By By Matthew Nascone
The Northview High School boy's basketball team will be under new direction next year when they hit the gym for their first practice. Shane Reid announced his resignation from NHS July 6.
"The timing could have been better, but this is about my family," Reid said.
Reid said he wanted to move his wife, Kelley and their 3-year-old daughter, Katie Beth, closer to Kelley's family in northern Alabama. Reid accepted a job as the head basketball coach at Cherokee County High School in Centre.
"I had a buddy that told me they were looking for a new head coach because the former coach resigned," Reid said. "And they were 31-2 last year and lost in the semifinals of the state tournament. So I sent my resume a while back and I interviewed for the job at the end of June. They offered me the job last week and my wife and I prayed on it and I accepted it."
Kelley's family is from the Tuscumbia area and her father lives in Gadsden. Reid said it will still be a drive, but it will not be the four hours away that Atmore is from the family.
"Atmore is a great place, but there is no substitute for grandparents to a 3-year-old," he said. "But leaving Northview was the hardest thing I have had to do. If it wasn't for my daughter I would not have left."
Reid said he had many talks with Kelley about when they would move back north and he said they knew it was coming, just not this soon.
Reid has been driving back and forth to Centre since he was offered the job. Centre is about 90 miles southeast of Huntsville and is close to the Georgia-Alabama border.
Reid left his mark on Northview even though he was only there for one year.
"We will miss him a lot," NHS athletic director Sammy Day said. "He did a lot for our basketball program and I hate to see him go. But he is moving closer to his family and I can understand that."
Day said the search for a new head basketball coach is underway and the school is searching in Georgia, Alabama and Florida. He said the interview process would begin shortly.
Reid was also an assistant coach for the NHS football team in the fall and head football coach Cody Keene said he would be missed.
"We hate to see him go, but he had the opportunity to be closer to home and his family and also to make better money," Keene said. "And that is a good situation for him and his family."
Reid may be gone from Northview, but he still has a respect for the school and its employees.
"Whoever gets the head coach job will be walking into a good situation with some good kids and a great faculty," he said.