost out in the 3-AA Regional Finals to New Hanover this season, back in December of 2017.
EG was (12-3) in 2017 and (15-1) in 2016….EG fell to the Weddington Warriors in the Championship Game back in 2016 and this past season, Eastern Guilford had the Guilford County Player of the Year, in quarterback Dominique Graves….Graves, a senior at EG, will be headed to Winston-Salem State on a full ride/scholarship, along with his brother Kendyl Graves, in the Fall of 2018…)
$$$$$ We have coach Doug Robertson at (46-21) in his five seasons as head football coach at Eastern Guilford High School(2013-2017)…..
Going (7-5), (7-5), (5-7), (15-1) and (12-3)……$$$$$
He didn’t doing anything to put kids in school. He said stats didn’t matter but they mattered to him. Wins and loses. TINSLEY Come home!!! Please get a coach who wants kids to get a free education. Scholarship dollars matter to kids just as much as the 80k plus a year Robertson is now making.
The Graves brothers both got full rides to Winston-Salem State and some of that might have come off of Academics, but a full ride is a Full Scholarship for Dominique and Kendyl…
The Howard kid(Kyin), the LB got scholarship money to attend N.C. A&T…I think Bryant Barr and James Artis got money too…
Nic Cheeley with get a scholarship and he should go big time as a DB….
EG kids are getting money and it just takes time and it is now starting to show some results…
They have some big linemen that are still at EG that should get some good money too from some good size colleges…
EG has been doing a good job, they need the support of the families and the faculty too….
From the real old day, the Holt brothers both got scholarships to N.C. State, Scott Youmans a full ride to Duke and Murray Youmans got a scholarship to East Carolina…
Maybe one of the Holt Brothers might want to come back and coach a little football at Eastern Guilford????
They have been doing a very good job with their camps…
I know Coach Tinsley is cares about the boys at EG. HOWEVER, I hope he knows how much the SEG family has welcomed him and supported him and bought in to what he is doing. You guys can’t have him. But if you really want to play for him there is open competition for spots on SE roster to fill!
I do hope you find a good coach quickly for Cheeley and the seniors. That was so big for our seniors to buy in to what Tinsley was doing and had a great season as a result. Many seniors getting opportunities they may not have had if Tinsley hadn’t shown up.
Great analysis Andy. The proof is in the pudding. To be a college player you first have to be a good High School player. Eastern Guilford has risen from a struggling program to a state contender. That takes coaching. Not only from the Head Coach but his staff. Coach Robertson surrounded himself with quality coaches from different successful programs. Team effort. Just remember stats are what they are individual accomplishments. A good coach and staff has to take the whole teams need into account. Hopefully some of the present staff will stay to keep this program going.
Holt Brothers would be a good call..Actually Torrey is an assistant coach at Heritage High in Raleigh.
Why would he not wait until the EG Mens team is done with their playoff run to announce this?? It sort of sets a distraction for football players on the team and steals the spotlight from the kids.
A little unprofessional in my opinion.
You would hope the Holt Brothers would like to come back home and get some roots rolling at Eastern again..That Heritage High School team had a very successful season in 2017, finishing just behind Wake Forest and Wake Forest won the 4-AA Title…
Hope the Holts hear about the opening and if they are open to the idea of heading back home to Gibsonville, I am sure everyone of the Wildcats would be glad to see them and what better way for Torrey to begin his first head coaching job, than making it a job at his old high school….
Got to dream big and you never know….That EG assistant coaching staff with Coach Goss, and the other veteran coaches, have done a very good job along with Coach Robertson, of laying the ground work for a solid football program at EG…
Didn’t the JV team go Unbeaten this past season? There are positives all over the place.
Ran into an old coach last night and he told me he used to coach Jaylen Alston(Eastern Guilford HS) at the middle school level and he said Jaylen was his third guard and couldn’t even earn a starting job on the Middle School team…Jaylen went to work and if they could play a couple of songs for him like, “If They Could See Me Now” and how about that song, “How Do You Like Me Now?”, then those might be be the tunes that fit…..
Just goes to show you what hard work and dedication can do….
*****I would hope and think that the football players on the basketball team are thinking about and are geared toward nothing but basketball now….This is their chance to win a State Championship and you have to be focused on Jacksonville Northeastern for Saturday and that is the mindset right now, and there are two other teams still out there and you want to, but you just can’t be thinking about them right now….The biggest thing on the Eastern Guilford High School Athletics plate right now is Jacksonville Northeastern High School, Saturday at NOON, in Fayetteville, N.C.*****
Like Mike D said, Southeast is super supportive of Coach Tinsley and looking to big things in the future.
