Halifax County High School Head Coach Retires

[Go_Cometss]

Head Coach Greyson Throckmorton, who lead the team a 7-4 record, has reportedly retired from coaching. I didn’t expect this coming at all. Details will be coming soon.

https://twitter.com/johnathank_gv/status/1286669588441300993?s=21

 

[CountyBoyGeneral]

Head Coach Greyson Throckmorton, who lead the team a 7-4 record, has reportedly retired from coaching. I didn’t expect this coming at all. Details will be coming soon.
https://twitter.com/johnathank_gv/status/1286669588441300993?s=21

You think it has anything to do with the rift between the JV & Varsity programs?

 

[Scarlett_Grey]

If it is and they chased him out, I feel sorry for the players because the parents will get what they asked for. Couldn't be a worse time for a coavhing change.

They may not have liked his ways, but 2 playoff appearances in two years, 7-3 record last year with a less than potent offense and 1st home playoff game in 20-30 years is hard to argue against.

 

[Scarlett_Grey]

If it is and they chased him out, I feel sorry for the players because the parents will get what they asked for. Couldn't be a worse time for a coavhing change.

They may not have liked his ways, but 2 playoff appearances in two years, 7-3 record last year with a less than potent offense and 1st home playoff game in 20-30 years is hard to argue against.

Sorry, meant to say 2 appearances in 3 years. And in a very tuff region.

 

[mikesalem]

 

[lyhsports_rivals]

Dang, that's a surprise. He definitely had Halifax going in the right direction.

 

[CountyBoyGeneral]

The athletes in Halifax County are much bigger than the ones in Danville/Pittsylvania County. Plus you only have 1 high school to worry about. Halifax needs to go for a home run hire that’ll make them a state contender every year.

 

[Clarkefan]

The athletes in Halifax County are much bigger than the ones in Danville/Pittsylvania County. Plus you only have 1 high school to worry about. Halifax needs to go for a home run hire that’ll make them a state contender every year.

Go take Smith from Appo!

 

[CountyBoyGeneral]

Go take Smith from Appo!

That would be a huge get for Halifax and I’m sure he’d be up for the challenge. He’d definitely have a huge pool to pull from. Unfortunately, southern VA, especially Halifax County, don’t have much else to bargain with but having a huge pool of students to pull from. South Boston/Danville/Martinsville are unfortunately behind the times and you’d be hard pressed to find a Jeff Woody, Mark Dixon or Stephen Magenbauer that would leave their situations to go there. Don’t get me wrong, I grew up in this area and it’s extremely special to me, but fact is there isn’t anything attractive about the area. It’s hard times in Southside. I hate it for the younger generation. @Go_Cometss is a great kid, I really wish he could’ve experienced our area back in the 90s and mid 2000s. Southside VA was the place to be. Now I will tell you, I’d pick Halifax County over Danville any day of the week. Less crime, no gang problem and at least the schools are accredited!

 

[Scarlett_Grey]

Halifax County would be a huge step down for any established big name coach. Horrible facilities and the people, at least for football, are happier when the team loses and it gives them something to complain about.

If I were an up and coming coach, I'd choose to be on a great staff at another school as an assistant than the HC at Halifax.

 

[CountyBoyGeneral]

Halifax County would be a huge step down for any established big name coach. Horrible facilities and the people, at least for football, are happier when the team loses and it gives them something to complain about.

If I were an up and coming coach, I'd choose to be on a great staff at another school as an assistant than the HC at Halifax.

Common theme in Southside. Pittsylvania is all about politics, my home Danville is a cesspool and Martinsville will be consolidating with Henry County soon and I’ve worked in Henry County and they are 25 years behind school districts in bigger localities. It’s sad times in Southside.

 

[Scarlett_Grey]

Don't know if he landed anywhere, what about former Chatham coach Matt Allen as a candidate?

 

[CountyBoyGeneral]

Don't know if he landed anywhere, what about former Chatham coach Matt Allen as a candidate?

