By By Chandler Myers
Friday was a dark and gloomy day for the Escambia County High School athletics department.
Kyle Davis, the head coach of the Blue Devils for the past five years, was relieved of his duties Friday afternoon by school administration.
The decision to let Davis go will be cheered by some and jeered by others.
It remains to be seen to this sports editor exactly what warranted this firing.
Two bad seasons in a class of teams that are far deeper than any Escambia County High School has ever known should not be the reason.
Davis’ resume with the Blue Devils speaks for itself. Before his arrival, this was a program that had won 12 games in a 10-year span. Ten years.
He came in built up what was in shambles and took ECHS to two straight playoff appearances.
Everyone jumped on the bandwagon for playoff appearances in Class 4A, but now they all want to jump off after two down seasons in a class that this school did not belong in the first place.
Now, the Blue Devils are going to drop back down to Class 4A, which was something Davis looked forward to because it would give his team a much better chance at competing.
This is a man that cares about his football team and every player that is listed on the roster. He wants each player to be the best person they can be.
He also wants to coach at Escambia County High School. He is probably the only coach in the state with head coaching experience that wants to coach there.
When coaches are looking for jobs they look for places that seem to have some run of success with a certain coach.
Schools that have had several coaches in a 10-year span are not something they look at because it seems the coaches there do not get a fair shot especially after one that had a fair amount of success compared to the previous 10 years was ousted for a couple of down years. That scares away any takers.
The Atmore Advance will wholeheartedly support any coach that ECHS finds.
However, we will miss Kyle Davis on the sidelines next season.
Chandler Myers is sports editor of the Atmore Advance. He can be reached at 368-2123 or by e-mail at sports@atmoreadvance.com