Having one of the Holt brothers back would be a storybook scenario, but rarely do storybook scenarios materialize. I’m sure there will be more than a few people putting their names in the hat.
Eastern’s JV Football team did not go undefeated. There was actually a tie at the top of the conference standings with Southeast, but Eastern won the head to head. Burlington Williams beat Eastern, in the conference, but Southeast ended up beating Burlington Williams. There is a lot of talent at Eastern though.
You have to dream big and you can’t be taking steps backwards…
Need a coach that can go at least (7-3) every year based on a 10-game schedule and if not got to be moving on…Just a thought here, but you really need a coach that is coaching nothing but football….Football only and no other assistant coaching responsibilities…
Football is the money-maker on Friday nights, if you are winning, and if you are winning, the scholarships and the college visits should take care of themselves…
Those college coaches or assistant college coaches should be showing up at your place on Friday nights, checking out some of your kids and if they are looking at one and they see another, good news…
Saturday college visits starting with the kids’ junior year are crucial too…The kids must visit the colleges and see what is out there and let the colleges know that they are out there and that they are interested…
Why? Because Thomasville HS wants him there ASAP. That is the way things happen in coaching. Nothing unprofessional about it. He could simply totally leave but being the kind of person he is he is going to continue to come back and finish out the track season.
BTW my comment was directed at the EG Parent. My apologies if there is a poster EG Fan.
Andy, most HFB coaches also coach track and teach weight training, speed nd agility classes. A great program makes sure the kids are enrolled in these classes for every semester they are there. This is one reason EG has gotten better these past 5 years. Doing it in a class also allows all athletes to get bigger, faster and stronger. It also allows kids to play 2-3 sports. the old days of lifting after school did not allow for the 2–3 sport kids to lift after school because there was not enough time. This is one thing our principal (Lance Sockwell) made happen. When the former principal was there the kids were only allowed to take the class once a year. That was anti productive. The sad thing was a kid could take band and chorus class every semester but not weight training class. To me that was the most ridiculous thing I had ever witnessed. Kids should be allowed to take band and chorus class every semester but so should athletes be allowed to take weight training class. After all they all are enhancing their skills.
For some reason my reply to EG Parent (who I called EG Fan by mistake) did not post. So here goes again. EG Fan. You have no idea what you are talking about. before you post this ignorant junk do yourself a favor and get the facts. Are you a disgruntled player or parent who was or is not a college material player but in your mind think you are/ Look back over the past 5 years and see how many players from the EG FB team played college FB then tell me on here who was a college [player and who was not offered a scholarship. Either give me names or don’t complain. The fact is the college coaches (recruiters) are the ones who decide who gets FB scholarships based on a multitude of things. Grades, SAT/ACT scores, attitude, size, speed, agility, flexibility, etc. FS FB coaches do not have college FB scholarships in their filing cabinet drawer to hand out. Their job is to make their players the best they can be in all the areas mentioned. To be a successful HS player and student. If they do this and they qualify then the are recruited. What was the program like before Coach Robertson came to EG? How many players received scholarships then? The first year we were there (5 years ago) I will tell you that the players before us were weak, slow, unmotivated, undisciplined, and did not understand what it took to win. 5 years later that has all changed. So, get your facts straight before you make such ridiculous statements. If you are indeed an EG Fan we are happy. If you are please go elsewhere because our coaches and players deserve better that what you posted. And BTW have a good day.
Andy, my reply to EG Parent did not post but it shows as having being posted. Can you make sure it posts. Thanks. BTW Doug Robertson is special to all those who are around him and have interactions with him. He made the right move for may reasons (more $$ being the big reason which also factors into his retirement). All of his assistant coaches at EG will agree that even though we hate to see him leave he made the right move. Nothing he is doing by leaving April 1 is unethical. He is actually coming back to EG to finish out track season. To me that says a lot about him. The only requirement is he cannot wear red on the EG campus. We only tolerate certain things and red is not one of them. LOL.
