Paint Valley non renews Coach Shayne Combs
Posted: Tue May 18, 2010 9:49 pm
Last night, the Paint Valley Board of Education voted 3-2 to not bring Shayne Combs back as baseball coach. Coach Combs has spent the last several years coaching at Paint Valley, and the last 4 as the head coach. Over those 4 years they won over 50 games, including 5 tournament games, and two sectional championships. Shayne also coached 10 Academic All Ohio players. Even though PV is one of the smallest school in one of the best baseball leagues in southern Ohio, Coach Combs consistently put a competitive team on the field. His teams competed with class and sportsmanship because he held them to that standard.
This past season was definitely a rebuilding year after graduating several starters from last season, but I know Shayne was optimistic about the future because of the young talent coming up through the program. Unfortunately, he will not be given the opportunity to try to reap the benefits of the program he has been a part of re-building over the last few seasons. I spoke to Shayne today, and he has really been moved by the outpouring of support that has been shown to him last night and today. He has had several emails and phone calls and he really appreciates the encouragement that everyone has shown.
Shayne has always been loyal to Paint Valley. He’s been a teacher and coach there for more than 10 years. Everyone that knows Shayne knows that he is way too professional and classy to say anything negative about Paint Valley in public, and everyone that knows me knows that I am not, so I would like to comment.
As far as I know, the board has offered no reason to non renew Shayne. What reason could they offer? It can’t be about wins and losses, because if that was the case, then just about every coach in the district would be non renewed. It seems like only a couple of teams have had success there the last few years, and those are the programs that have had the most stability in their coaching staffs. It certainly cannot be his on or off field behavior. Shayne has always represented Paint Valley with the utmost class. He’s put in countless hours to help the kids at PV. He has shown nothing but loyalty to PV, and in return they non renew him.
This should really not be that big of surprise. PV is quickly earning the reputation of not supporting their coaches. They got rid of an excellent basketball coach in Eric Snyder a couple of years ago, and now they’ve lost another excellent coach. I feel bad for the kids at PV because they deserve better. Unfortunately, the BOE has made it quite clear that they could care less about what is best for the kids, rather they care only about their personal agendas. That’s the bad thing about being a high school coach. You can work your butt off, do the right things, treat your kids right, represent your school the right way, and you can still be let go for absolutely no reason. All it takes is one unethical board member and a couple of puppets and a coach can be removed without cause.
Fortunately not all schools are as disloyal as PV. It’s refreshing to see the schools that stand behind their coaches, and it’s enjoyable to coach in that sort of environment. I hope that eventually Coach Combs lands on his feet and has the opportunity to coach in a better situation. For the kids sake at PV, I hope someone stands up to those trying to use their position of power to meet their own needs rather than the best interests of everyone. Until this happens, PV will never get back to the success that they experienced 15-20 years ago when they were a very successful athletic department.
This past season was definitely a rebuilding year after graduating several starters from last season, but I know Shayne was optimistic about the future because of the young talent coming up through the program. Unfortunately, he will not be given the opportunity to try to reap the benefits of the program he has been a part of re-building over the last few seasons. I spoke to Shayne today, and he has really been moved by the outpouring of support that has been shown to him last night and today. He has had several emails and phone calls and he really appreciates the encouragement that everyone has shown.
Shayne has always been loyal to Paint Valley. He’s been a teacher and coach there for more than 10 years. Everyone that knows Shayne knows that he is way too professional and classy to say anything negative about Paint Valley in public, and everyone that knows me knows that I am not, so I would like to comment.
As far as I know, the board has offered no reason to non renew Shayne. What reason could they offer? It can’t be about wins and losses, because if that was the case, then just about every coach in the district would be non renewed. It seems like only a couple of teams have had success there the last few years, and those are the programs that have had the most stability in their coaching staffs. It certainly cannot be his on or off field behavior. Shayne has always represented Paint Valley with the utmost class. He’s put in countless hours to help the kids at PV. He has shown nothing but loyalty to PV, and in return they non renew him.
This should really not be that big of surprise. PV is quickly earning the reputation of not supporting their coaches. They got rid of an excellent basketball coach in Eric Snyder a couple of years ago, and now they’ve lost another excellent coach. I feel bad for the kids at PV because they deserve better. Unfortunately, the BOE has made it quite clear that they could care less about what is best for the kids, rather they care only about their personal agendas. That’s the bad thing about being a high school coach. You can work your butt off, do the right things, treat your kids right, represent your school the right way, and you can still be let go for absolutely no reason. All it takes is one unethical board member and a couple of puppets and a coach can be removed without cause.
Fortunately not all schools are as disloyal as PV. It’s refreshing to see the schools that stand behind their coaches, and it’s enjoyable to coach in that sort of environment. I hope that eventually Coach Combs lands on his feet and has the opportunity to coach in a better situation. For the kids sake at PV, I hope someone stands up to those trying to use their position of power to meet their own needs rather than the best interests of everyone. Until this happens, PV will never get back to the success that they experienced 15-20 years ago when they were a very successful athletic department.