Wake Forest-Rolesville Head Coach Earl Smith calls out directions to his team during the NCHSAA 4AA playoffs. Photo by C.F.Ward
Apr 15, 2009
WAKE FOREST — Earl Smith announced to the public on Tuesday that he would not be returning to Wake Forest-Rolesville next school year, Smith has been thinking about the issue for the last several weeks.
“It’s been kind of like a whirlwind over the last two or three weeks," Smith said. "When you’ve done something all your life it’s kind of hard to leave it."
Smith, 54, is on a year-by-year contract with the Wake County Public School System, and due to the current economic problems, the system cannot guarantee that such employees will be hired back next school year.
“The bottom line is, they can’t tell me if I’ll have a teaching job this fall," Smith said.
Smith commended WCPSS Superintendent Dr. Del Burns for coming forward with the economic issues early on, but Smith said he has to work, and Welsh Paper Company in Youngsville offered him a job last Friday that he had to take.
"In a way, it's exciting," Smith said about the new job. "I'm still going to be able to get my competitiveness side out of me, but I'll be doing something different, something I've never done."
Smith said he spoke to his team yesterday with his principal and athletic director, and when he told the players they were shocked.
“It was a little bit of a surprise to them," Smith said about his players. "But they understand, and that's important. I didn’t want them to feel like it was them or anything they had done, and teenagers will think like that sometimes."
In five seasons at Wake Forest-Rolesville, Smith has compiled a record of 48-20. He took a program that had never won a conference title in its more than 50 years of existence, and won three back-to-back conference championships. Last season, Smith led the Cougars to the 4-AA Eastern Regional Final where they lost to Jack Britt.
“I’m able to walk away feeling like I really left this program where it needs to be," Smith said.
Before going to Wake Forest-Rolesville, Smith coached football at New Hanover, Millbrook and Ledford.
His teams at Millbrook put his name and his program on the statewide map. As a Wildcat, Smith posted a 188-75-1 record, won ten conference titles and made the playoffs 14 times.
One of his former players and assistant coaches at Millbrook is Clarence Inscore, the current head coach of the Wildcats.
“I think it’s a big loss for high school football, that’s for sure," Inscore said on Tuesday after learning about Smith's resignation. "He’s made a lot of difference in a lot people’s lives."
Tom Suiter, the legendary WRAL-TV sports anchor and host of Football Friday for the last 28 seasons, spoke about Smith as well.
“There is no finer high school football coach in North Carolina than Earl Smith. He wins championships, and he wins them the right way," Suiter said. “I’ve covered Earl Smith’s football teams for a lot of years, and I’ve always had the utmost respect for him and the way he ran his program.”
When it rains on a Friday night during high school football season, Suiter is constantly scrambling to adjust the Football Friday schedule. However, there was always one coach Suiter could count on playing.
“In doing a high school football show, I always wanted someone like Earl, because he would play no matter what the weather," said Suiter. "We always knew that if Earl Smith called it off, we weren’t going to have a show because everybody else will.”
Wake County's senior director of athletics, Bobby Guthrie, said he has been able to get to know Smith better since he returned to Wake County from New Hanover.
“The thing I’ve always thought about Earl was that he always did things the right way, his team did things the right way," said Guthrie. "They were fundamentally sound, they were a team, they played together, and you never heard about sportsmanship issues. You didn’t have to worry about that with this football team.”
Smith said Wednesday that he thinks his coaching days are over.
“You never say never, but I think this is it," Smith said. "If I need a job five years from now and there's an opening somewhere, then maybe I'll come back, but I don't think that's going to be the case."
Smith leaves behind a Wake Forest-Rolesville program that is at a higher level than ever before, and he also leaves behind an experienced coaching staff.
"Those coaches I had on my staff are great," Smith said. "There's a lot of experience there, but the young guys we have coming up on the staff are great too."
Smith said Wake Forest-Rolesville principal Tina Hoots asked him if he would be a part of the replacement process. Smith said he didn't think that would be the right thing for him to do, but he did offer some advice.
"Leave the staff intact as much as possible," Smith said. "There are definitely some qualified candidates on that staff."
Smith also said he will have a limited role with the program he helped build up in the future.
“I'll help in a way that it won’t hinder them," said Smith. "I’ll be there if they need me, but I’m not going to come to practice, and I may not even go to games."
Wake Forest-Rolesville will defend their three consecutive conference titles this season. The Cougars will open up their schedule on Aug. 21, at home against Riverside.
Contact Nick Stevens at stevens@ncsportsreport.com.
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