Southern Door will have a new football coach for the first time since 1990. After 23 seasons, Brent Claflin has decided that he will no longer be the coach of the Eagles. In a conversation with WDOR Sports, Claflin said that it “was a very complicated decision with so many factors that play into it” and added that he no longer has the energy for the year round job….[audio:http://wdor.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/02/brentwhy.mp3|titles=Brent Claflin: After 23 years, why now?]Despite their recent struggles with the won/loss record, Southern Door has always had a a lot of players out for the team, something that Coach Claflin is proud of…[audio:http://wdor.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/02/brentwork.mp3|titles=Brent Claflin: Plenty of players]Claflin says that there’s so much more to coaching than there used to be….from fundraising to running the weight room to putting on camps to updating equipment to film study and more. With that being said, retiring was still a difficult decision….[audio:http://wdor.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/02/brenttough.mp3|titles=Brent Claflin: Tough decision]Southern Door Superintendent Patti Vickman added the following to Monday’s release: “On behalf of the students and staff, we appreciate Mr. Claflin’s dedication and leadership with the Southern Door football program. Several students have excelled and have gone on to be successful in college and professional careers in part to the foundation they received while participating in Southern Door football.” Coach Claflin’s resignation will be officially accepted by the Board of Education at its February 18th meeting.
You can listen to the full interview with Brent Claflin during the halftime of the Gibraltar at Southern Door boys basketball game tonight on 93.9FM / wdor.com
