Football coach disagrees with resignings

I have been asked by the school board to write a letter of resignation as head football coach at Lake Roosevelt High School. The only reason I was given was that the district wanted to go in a different direction. While I do not agree with this request, I respect the authority of the board to make decisions that they feel are in the best interest of the district. I have agreed to do so.

I do not believe this is in the best interest of the district. I have served the district faithfully from 1994 to 2001 and again from 2007 through June of 2016. I had every intention of leading this program through the time when my grandsons will be in high school.

I believe a history lesson may be in order. In the 45-year history of Lake Roosevelt, there have been 15 coaches come and go. There has been a coaching change every three years, on average. This is one of the highest turnover ratios in the state.

In those 45 years, there have been seven seasons where the team finished the season winning at least half their games. I have been directly involved in five of them. There are only two coaches to lead the team to a meaningful post-season game. I am one of them. I have the second-best winning percentage in the history of Lake Roosevelt High School.

In my first year, I essentially doubled the turnout from the end of the previous season. We finished the season with a .500 regular season winning percentage. We qualified to play in the postseason, played in two mini games and played the eventual state champions for a shot at the state playoffs.

I did this by giving ownership of the team to the players. I taught them three things: respect yourself, believe in yourselves, and sacrifice for your teammates. I asked them to do two things: compete and have fun.

If this is not the direction the school board wishes a coach to take the program, then I am not the man to lead the football team.

Therefore, I, Geary Oliver, hereby resign my position as head football coach at Lake Roosevelt High School and hereby forfeit the money owed me under my coaching contract.

Geary Oliver