By MIKE HUTSELL
Steve Cooley, the head football coach at Jeffersonville High for the past 10 seasons, has announced his resignation.
Cooley, who ranks second all-time at JHS with 54 victories, began meeting with team members to inform them of his decision on Tuesday and made the decision public on Thursday.
“It is with a heavy heart and many reservations that I have resigned as the head football coach at Jeffersonville High School,” said Cooley. “It is never easy to walk away from something that you love and have poured your heart into, and even harder to leave people that you truly care about.”
Cooley, who compiled a 54-54 record during his tenure with the Red Devils, led Jeff to the 2007 Class 5A, Sectional 8 championship and a runner-up finish in 2008.
Over the last three seasons of his tenure, Jeff went 21-14 — which included a 9-1 mark against local rivals Providence, New Albany and Floyd Central in that span. Seven Red Devil players were selected to the Indiana All-State teams during his stint and three former Red Devils currently are members of the Indiana University football program — running back Trea Burgess, linebacker Brandon McGhee and quarterback Edward Wright-Baker.
“Together, with an incredible staff I have celebrated success and mourned loss,” Cooley said. “Through it all I have cared about this community, and I have loved my players, it is simply time.”
Jeffersonville athletic director Jeff Griffith said the process of finding a replacement will begin today — when the position is officially posted through Greater Clark County Schools.
Griffith expressed appreciation towards Cooley’s contribution to the program.
“I’ve known Steve since he arrived here and even had the privilege of working on his staff for one season,” Griffith said. “He was a tremendous leader and a good honorable man who represented this program well.”
Players expressed disappointment and surprise with the news of Cooley’s departure.
“Coach Cooley is the only coach that the players at Jeffersonville High School have known so it really is disappointing to see his career here come to a close,” said senior linebacker Toba Omotinugbon, who completed his final season as a Red Devil in October. “As a coach, he was about more than wins and losses. He was about working hard and pushing you to perform at your very best.
“As I look for college opportunities, coach has worked right alongside of me in finding me the right fit. I will always appreciate his efforts in my career.”
Fellow senior Trent Fortson, a captain with the Red Devils the past two seasons, says the news caught the team off-guard.
“I was shocked,” Fortson said. “The rumors were out there at the school but the news completely caught us off guard.
“Coach Cooley has been like a father to me. Anytime any of his players needed anything he would go above and beyond what a head coach is asked to do.
“He’s been with me on college visits and he’s seen to it that colleges are getting my information. He was more than what a coach should be and this is a big loss for Jeff’s football program.”
Sharon Fortson, the president of the Jeff High football boosters for the past seven seasons, says the coaching change is unwelcome.
“I’m hurt. I think the players are hurt, and I’m not sure that everyone understands the process,” Sharon Fortson said. “I’ve raised two sons on my own, and I don’t know that I would have been able to do that without Steve Cooley’s influence in their lives.
“As the president of the booster club, I personally do not see how there could be a better person coaching football and coaching the young men in the program than coach Cooley.”
Cooley admitted that the past few seasons have been difficult, as Jeff High has worked through construction at the school and heavy turnover in the athletic department.
“There is no need now to look behind us, but it must be said that the conditions at Jeff have been fairly rough over the past couple of years, with the construction, turmoil in the athletic department, and the political roller coaster that our community and administration seems to ride on,” Cooley said. “Putting your whistle around your neck and simply coaching your kids became next to impossible. So, while I will greatly miss the daily interaction with my players and my staff a break from the chaos will be welcomed.”
