New Head Coach at Richlands

[Gridiron60 2,555]

2 minutes ago, Duke2015 said:

Half way there we can do it 

I’m thinking application deadline is November 30th, they’ll hire at the December board meeting most likely. We’ll have from January until 7 on 7s in June to offer our advice to the new coach!  After 7 on 7s, we can prognosticate how we think the Blues season will shake out after our first glance at the coaching ensemble and players. I feel like we could drag it out for at least 10 months minimum! I have unshakable faith in this board to out do ourselves! 

[Liam McPoyle 1,863]

On 11/16/2023 at 10:11 PM, Duke2015 said:

they can get in the game for free 

Don't forget about the Union Bears polo, just like Coach Turner's. 

[land_rider 30]

On 11/16/2023 at 11:10 PM, BandanaVTDavis4321 said:

If the TCSB selects a Richlands coach, I bet they do it very, very quietly. I'm not talking about the TCSB selecting a coach secretly. I'm talking about them literally doing it Quietly, without noise. They don't like noise. 

If lots of folks start calling Donna Wittington and Chris don’t know her last name is , And encourage them to hire Dennis Vault we could be competitive again ,they work for us the tax payers 

[Gridiron60 2,555]

On 11/22/2023 at 7:43 PM, land_rider said:

If lots of folks start calling Donna Wittington and Chris don’t know her last name is , And encourage them to hire Dennis Vault we could be competitive again ,they work for us the tax payers 

Chris Moir I believe. Her son was QB at Richlands wasn’t he? 

[old_school_blue 247]

21 minutes ago, land_rider said:

If lots of folks start calling Donna Wittington and Chris don’t know her last name is , And encourage them to hire Dennis Vault we could be competitive again ,they work for us the tax payers 

His name is Vaught.

[tornado99 345]

2 hours ago, old_school_blue said:

His name is Vaught.

I sometimes wonder about how or why he came to Richlands and the causes behind his staff turnover between the stints of the championship and second short run after suspension. As stated before, he was an excellent motivator and strategist. 
 

I know of him being from Washington County, but not much more other than he worked his magic at Lexington to win a state title before coming to Richlands.

[Duke2015 451]

8 hours ago, Gridiron60 said:

I’m thinking application deadline is November 30th, they’ll hire at the December board meeting most likely. We’ll have from January until 7 on 7s in June to offer our advice to the new coach!  After 7 on 7s, we can prognosticate how we think the Blues season will shake out after our first glance at the coaching ensemble and players. I feel like we could drag it out for at least 10 months minimum! I have unshakable faith in this board to out do ourselves! 

Oh yeah we’ve not even started throwing out assistant coaches names yet.  So much more advice for us to share with the new coach 

[Gridiron60 2,555]

5 hours ago, Duke2015 said:

Oh yeah we’ve not even started throwing out assistant coaches names yet.  So much more advice for us to share with the new coach 

Have you listened to the latest ATW Episode? They threw out some names for coaches & possibly assistants. If I recall their top two picks were Ronnie Davis with maybe a possibility of Snake leaving Graham to help him (I don’t see that) & Shane Wicks (if Honaker goes on to win state, are you leaving that team to be head coach of a 0-10 team, I don’t see that either)?I think they mentioned coaches from Eastside, Twin Springs, and a few more. 

[old_school_blue 247]

11 hours ago, tornado99 said:

I sometimes wonder about how or why he came to Richlands and the causes behind his staff turnover between the stints of the championship and second short run after suspension. As stated before, he was an excellent motivator and strategist. 
 

I know of him being from Washington County, but not much more other than he worked his magic at Lexington to win a state title before coming to Richlands.

To my knowledge, he played high school football at Patrick Henry (Glade Spring), he was on staff at Virginia Tech coaching Tight Ends with Frank Beamer under Bill Dooley in 1986.  He coached Patrick Henry (Roanoke) and Lexington (1988 Div. 2 State Champs.)  He was an assistant at Tazewell the year before he took the job at Richlands.  It is important to note that neither Lexington nor Richlands had ever won a state title before his arrival.

