news-record.com

GREENSBORO - The removal of Mark Saunders as the Grimsley Whirlies head football coach went from inevitable to official on Friday when athletics director Lewis Newman announced that Saunders had resigned.

Saunders' departure leaves the Whirlies looking for a third head coach in 18 months. His departure also leaves more questions than answers, chief among them being: Did Grimsley's coach leave on his own or was he nudged out the door?

"Mark did many great things for Grimsley, and for that we'll always be grateful," Newman said Friday night. "We wish him the best."

Newman said Saunders informed him he was resigning earlier in the day Friday minutes before the two were to hold an annual end-of-season evaluation that all coaches must go through. Asked if Saunders would have returned to coach the Whirlies next season had he not resigned, Newman declined to answer.

"That's something I'm not really going to talk about," he said.

Saunders could not be reached Friday night. But earlier this week he suggested he wanted to remain as the Whirlies' coach. When a reporter contacted Saunders Tuesday to ask him if he had accepted a teaching position in Chambersburg, Pa., next fall, Saunders confirmed that he had, calling it "a backup plan."

"I want to come back (to Grimsley), but there are things that need to be worked out with the administration first," he said. He declined to elaborate.

Saunders' departure was as drawn out as his arrival was quick. He was promoted from defensive coordinator to head coach in the summer of 2007 after Todd Shuping's surprising firing a month before the start of practice.

Saunders led Grimsley to 11-2 record his first year, including a Metro Conference title before the team lost in the second round of the state playoffs. Despite his success, Saunders was not embraced by fans, many of whom were irked by Shuping's dismissal.

"I'm fighting a lot of battles," Saunders said shortly after last season. "And not all of them are on the field."

But as successful as his first year was, his second year was forgettable. The Whirlies won their first two games, but managed one more win the rest of the season, finishing 3-8 and missing the playoffs.

In October, Guilford County Schools suspended Saunders from his teaching and coaching duties for an undisclosed incident. Saunders and Newman initially denied Saunders had been suspended, saying he was tending to his wife, who was ill at the time.

If that didn't seal his fate, Grimsley's 19-6 loss to Page - the Whirlies' second straight loss under Saunders to their cross-city rival - did the trick.

Newman said he would begin searching for a new coach Saturday. He would not give a timetable for appointing Saunders' successor.

"We're going to take our time on this and get the best coach out there for our kids," he said.

Contact Robert Bell at 373-7055 or robert.bell@news-record.com