State-Winning Coach Fired, Replaced By Coach Who Went Winless Last Year

“I’m overwhelmed by this. If they’re going in another direction, what direction are they going if not the opposite direction of success?”

School system communications officer Tom Salter referred questions to assistant superintendent Lewis Washington, but added the school system does not comment on personnel matters. Washington did not return calls seeking comment.

Stokes said players have learned their new coach is former Oxford High coach Greg Barnes, who will meet with prospective players Monday afternoon. Barnes, according to the high school sports Internet site Max Preps, coached Oxford to an 0-24 record last year.

School system administrators did not confirm whether Brewbaker Tech officials followed protocol in posting the coaching vacancy and interviewing prospective applicants over a two-week period while Stokes was not informed he was being replaced.

LaTangela Sanderson, whose daughter Marqu’es Webb was the state’s Class 4A Player of the Year and led the team in rebounding and scoring last year, said parents knew there was some friction between Stokes and Johnson but haven’t been pleased with how the matter was resolved.

“I knew there was some tension between coach Stokes and Mrs. Johnson, she said. I always thought it was personal. My biggest thing is I’m disheartened by what has happened with coach Stokes. For a coach to lead his team to a state championship and be named coach of the year and not be granted an interview?

“That’s a little tacky. Even if you know you’re not going to hire him back, he’s earned it.”

Stokes said all of the Brew Tech coaches were released and invited to apply for reinstatement for their positions. He said he filled out the paperwork but was never granted an interview.

Sanderson, meanwhile, said the episode could have some effect on whether her daughter — considered by many the state’s top girls basketball junior next season — will return to Brew Tech.

“It makes us really think, she said. Just knowing the process that’s going on makes us raise our eyebrows. Marqu’es has not been happy. Since the playoffs, we’ve been unhappy. She was elated at winning a state championship. Are we in love with what we’re seeing right now? We’re not.”

It isn’t the first time Stokes has guided a local team to success, only to find himself out of a job. In 2008, he had just completed his third year at Robert E. Lee when the school board hired David Sikes as the new principal. Although Stokes was 38-39 in three years, he led Lee to a 19-9 record his final season and guided the program to its first subregional berth in several seasons.

Still, Sikes decided to bring in Jami Barlow, a move that prompted its two biggest stars, Celiscia Farmer and Meghan Perkins, to quit the team. Farmer sat out the 2009 season, then signed with Alabama. Perkins transferred to Carver and played in 2009 with the Lady Wolverines and also signed with Alabama.

Philosophical differences between a principal and a coach in the Montgomery County school system have often led to conflicts, but never has a coach lost his job after leading a team to a state championship.

Stokes said the move sends a clear message to Montgomery children that superintendent Barbara Thompson and the principals that she secures for the schools in the city are not interested in athletics.

“I don’t know how they hire principals, Stokes said. A principal should have great people skills and know the worth of what they have. I don’t think they look at the value of athletics in Montgomery County. There’s too much instability (in the school system’s athletic departments) and that’s not fair to the student-athletes.”

Stokes coached the Lady Rams to a 9-14 record in 2009 and a 19-6 mark in 2010 before winning the Class 4A state title with a 28-6 record this past season. Eleven of the 15 players on the team are scheduled to return in 2012.

State-Winning Coach Fired, Replaced By Coach Who Went Winless Last Year

Montgomery Advertiser (Ala.), Tim Gayle

http://www.montgomeryadvertiser.com/article/20110617/SPORTS0303/106170305/Prep-Basketball-State-title-winning-coach-loses-job-Brewbaker-Tech

Just three months after winning the first state championship in the history of Brewbaker Tech, girls basketball coach Kelvin Stokes was notified Thursday he would not be retained in a coaching capacity.

Stokes, a teacher in the Montgomery Public School system for the past 10 years, will continue in his role as a history teacher at Bellingrath Middle School but said he was given no reason for his release from his coaching duties by Brew Tech principal Sophia Johnson.

“What is wrong with MPS?” said Stokes, a lifelong resident of Montgomery who played basketball at Sidney Lanier and G. W. Carver High in the early 1990s. “I thought coaches were hired and fired based on sportsmanship, the characteristics of what they’re teaching on and off the court and their win-loss record.

“I’m overwhelmed by this. If they’re going in another direction, what direction are they going if not the opposite direction of success?”

School system communications officer Tom Salter referred questions to assistant superintendent Lewis Washington, but added the school system does not comment on personnel matters. Washington did not return calls seeking comment.

Stokes said players have learned their new coach is former Oxford High coach Greg Barnes, who will meet with prospective players Monday afternoon. Barnes, according to the high school sports Internet site Max Preps, coached Oxford to an 0-24 record last year.

School system administrators did not confirm whether Brewbaker Tech officials followed protocol in posting the coaching vacancy and interviewing prospective applicants over a two-week period while Stokes was not informed he was being replaced.

LaTangela Sanderson, whose daughter Marqu’es Webb was the state’s Class 4A Player of the Year and led the team in rebounding and scoring last year, said parents knew there was some friction between Stokes and Johnson but haven’t been pleased with how the matter was resolved.

“I knew there was some tension between coach Stokes and Mrs. Johnson, she said. I always thought it was personal. My biggest thing is I’m disheartened by what has happened with coach Stokes. For a coach to lead his team to a state championship and be named coach of the year and not be granted an interview?

“That’s a little tacky. Even if you know you’re not going to hire him back, he’s earned it.”

Stokes said all of the Brew Tech coaches were released and invited to apply for reinstatement for their positions. He said he filled out the paperwork but was never granted an interview.

Sanderson, meanwhile, said the episode could have some effect on whether her daughter — considered by many the state’s top girls basketball junior next season — will return to Brew Tech.

“It makes us really think, she said. Just knowing the process that’s going on makes us raise our eyebrows. Marqu’es has not been happy. Since the playoffs, we’ve been unhappy. She was elated at winning a state championship. Are we in love with what we’re seeing right now? We’re not.”

It isn’t the first time Stokes has guided a local team to success, only to find himself out of a job. In 2008, he had just completed his third year at Robert E. Lee when the school board hired David Sikes as the new principal. Although Stokes was 38-39 in three years, he led Lee to a 19-9 record his final season and guided the program to its first subregional berth in several seasons.

Still, Sikes decided to bring in Jami Barlow, a move that prompted its two biggest stars, Celiscia Farmer and Meghan Perkins, to quit the team. Farmer sat out the 2009 season, then signed with Alabama. Perkins transferred to Carver and played in 2009 with the Lady Wolverines and also signed with Alabama.

Philosophical differences between a principal and a coach in the Montgomery County school system have often led to conflicts, but never has a coach lost his job after leading a team to a state championship.

Stokes said the move sends a clear message to Montgomery children that superintendent Barbara Thompson and the principals that she secures for the schools in the city are not interested in athletics.

“I don’t know how they hire principals, Stokes said. A principal should have great people skills and know the worth of what they have. I don’t think they look at the value of athletics in Montgomery County. There’s too much instability (in the school system’s athletic departments) and that’s not fair to the student-athletes.”

Stokes coached the Lady Rams to a 9-14 record in 2009 and a 19-6 mark in 2010 before winning the Class 4A state title with a 28-6 record this past season. Eleven of the 15 players on the team are scheduled to return in 2012.

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