[old_school_blue 247]

2 hours ago, Gridiron60 said:

Have you listened to the latest ATW Episode? They threw out some names for coaches & possibly assistants. If I recall their top two picks were Ronnie Davis with maybe a possibility of Snake leaving Graham to help him (I don’t see that) & Shane Wicks (if Honaker goes on to win state, are you leaving that team to be head coach of a 0-10 team, I don’t see that either)?I think they mentioned coaches from Eastside, Twin Springs, and a few more. 

Both are strong possibilities.  One would think that Wicks would be tempted to take it.  He is very young, a Richlands alum., and would have an opportunity to right the ship.

[Duke2015 451]

5 hours ago, Gridiron60 said:

Have you listened to the latest ATW Episode? They threw out some names for coaches & possibly assistants. If I recall their top two picks were Ronnie Davis with maybe a possibility of Snake leaving Graham to help him (I don’t see that) & Shane Wicks (if Honaker goes on to win state, are you leaving that team to be head coach of a 0-10 team, I don’t see that either)?I think they mentioned coaches from Eastside, Twin Springs, and a few more. 

Rhodes from eastside would be a good choice.  Seems to have them moving in the right direction though so he may stick around 

[hoard 18]

3 hours ago, old_school_blue said:

To my knowledge, he played high school football at Patrick Henry (Glade Spring), he was on staff at Virginia Tech coaching Tight Ends with Frank Beamer under Bill Dooley in 1986.  He coached Patrick Henry (Roanoke) and Lexington (1988 Div. 2 State Champs.)  He was an assistant at Tazewell the year before he took the job at Richlands.  It is important to note that neither Lexington nor Richlands had ever won a state title before his arrival.

Vaught took the PH-Roanoke job in ‘89 and was off to a good start (I think they were 5-2 or thereabouts) but then resigned or got fired after making some racial statements to his team during a game they had been playing poorly in.

He joined the Tazewell staff as an assistant in 1990 and had a big hand in that team going 6-4 and making the playoffs. The Dogs weren’t expected to win more than a couple games that year but almost upset Graham in the playoffs when the G-Men were unbeaten and defending state champs.

It was said that Vaught was brought to Tazewell as a “coach in waiting” for Richlands that year because Billy Haun was on his way out in 1990. A lot of Tazewell people were pissed, saying Richlands got their best coach.

 

 

 

 

[BandanaVTDavis4321 1,717]

I forget the connection, but former VT OC Bryan Stinespring was an assistant at Lexington under Vaught and HC of VT Brett Pry played for them, but graduated the year before Lexington won that state title

[land_rider 30]

18 hours ago, old_school_blue said:

His name is Vaught.

Thanks my spelling is horrible, just hire Dennis Vaught 

[swva_fan 91]

2 hours ago, hoard said:

Vaught took the PH-Roanoke job in ‘89 and was off to a good start (I think they were 5-2 or thereabouts) but then resigned or got fired after making some racial statements to his team during a game they had been playing poorly in.

He joined the Tazewell staff as an assistant in 1990 and had a big hand in that team going 6-4 and making the playoffs. The Dogs weren’t expected to win more than a couple games that year but almost upset Graham in the playoffs when the G-Men were unbeaten and defending state champs.

It was said that Vaught was brought to Tazewell as a “coach in waiting” for Richlands that year because Billy Haun was on his way out in 1990. A lot of Tazewell people were pissed, saying Richlands got their best coach.

 

 

 

 

deleted

[sixcat 2,919]

Doing a little light reading on Thanksgiving. Dennis Vaught had an interesting career.
 

Won a state championship at Lexington in 1989. 
 

Resigned in 1990 from PH-Roanoke for racial slurs during a halftime speech.
 

Suspended for multiple seasons in 1992 for using illegal cleats in a state semifinal. I didn’t realize until reading this, Vaught tried to use the same cleats in the state final but got caught during pre-game. 

Fired in 1996 for intentionally injuring multiple players from Grundy. 
 

