Deposed coach asks board to reconsider

COLONY — Brent Smith, head football coach for the past decade at Crest High School, asked USD 479 Board of Education members to reconsider their decision not to renew his coaching contract for 2014.
Smith’s plea was all for naught, and was not the only surprise at Monday night’s school board meeting.
In addition, board members refused to let members of the public speak because of a technicality. And Jerry Turner, superintendent of schools and high school principal, handed in his resignation.
 
DISTRICT OFFICIALS notified Smith after their January meeting his employment contract as Crest’s transportation director would remain, but his coaching contract would not.
Smith spoke for about five minutes about his commitment to the team, and the team’s commitment to the community.
“I’m here because I love my players, past and present,” Smith said. “I put my heart and soul into this deal.”
Smith recounted the numerous times he would stay in his office past 2 a.m. Saturday mornings visiting with area media outlets in an effort to promote his players.
His players, meanwhile, were encouraged to be productive Crest students, in and out of the classroom.
“Our first focus every year is family,” Smith said. “Second is academics. Only after those two were taken care of would we talk about football.”
He noted the Lancer playes have raised nearly $50,000 through annual fundraisers to help supplement the football program. They also were regular attendees at Kincaid Fair and Colony Day events.
The Lancers have qualified for the postseason playoffs three times in the past five years, twice reaching the state quarterfinals. Four Crest players under Smith’s tutelage also have qualified for the Shrine Bowl, an all-class all-star game featuring Kansas high school seniors. Several others have earned all-league and all-state honors.
Smith noted the 2013 Lancers lost six of eight starters — responsible for 70 touchdowns — on both offense and defense from the year before.
“I had people around town telling me we’d be lucky to win a game,” he said.
Instead, the Lancers went 4-5, “and were competitive in most of our games,” he noted.
“But I’ve always stressed that being successful was just about winning and losing football games,” he said. “It’s always been more than that.”

BOARD MEMBERS did not respond to Smith’s address. Turner noted he and the board members were advised by legal counsel not to publicly address school personnel matters.
A group of a dozen or so current and former players and other patrons were in attendance to support Smith.
The discussion ended on an unusual note. One former player, Cody Wools, was prepared to address the board, but was cut short by Turner because he had not asked in advance to be included in the public comment section. This occurred after the audience was given instructions on how anybody who addressed the board about Smith’s status would be limited to five minutes each. Nothing was told to the audience that they needed to request to be heard before Smith spoke.

BOARD members accepted Turner’s resignation, effective at the end of the school year. He is accepting a superintendent’s position at West Franklin USD 287 in Pomona.