Yes sir, got all of those comments updated and sometimes I have to go back and update them manually by updating the post itself, but we should be there…
In high school, I think I majored in Advanced PE…Took it 6th period which was the last class of the day and took that class for three straight years and it was good because you could get your weight training in and also get dressed for practice and be ready to go at 3:45 when practice would begin…
Still remember the soreness from all of those weight room workouts and wished we would have worked in more running to go with it, but it is, what it is..
Come 3:45 and when you crossed that Black Line just outside the dressing room, you began running to the field and you were not done until you crossed that Black Line to signify practice was officially over…You ran to the field of practice and you ran off the field of practice…
When I see these kids walking off of the field of practice and back up to their locker room these days, I sort of take a deep breath and try and not say anything, best I guess it is best, to let it go…
When I do my daily runs these days, I try to pick out a line on the sidewalk and don’t stop running until I cross that line…Seems like a pretty good idea…Been doing it for a lot of years….
Good feedback on this topic, BTW….
Hope whoever they get comes in early and talk to the players and parents before kids think about transferring out to a different school.
Good to get this tweet from Joe Sirera over at the News and Record…Thank-you Joe.
As @gsosports’ Andy Durham first reported, Doug Robertson has told his @EGFootball_ players that he’s leaving the Wildcats to coach @thomasvillehigh. Big loss for the Wildcats; great hire for the Bulldogs. #HSXtra
Like they say, it is what it is…
Wow wildcat fan are you in your feeling? I have done my homework and these kids are NOT get full scholarships. if these kids where at Dudley or Page no question they all would have full athletic scholarships. Coach Rob is a good coach and program builder. You have to be a salesman to get colleges to come and see you play. Do a poll of all the football player that have gone or will be going to college and they all will tell you Tinsley is the reason. Wildcat Fan whey do all of EG player sign so late? Elon is down the street home many time s have they been by? I speak facts because I know people. I take nothing away from Rob the football coach. When as a coach wins become more important than getting kid to college, its time to move on. He has been trying to leave last couple of year anyway. I wish him luck.
Wildcat Fan makes a ton of great points about the recruiting. Thank you for posting that! It was much needed.
However Wildcat Fan, I do disagree with you on one thing. You are correct about some of the changes Rob and co made that has turned around Eastern…
But the BIGGEST reason for EG’s turn around has nothing to do with anyone at Eastern at all and everything to do with the fact that transferring in Guilford County is not as easy as changing underwear anymore.
If this were 2008 the Graves twins, Bryant Barr, Howard, Eric Walker, Nic Cheely and others would have never set foot on Eastern Guildford’s campus.
They would have transferred to an inner-city school the summer between MS and HS just like Keenan Allen, Zach Maynard, Chris McCain, and numerous others did.
The parents that just take there kids on the school merry go round sometimes should just slow down and think. The programs that are successful didn’t get there by having just ordinary players. Your son or daughter might make the move and not be one of the best out there. Then what jump ship again. Come on adults let your kids have fun make memories of high school with their friends. If they are good enough to get to the next level they will be found. College coaches stop by every school in there areas. They can jump in on hudl and see everything they need. Don’t live your dreams or disappointments through them.
Nothing gets Greensboro Sports all stirred up like football!
Coach Robertson is a classy guy that has done a lot for EG and the players…great hire for Thomasville and sad loss for EG. I don’t think he would have left EG if Guilford County knew how to take care of FB coaches though. They are the only county around that doesn’t get it when it comes to head coaches! He’s going to be a 12 month employee and get paid for year-round work he does…he deserves that!
Head coaches work 12 months but in Guilford County they only get paid for 10…Guilford County knows they will still work year-round though because that’s what it takes for a winning team. Band directors are 11 month employees, but head football coaches are only 10??? And the county Athletic Director justifies this by saying there are less band directors? Is there the SAME number of head football coaches and band directors because there is one at every high school?
This makes no sense! Make the head football coach a 12 month employee and there will much less moving to other counties! And give them the support they need to run decent programs! Let’s keep these great coaches! Our kids deserve it!
That’s a true statement about the transfer thing. Dudley has a kid who would be Eastern starting QB next if he stayed at his home school. Eastern has 3 girls two at Dudley and 1 at Ragsdale that if they stayed in home district school Eastern Girls would still be playing in playoffs. Eastern has a lot of talent on the fball team and Basketball Team that may not be there next year which is sad but it is what it is. I do hope KT comes back to coach there the kids seem to love him.