Billy Haun from the top rope “Richlands is not a place to raise a family…”

Im not offering an opinion one way or another. Just a very interesting read. 
 

https://wegottodosomething.com/2018/08/16/wild-wild-southwest/

[tornado99 345]

4 hours ago, hoard said:

Vaught took the PH-Roanoke job in ‘89 and was off to a good start (I think they were 5-2 or thereabouts) but then resigned or got fired after making some racial statements to his team during a game they had been playing poorly in.

He joined the Tazewell staff as an assistant in 1990 and had a big hand in that team going 6-4 and making the playoffs. The Dogs weren’t expected to win more than a couple games that year but almost upset Graham in the playoffs when the G-Men were unbeaten and defending state champs.

It was said that Vaught was brought to Tazewell as a “coach in waiting” for Richlands that year because Billy Haun was on his way out in 1990. A lot of Tazewell people were pissed, saying Richlands got their best coach.

 

 

 

 

Thanks. I thought I had heard part of that, but didn’t put the pieces together.

My freshman and sophomore years he was back, but very few were on staff that were with him before the suspension.

Edited November 23, 2023 by tornado99
Correction

[hoard 18]

3 hours ago, sixcat said:

Doing a little light reading on Thanksgiving. Dennis Vaught had an interesting career.
 

Won a state championship at Lexington in 1989. 
 

Resigned in 1990 from PH-Roanoke for racial slurs during a halftime speech.
 

Suspended for multiple seasons in 1992 for using illegal cleats in a state semifinal. I didn’t realize until reading this, Vaught tried to use the same cleats in the state final but got caught during pre-game. 

Fired in 1996 for intentionally injuring multiple players from Grundy. 
 

Billy Haun from the top rope “Richlands is not a place to raise a family…”

Im not offering an opinion one way or another. Just a very interesting read. 
 

https://wegottodosomething.com/2018/08/16/wild-wild-southwest/

To expand a little on something mentioned in the article you linked:

Former Grundy head coach John Curia was the head coach for Orange County, Richlands' opponent in the 92 state finals. I was a sportswriter at the time covering the whole ordeal and Curia told me during an interview (several days after the final, once all the cleat stuff became public) that Salem had forewarned him to be on the lookout for the cleats. In pre game warmups the officials checked the cleats and Richlands came out late for the start of the game because they had to change them when they went back to the locker room.

I also recall a couple days after that Salem game, a parent of a Richlands player said there were mumblings about their cleats being too long. He said "we were just as legal as they (Salem) were."

If I remember correctly a Salem fan or grad who worked for CMT provided The Roanoke Times or maybe the Salem Times Register with the receipt for Richlands' purchase of the cleats. Initially Vaught said they used them only for practice.

 

Edited November 24, 2023 by hoard
Added Salem Times Register

[Westisthebest 88]

On 11/8/2023 at 5:55 PM, Westisthebest said:

Well maybe I was right. Heard from a good source that they offered Davis but he turned it down 

Well scratch that. He did apply. Apparently there were several applicants. Back to my original pick. I bet it will be Davis. 

I dont see any of these other coaches from the schools that have been mentioned leaving programs for an 0-10 school

[RichlandsAlum 678]

19 hours ago, hoard said:

Vaught took the PH-Roanoke job in ‘89 and was off to a good start (I think they were 5-2 or thereabouts) but then resigned or got fired after making some racial statements to his team during a game they had been playing poorly in.

He joined the Tazewell staff as an assistant in 1990 and had a big hand in that team going 6-4 and making the playoffs. The Dogs weren’t expected to win more than a couple games that year but almost upset Graham in the playoffs when the G-Men were unbeaten and defending state champs.

It was said that Vaught was brought to Tazewell as a “coach in waiting” for Richlands that year because Billy Haun was on his way out in 1990. A lot of Tazewell people were pissed, saying Richlands got their best coach.

 

 

 

 

Vaught was indeed brought in to be "coach in waiting."  Although I don't know that there was a specific timeframe implied, I was told that the next Richlands head coach had been hired the day that Vaught was announced as THS assistant.  Superintendent Frank Cosby had come to Tazewell County from Salem and still maintained relationships in the Roanoke Valley.  Guessing/betting that was the connection.