He’s at Altavista now as their DC. He’d be a great candidate. He built Chatham up and they shat on him. I talk to him time to time and he’s just an authentic guy that loves the kids. If I was an AD, he’d be my choice to lead my program. GW could’ve really used him as their OC.

 

[oldfool2]

Go take Smith from Appo!

Hey watch your mouth!

 

[Mic Honcho]

Chatham Football last 5 years Coach Allen


2019 6-5 lost first round won 2 district games

2018 1-9

2017 3-7

2016 3-7

2015 3-8

In the last 5 years Chatham has made 1

Playoff game has had 1 winning season

And only won 3 District games in 5 years


The Teams Chatham beat this past year

• Records Cumberland 0-11 Randolph Henry 1-9. Tunstall 1-9. Martinsville 1-10
• Campbell County 5-6. Altavista Combined school 4-8

 

[CountyBoyGeneral]

Chatham Football last 5 years Coach Allen


2019 6-5 lost first round won 2 district games

2018 1-9

2017 3-7

2016 3-7

2015 3-8

In the last 5 years Chatham has made 1

Playoff game has had 1 winning season

And only won 3 District games in 5 years


The Teams Chatham beat this past year

• Records Cumberland 0-11 Randolph Henry 1-9. Tunstall 1-9. Martinsville 1-10
• Campbell County 5-6. Altavista Combined school 4-8

To be fair, Chatham, historically, is never really good and is by far the worst program in Pittsylvania County.

 

[Mic Honcho]

How many years was Allen there

 

[CountyBoyGeneral]

How many years was Allen there

He took over in 2016. In my lifetime, Chatham has only had only a couple of good seasons (10-2 in 2005, 6-4 in 2004, 2006 and 2007, 6-4 in 2013, and 6-5 in 2019).

 

[knightfan64]

If you check out four seasons football.com Chatham has had 14 winning seasons in 69 years of football and 4 playoff appearances. Allen got both in his final year. Chatham had disadvantage, same as Nelson, of being in the toughest district in the state for 1A/2A and trying to build up from there. Nelson took some time and left the Dogwood in 2017/2018 so district record is affected by that but they returned well in 2019.

 

[2up2downNole]

Nelson should join the Augusta county schools and 2 cities schools in the Shenandoah. Closer travel for them, plus their youth league program is in with all those schools as well.

 

[knightfan64]

Nelson should join the Augusta county schools and 2 cities schools in the Shenandoah. Closer travel for them, plus their youth league program is in with all those schools as well.

They tried that prior to going independent I believe and were denied by VHSL. I get the want to move to the Shenandoah. Not only does Nelson have to travel probably a minimum hour one way to the other Dogwood schools on a bus, but they don’t have any commonalities with youth sports to dogwood schools. I also wondered what might happen to the Dogwood though if they departed and William Campbell closed, which are both fairly realistic possibilities. Would you continue with a 5 team district? Would Appomattox, who seems to like to schedule Seminole teams in all sports anyway, eventually depart for the Seminole or Dan River go back to the Piedmont since they do the same essentially? I doubt DR would ever depart but Appo wouldn’t surprise me

 

[Ampipe_High]

Here is one of the many issues at Halifax and let it be a warning to all candidates. Below are FB posts about Coach Throckmorton retiring. The post was started by the head JV football coach and the issues between the varisty and JV programs has been referenced on the boards. The JV staff has been disagreeing and undermining the head coach of the program since he was hired. They talked negatively about him and his philosophies to both the players and parents. They tried to drive a wedge in the program and it worked. As from the posts you can clearly see that there was a plan between the coach and parents all along. The main parent involved, tried to say that her son quit because of the varsity staff. Reality is, and it has been stated on here before, that there was ZERO interaction between JV and varsity. How is it her son quit because of the varsity staff, when he was a JV player?

The man went 5-5, 5-5, and 7-3 with two playoff appearances in three years and hosted the first home playoff game since 1991.

