Charleston Gazette, October 8, 2008

Nitro coach still on the job

John Sowards is still the football coach at Nitro High, according to principal Paul McClanahan.

There were rumors circulating Tuesday that first-year coach Sowards had been fired or resigned. An anonymous caller to the Gazette said Sowards was out as coach. McClanahan said he fielded several calls from local television stations asking about Sowards' status.

"Not a word of truth to it,'' said McClanahan of the rumors. "I've been hearing it around town, but I don't know where it came from. I just talked to [Sowards] four or five times [Tuesday] at school.

"The only thing I could guess is I had a meeting with my [football] coaches, I talked to them last week, and reiterated my philosophies of how I run the school and how I think the athletic programs should be run.''

McClanahan said he had some concerns and wanted to address those with the football staff.

"Making sure the administration and the discipline of all our athletic programs mirrors what our expectations are at school,'' said the principal. "I had some concerns about that. We've taken some steps to make sure that's the case.

"We did realign some responsibilities in an effort to give this a chance to happen. I think we've made some positive in-house moves to make sure this takes place. I feel strongly [the football staff has] bought into this. They had some concerns as well. They're a young staff and we're a young team.''

The 31-year-old Sowards was named the head football coach in June, replacing Scott Tinsley, who took the same position at WVU Tech in March. McClanahan recommended Sowards, a Nitro assistant, to the Kanawha County school board for the head coaching position in late June.

The Wildcats have posted a 1-4 record under Sowards this season and their trademark explosive offense has been lacking.

Nitro is in effect replacing two quarterbacks this season as Michael Scott graduated and C.J. Crawford, a Division I prospect who briefly joined the program this summer, returned to Huntington after learning he likely wouldn't be eligible at Nitro.

Wildcats sophomore Bodie Johnson was thrust into the starting job the third day of summer practice without the benefit of getting many repetitions during the three-week practice period in June.

McClanahan said the meeting with the football coaches had nothing to do with the team's performance on the field.

"I'm a big supporter of athletics,'' he said. "Everybody knows that. There's some things you learn on the field you don't learn in the classroom and vice versa. There's some real basic things about discipline and administration of the school that has to spill over to the field.

"I'm not happy with some things, but it's not about 1-4. It's really not about that right now. I didn't feel like we were doing those things that I felt like will make them fine young men. I just want to make sure we adhere to those things I deem really, really important. I just reiterated my position on that. I want to win, but there's more things that are important.''

Reach Tommy R. Atkinson at 348-4811 or tatkin...@wvgazette.com.