I had a lot of respect for what Billy Haun did in Richlands (still do).  But it was apparently never more than a temporary stop for him (alluded elsewhere in this thread in an article linked by sixcat).  My impression is that he wasn't necessarily forced out but the leadership in school administration knew that his departure was somewhat inevitable. 

Vaught's availability just happened to be pretty convenient -- and there was also some chatter then about him deserving a second chance after things blew up for him at PH-Roanoke.  Unfortunately the personal grudge that certain Roanoke media members developed against Vaught followed him and nobody knew just how vindictive those guys could be until the sordid events of 1992.

[Liam McPoyle 1,863]

---

                         Roanoke Times
              
DATE: THURSDAY, April 12, 1990                   
BOB TEITLEBAUM SPORTSWRITER

---

FORMER PH COACH VAUGHT HIRED AT TAZEWELL

Former Patrick Henry football coach Dennis Vaught is back in coaching after being hired as an assistant at Tazewell.

Vaught, who resigned his job at Patrick Henry last October after making racist remarks during a halftime speech of the Homer Ferguson game, begins his new job on Tuesday.

Tazewell County school superintendent Frank Cosby said he was fully aware of what happened to Vaught at Patrick Henry. "I'm satisfied it's a one-time thing. If he was working for me at that time, he'd still be coaching," said Cosby, who was formerly superintendent of schools in Salem.

"I don't think it was a black-white thing," Cosby said. "I've been in this business too long and no one can be picture perfect. I make mistakes every day. Fortunately, I can overcome them.

"Mr. Vaught is truly an outstanding young man. He's 33 years old and has a good future. I hope he stays with us a few years."

Vaught remains silent about the incident last fall at Patrick Henry. "I'm just glad this is all over. This job has been in the works for a while," Vaught said.

Vaught was head coach at Lexington for two years before coming to Patrick Henry last year. His Patriots team was 5-2 at the time of his resignation. His 1988 Lexington team won the Group A Division 2 championship by upsetting Lunenburg Central to end a 39-game winning streak. Vaught was Timesland football coach of the year that fall.

Vaught will work with the in-school suspension and alternative education programs. He also will coach a spring sport, although Cosby said it was not decided exactly those duties would entail.

Brian Stinespring, who came as an assistant with Vaught from Lexington but remained at Patrick Henry after last fall's incident, also is getting a new job. He will join the Virginia Tech staff as a graduate assistant next year. He also had looked into the head coaching vacancy at Alleghany.

 

[BandanaVTDavis4321 1,717]

18 minutes ago, Liam McPoyle said:

                         

"Brian Stinespring, who came as an assistant with Vaught from Lexington but remained at Patrick Henry after last fall's incident, also is getting a new job. He will join the Virginia Tech staff as a graduate assistant next year. He also had looked into the head coaching vacancy at Alleghany."

 

2 Takes From the Above. The first is...Dennis Vaught would be about 66 years old today. Number two, Va Tech hired the wrong guy and should have taken Vaught instead of Stiney. StIney never took credit for a bad offense or bad game or his 102nd nationally ranked offenses for over 3 years in a row. He would simply blame "execution." 

[sixcat 2,919]

23 minutes ago, BandanaVTDavis4321 said:

Va Tech hired the wrong guy and should have taken Vaught instead of Stiney. 

There’s no way Beamer and Co. could hire Vaught after being fired (or resigning) for a racially charged incident. Even 30 years ago, it would have devastated recruiting. 

[Real Sasquatch 1,865]

Why is anybody even talking about Dennis Vaught?  Surely, they are just joking. 

[sixcat 2,919]

Just now, Real Sasquatch said:

Why is anybody even talking about Dennis Vaught?  Surely, they are just joking. 

One would think. But his name goes back to the very beginning of this thread. Which is why I began reading about him online. I’ve always heard the name but never really knew anything about him. I hadn’t even put together, he was the head coach during cleat-gate.