You may not agree with everything a coach does or believes in. You may disagree with the offense or defense, however, you ARE NOT the head coach of the program. The head coach gets to select his offensive and defensive schemes. He is the head of the program and make the decisions. Like I said, you may not agree with it and if you are a varsity assistant or an assistant within the program and do not agree, you can either discuss it with the head man and accept it for what it is or leave to go to another school. It says a lot about a person if you purposely go after someones job or career because you do not see eye to eye with them. To me, this is being a coward.

Sadly, this individual orchestrated a plan...carried it out...manipulated people...and caused enough issues that a 30 year coach decided to retire. This biggest issue I have is that he boldly posts about it in a public forum, you can see there was a plan with others in place to try and oust him and the person is still part of the program as a coach to young, impressionable kids. Most schools have policies in place that prohibit this time of use of social media...guess Halifax lacks that as well.

 

[Scarlett_Grey]

Can't really see any of the posts, but I've heard some really negative things about Halifax's program and the issues with the riff with JV staff.

Talked to some acquaintances that are area assistant coaches, who aspire the be hc and not a single one said they had any interest in the cluster.

 

[CountyBoyGeneral]

SMH... Well Halifax was Coach T’s program. I know a lot of head coaches that would’ve had those JV coaches’ azz in the bleachers. A lot of these self proclaimed coaches are just power hungry and in things for themselves and not in the best interest for the kids.

 

[Ampipe_High]

SMH... Well Halifax was Coach T’s program. I know a lot of head coaches that would’ve had those JV coaches’ azz in the bleachers. A lot of these self proclaimed coaches are just power hungry and in things for themselves and not in the best interest for the kids.

Not to get too much into it, but he did and he was eventually over ruled by admin and the trouble makers were allowed to stay on staff. Can only do so much, when you are handcuffed by admin. These same instigators also had a history of making substitutions during varsity games, without consulting the varsity coaches. They would just tell kids to go in and then the varsity staff would realize it and have to pull the player.

Sadly, the parents are gullible and bye into everything the coaches were feeding them. From what I am hearing, most of the varsity staff is leaving as well.

 

[CountyBoyGeneral]

Not to get too much into it, but he did and he was eventually over ruled by admin and the trouble makers were allowed to stay on staff. Can only do so much, when you are handcuffed by admin. These same instigators also had a history of making substitutions during varsity games, without consulting the varsity coaches. They would just tell kids to go in and then the varsity staff would realize it and have to pull the player.

Sadly, the parents are gullible and bye into everything the coaches were feeding them. From what I am hearing, most of the varsity staff is leaving as well.

Wow, I had no idea of the details. SMH..I did see some community members downing Sterling Williams after the GV Christmas Tournament the past two years. I’m sitting back like, this guy is the best coach in the Piedmont and you’re downing this man? I can recall the years that Halifax just flat out stunk in football. They always have potential, just haven’t had consistency. I see why now.

 

[lyhsports_rivals]

Now if they make all this noise about getting the head coach to retire and can't produce a winning season in the next 2-3 years, the ones that pushed him out were definitely the problem.

The fact that Coach Throckmorton did what he did in the midst of all this mess shows how well he did. Just imagined what the past Halifax teams could've done if the coaching staffs would've bought in to the head coaches vision and would've been unified.

 

[knightfan64]

For all the coaches who might read this, particularly young and ambitious assistants. The most important quality in an assistant in my opinion, is to 1. Be Hardworking but 2. Is to be loyal. Loyal to the head coach because he is ultimately the face and boss of the program. It is very easy, especially if you have a successful JV or Freshmen or even B team to get high and mighty and big headed. Be the type of person you would want to have working for you! Ambition is great, but to be disloyal in this business I believe brings a whole other level of karma. Running a high school program is a 24/7/365 job if done correctly. Don’t let ambition overtake you to want to be that guy in the big chair! I think staffs have to maintain a certain level of respect for each other to operate but if you’re not going be loyal just go elsewhere to a boss you can be loyal for. I hope the school doesn’t reward the JV coach with the head job, but given the timing I doubt they are able to hire outside of county this year (extremely difficult with teaching positions especially this year).