EG Parent. I do know because I coach FB at EGHS. I have been there for the past 5 years. I can tell you every kid who has received a FULL college FB scholarship during this time. Again I ask you to tell me who played for us who did not get a FB scholarship. I am very passionate about our program because we worked our tails off during that time as did the kids. For someone who apparently knows very little about any of this to make these statements really gets me going. If these kids were at Dudley or Page they would receive the same scholarships as they did at EG. I have been in coaching for many years at several different high schools so I know what I am talking about. I have no idea where you get your information but you have the wrong information. Explain what does winning and getting the kids scholarships have anything to do with anything. Kids get scholarships because they are recruited and these college recruiters only sign kids who can play at their level. Once a kid signs it is up to them to go to class and pass as well as become better FB players. It is there for them but they are the ones who have to perform. For your information Coach Robertson was offered the Page job and turned them down. If you could be at school every day you would see the vast number of college recruiters (coaches) who come by. If you came to every practice you would see these same college coaches come by. Elon has never recruited any of the counties around the college very well. They started doing a better job this year. We have several players they are interested in who will be seniors next year. I have no idea why you are saying these things. Are you a disgruntled parent whose son did not get a FB scholarship. It sounds that way to me. Once again the vast majority of what you say is based on false information. If you think you speak facts because you know people then you need to start hanging around different people because those people you now know have no idea what they are talking about. Name these so called people in the know. Again name the players you speak of who deserved and did not get a FB scholarship.
NE Alum
But the BIGGEST reason for EG’s turn around has nothing to do with anyone at Eastern at all and everything to do with the fact that transferring in Guilford County is not as easy as changing underwear anymore.
If this were 2008 the Graves twins, Bryant Barr, Howard, Eric Walker, Nic Cheely and others would have never set foot on Eastern Guildford’s campus.
I agree with you that this was correct in 2008. But, starting in 2013 this trend changed. The kids wanted to be there because they saw the change that was coming. I coached at NE and I saw the athletes EG had when we played them. They always had very good athletes. The first thing I told them when we got there was that they did not believe in themselves. They were also very weak kids. At NE we would lose 5-6 kids every year from our MS to Dudley because of the Academy. Those kids you mentioned could all signed up to go to Dudley right out of EGMS. They chose instead to stay at EGHS. There is a reason they made this decision. So the statement about transferring did not happen as much as people thought it did. Most of the ones who went to MS in another district had to make that decision at the beginning of their freshman year. See what happened when those kids tried to transfer without moving to NG that year? They (FB Players) lost their eligibility and were not allowed to play anything for a year. they were all seniors and were finished. I a student moves they can legally go to the school in the district they moved to. They cannot simply decide to go to another school because they want to go there. Each school requires each kid and their parent to go to a meeting and show proof that they are in that district. There are a lot of misinformation out there as to kids transferring. It is not that easy or that simple.
True, Again those kids you mentioned either had to enroll in the Dudley Academy or move to that district. Kids cannot simply live in one district and drive to another district unless they get a waver (which is not that easy to get). Again ask those kids at NG how that worked out for them. Ask the basketball players how that worked out for them.Kennedy Tinsley is a good friend of mine. We coached together for 4 years. I would love for him to come back but if he does not (because he has invested a year in the SEG program and has formed a bond with those kids as well) I will totally understand. If he decides to come back home I will be the first to jump on board. With the success we have had these past 5 years I am sure there will be tons of applications. The FB and Basketball players who are there this year (except the seniors) will be there next year. We showed last year we can compete with all of the Greensboro City schools. These schools do not have a magic formula. We might have some of their parents to decide to move out in the country. The country around EGHS is some beautiful country to live in. I am a country boy who never had any desire to live in the city.
Just A Thought is 100% correct.
(Just a thought said,
The parents that just take there kids on the school merry go round sometimes should just slow down and think. The programs that are successful didn’t get there by having just ordinary players. Your son or daughter might make the move and not be one of the best out there. Then what jump ship again. Come on adults let your kids have fun make memories of high school with their friends. If they are good enough to get to the next level they will be found. College coaches stop by every school in there areas. They can jump in on hudl and see everything they need. Don’t live your dreams or disappointments through them.)
Could not have said better myself. For a zoned county school system there sure seems to be a lot of open enrollment going on these days in Guilford County. It wasn’t that long ago where everyone was crucifying Northern Guilford about transfers and here now it is a common practice in Guilford County. Just another example of how GCS is run.
