Citing personal reasons, Jeremy Yankey resigned Friday afternoon as the head football coach at East Clinton High School.
Yankey said he informed the administration at East Clinton of his decision Friday afternoon, then told the football coaching staff and players.
“I haven’t officially turned in a resignation letter but I did inform the administration I was resigning,” Yankey said in a telephone interview with the News Journal Friday.
A long-time East Clinton pee wee football coach and East Clinton High School graduate, Yankey had a team meeting with the players at approximately 4 p.m. following the weekly pre-game meal. The bus left East Clinton for Friday’s game at Bethel-Tate at 4:45 p.m.
“My decision wasn’t made until then,” said Yankey. “In light of everything that had taken place (Friday), I don’t see how I could have given them (the Astros football team) my best effort to coach the team.
“It is truly with a heavy heart I feel I no longer can coach at East Clinton. I feel like I have let the kids down. I didn’t do what I wanted to do there. I love those kids passionately. I feel bad for them, the situation they are in, the record we have this season. I feel like I wasn’t able to bring them the success I wanted to bring.”
According to East Clinton athletic director Jim Marsh, Mark Scovanner will be the head coach in place of Yankey.
Yankey was in his fifth season as the varsity head coach. Through seven weeks of the 2017 season, he had a 6-31 record.
Yankey had coached the senior class of football players while they were in pee wee football. The long relationship and timing of the decision made Yankey’s decision extremely difficult.
“There were a lot of tears, a lot of hugs, a lot of frustrated kids,” Yankey said of the players meeting. “There were a lot of ‘I love yous’ … those kids mean a lot to me.”