 

[btowenatc]

It always makes me LOL when these peewee, middle school, JV coaches get the big head and think they know more than coaches who have been doing it at the varsity level for years. It's a whole other level.

 

[Ampipe_High]

If Halifax cared (which they don't), they would talk to members of the staff (which they won't) to find out what exactly is going on with the program. It baffles me because they have a Superintendent that has a lengthy background in football and an administrative staff that have all played a sport at the collegiate level and/or have coaching experience. I hate places that "play ostrich" and stick their head in the sand.

From my understanding, when the job became vacant a few years back there was very little interest in the job...like single digit applicant level of interest. My advice to any potential candidate, would be to do your due diligence. Find a way to talk to current and former staff members. Why are so many of the varsity coaches and head man leaving after a 7-3 season, with an undefeated JV team, and a dominant MS program?

If you read the articles, you will see that the admin, from Superintendent on down have great things to say about the way Throckmorton turned the program around, held kids accountable, and that there were very little discipline problems out of the players. Yet the ones who win out and the parents rallied around, were the staff that had several severe injuries occur during practices and games, reports and complaints of the language they used, NONE work in the HS (two work at a regional competitor school) and showed zero loyalty to the programs head man...all because of their egos. Halifax is a strange place and has that reputation throughout the state.

 

[knightfan64]

I think the former youth or JV coaches who help on Friday nights have a certain responsibility that can’t be downplayed. If you are a local coach and you do well you can have the community’s ear in a way that the head coach does not. Don’t let that go to your head bc generally if people will stir up $*** with you they’ll stir it up about you. You can shut it down and be loyal or you can be a cancer and continue to stir it up. If I was a head coach I’d be cautious of the assistant who brings you that cancer bc there is ultimately a reason the community feels comfortable talking to that coach and it’s bc they think he is on their side

 

[CountyBoyGeneral]

I hate to be that person, but I’ve always had a problem with the coaches who didn’t work in schools calling themselves coaches in high school programs. Of course this won’t always be the case but the more coaches in your building, the better.

 

[knightfan64]

I hate to be that person, but I’ve always had a problem with the coaches who didn’t work in schools calling themselves coaches in high school programs. Of course this won’t always be the case but the more coaches in your building, the better.

It is a far gone time when having your full staff in school system is the norm. 1. Teachers aren’t willing to do as much coaching anymore with the demands of teaching 2. Principals, in all honesty, aren’t willing to hire football coaches for valuable positions. I’ve heard that from several administrators. Jobs are too important to hand to a guy who may be focused on football. It’s a crap reason, but it’s a reason they give. No longer is the total value that one brings to a building taken into consideration when hiring.

 

[CountyBoyGeneral]

It is a far gone time when having your full staff in school system is the norm. 1. Teachers aren’t willing to do as much coaching anymore with the demands of teaching 2. Principals, in all honesty, aren’t willing to hire football coaches for valuable positions. I’ve heard that from several administrators. Jobs are too important to hand to a guy who may be focused on football. It’s a crap reason, but it’s a reason they give. No longer is the total value that one brings to a building taken into consideration when hiring.

Well said and very true. I think you look at a program like Salem, Glass or Highland Springs, where probably 95%+ of their staff are in the building, you see the results on the field, almost instantly. @mike salem what does Coach Holter teach btw?

 

[mikesalem]

Well said and very true. I think you look at a program like Salem, Glass or Highland Springs, where probably 95%+ of their staff are in the building, you see the results on the field, almost instantly. @mike salem what does Coach Holter teach btw?

I think he's the Health/PE teacher. In the past he has been a Special Education teacher. I know some of the coaches teach at ALMS.

 

[Mic Honcho]

A few years ago Halifax had a chance to hire a coach out of NC with multiple State championships
And they hired the Middle School Coach this was
Several years before Throckmorton