Well Eastern fans if you are listening put pressure on your AD to hire KT. You have already overlooked him once. And pay him his 80k if that’s what the former coach was making. We will see if you all want KT back.
If a coach is happy where they are now, I not sure that they would want to come back to where they were before…
Happens a few times in college, but for the high school teams it is probably good to have a lot of eggs in your basket to choose from when you are looking to hire a new coach…Especially when you are looking around Easter time….
@True, please do not make assumptions that adding certain players would’ve allowed EG girls to make a deeper run, I feel like that is slighting the ones who’ve been vested in the program since day 1, but also those parents who made the choice didn’t see the bigger picture cause Eastern was returning a good squad and exceeded expectations in my opinion. Don’t use the coulda, shoulda, and woulda cause those girls enjoyed playing for Coach Harvey and those other girls missed out on an opportunity. Wish coach Rob nothing but the best. Good luck to EG men’s bball in the Eastern regional final.
Football Fan. There is no open enrollment in the Guilford County School System. The NG basketball team had their state championship taken away because the starters were all illegal. The Fb team had 4 players declared ineligible to play because they were there illegally. I don’t know where you got this idea but it is not true. Sit in on one of the parent meetings and see what they have to do to and the documentation they have to provide to prove that their son/daughter lives in that school zone. Whoever told you that the GCSS has Open Enrollment has no idea what they are talking about.
I didn’t say there was open enrollment in GCS. But there has been a lot of movement in the last couple of years with kids leaving for no other reason than sports. You can’t tell me that it is hard when I have seen a player play a football playoff game on a Friday night for one school and on Monday he is practicing basketball at another school. Btw I have sat in on many of the parent meetings I know what has to be done, but it just seems a little easier to transfer and still play sports now than before.
ron, I have no idea where that $80 figure came from? Sounds to me like it is one of those I Was Told By Someone Who Knows people on here who make up things to give themselves credibility when in fact they have no idea what they are talking about. Even I do not know how much he made. His salary is based on the state salary scale, local GCSS supplement and local GCSS coaching supplement scale. All coaches in GC are paid on the same scale according to years of experience. It is not like GC coaches can be paid whatever GC wants to pay them. I only know what I make in supplement pay. I retired from teaching 13 years ago and am only paid a coaching supplement. Believe me when I tell you that all the head coaches in GC do $100 worth of work each year and would be worth every dollar if they were paid that much. If you want to make that much you have to go to SC, GA, FL, TX or CA.
I remember Coach Loosemore having to spend a lot of time at the middle school convincing Jarius Morehead and Terrell Pickett not to leave when they were 8th graders…
NEG Alum hit the nail on the head. I remember for years EG destroying the county in football and mens bball at the middle school level. Then by the time that class reached 11th and 12th grade they were either average or near last in the conference.
A lot of people at the time would blame it on the coaching staffs or program culture… but in reality they had a completely different team by their 11th 12th grade years because of transfers.
Wildcat Fan,
I kinda figured that. I thought 80k was a stretch. You do good if you make 50k in this county for coaching. That’s why some go to SC.
There is not open enrollment but unfortunately there are ways around that with the IB programs and the Dudley Academy.
Not all schools have them so it makes it an unlevel playing field.
Guilford County should go to open enrollment like Forsyth or make everyone play where they live. There should be nothing in between.
Coach Robertson is a classy guy that has done a lot for EG and the players…great hire for Thomasville and sad loss for EG. I don’t think he would have left EG if Guilford County knew how to take care of FB coaches though. They are the only county around that doesn’t get it when it comes to head coaches! He’s going to be a 12 month employee and get paid for year-round work he does…he deserves that!
Head coaches work 12 months but in Guilford County they only get paid for 10…Guilford County knows they will still work year-round though because that’s what it takes for a winning team. Band directors are 11 month employees, but head football coaches are only 10??? And the county Athletic Director justifies this by saying there are less band directors? Is there the SAME number of head football coaches and band directors because there is one at every high school?
This makes no sense! Make the head football coach a 12 month employee and there will much less moving to other counties! And give them the support they need to run decent programs! Let’s keep these great coaches! Our kids deserve it!
Congrats to Coach Robertson and best of luck in Thomasaville…you deserve all the best!
Support Our Coaches. Thank you. I could not have said it better.
I’m hearing Eastern Guilford maybe making a run at East Forsyth Defensive Coordinator Aaron Beal. He was offered the NWG job last year and turned it down from what I’m hearing. Would be a great hire