Gadsden County High is starting the football season without head coach Russell Ellington after his resignation to take a new job, leaving the Jaguars and their community searching for stability.
- Ellington announced Saturday he’s leaving to coach at Savannah State University.
- His decision follows FHSAA sanctions, including a $5,000 fine and a one-year suspension if he returns to Florida coaching.
- Watch the video to hear how the superintendent and community plan to rally behind the team.
BROADCAST TRANSCRIPT:
It's been one of the toughest seasons in recent memory for Gadsden County High football, and now the team is without a head coach. I'm Tatyana Purifoy, your Quincy neighborhood reporter, sharing what's next for head coach Russell Ellington and how the district superintendent says he plans to move forward.
Head coach Russell Ellington told his Jaguars Saturday he was leaving to take a job at Savannah State University. The season has only begun.
This comes after the FHSAA upheld a suspension and sanctions against him earlier this month. Ellington told the superintendent he made the decision for his mental health, and to better provide for his family.
The FHSAA ruled Ellington will still have to pay a $5000 fine and if he ever returns to coach in Florida he'll still have to serve a one-year suspension.
Now, the Jaguars are left searching for stability as the community rallies behind the players to keep the season alive.
Gadsden County school superintendent Elijah Key said, "The main thing now is pulling the guys together and finding the leaders among the adults that we have here, uh, to pull this group of young men together. It's a great group of young men, and they're the ones more than anybody that did not call for all this. And so we're gonna have to come together as a community, come together as a school, uh, come together as even the players and the coaches and move this forward in the very best way, because there's a great opportunity for these young men to be very good and to finish this year strong."
With their coach gone, playoff hopes off the table and lingering sanctions for the school still in place... the pressure now shifts to the team and the district to hold things together and continue the season.
The district is now looking for someone new to lead the team. Superintendent Key says the district will do everything it can to support the team. In Quincy Tatyana Purifoy ABC 27.
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