| Lane Herrick watches a play during a game with Juan Diego on the Dinos home field this fall. Herrick announced he was stepping down as a coach on Friday. |
In a letter to the Sun Advocate last Friday, Lane Herrick, who has been the football coach at Carbon High for two seasons, announced that he will not return to that duty again next year.
Herrick, whose teams have won two state baseball championships over the last five years, was not able to instill that same winning magic on the football teams at the high school, with the Dinos only getting one win in the two seasons.
“Receiving this program in my charge, my goals were to bring this program some respect within the school and student body, and also to bring it some respect within the community,” stated Herrick in his letter. “In order to accomplish these goals, I needed to get these fine young men in our school playing football. For the past two years, our numbers have doubled. Many young men chose to play football for the first time. I was also able to add a sophomore football schedule to our program in order to give the younger players an opportunity to develop.”
Herrick took over a program two years ago that had not had a winning season since 2000, when the school had the best team they had fielded in 50 years. After that season, when the team went to the state playoffs for the first time in a very long time, many thought the program was on the upswing. But the next year the team didn’t do well and a year later Herrick took over the reins.
“I knew that if these young men could learn to work hard year-round and play as a team we could be successful,” he wrote. “I felt it was also very important to teach these players to have respect for themselves and their teammates, and also have support from their own homes and peers, on and off the field, in order to succeed. Teaching these qualities and having young men and their families be responsible for their actions, that were detrimental to the team, has not been a popular decision.”
This past season some decisions to discipline players was not well received. There were complaints from some that the discipline was not handed out equally and that some players were treated unfairly, but Herrick disputes that claim.
“I cannot coach in a way that I would not be proud of,” he stated. “I am not willing to sacrifice what I know is right. It has never been about me, but always what I feel has been best for these young men. Carbon County has been looking for answers concerning the football program for 60 years. The easiest answer, for most, is to point fingers. The hardest answer, sometimes, is to look within oneself. I urge everyone involved to look in a mirror and take responsibility for the future of these young men as football players, and more importantly, great young men.”
Herrick says he feels he is leaving the program in better condition that it was when he took it over and hopes by stepping down from the head coaching slot that some positive will come from it.
Concluding the letter he thanked all those that have supported him, including his assistant coaches and players.
He also said, in general, the community as a whole has been a great support to him and the team.
Carbon School District is now faced with the prospect of finding another new football coach to take over the program. The search in past years has not been easy, with previous coaches who work at the school generally not willing to take on the task again.
On Monday afternoon the Sun Advocate spoke with Robert Cox the principal of Carbon High and he said that he had not been informed in writing of the resignation, but had spoken with Herrick about the decision.
Cox said that once the resignation is official, probably just before Thanksgiving, the district would advertise for the position.
However, he pointed out that the school did not have a teaching position open that could be used in conjunction with the job.