Brackett resigns as Benedictine coach

Jim Thomas
SavannahNow.com

Benedictine football coach Tommy Brackett unexpectedly announced his resignation Sunday night at the school's fall sports banquet, saying he felt it was "just time to move on'' after 11 years.

Brackett, who posted a 79-39 overall record with the Cadets, said he informed Benedictine athletic director Jim Walsh, Sr., and principal Kelly Burke of his decision on Wednesday.

"I've been thinking about it since the end of the season,'' Brackett said. "It was a tough decision. I've been blessed to have been given the opportunity to have the best job in the city, if not in southeast Georgia. Right now, I just felt it was the best thing for me and the best thing for the school.''

He said Walsh and Burke were the only two people who knew he had decided to step down until he made the announcement. Even his coaching staff didn't know.

"We kind of kept it quiet until (Sunday),'' he said. "I thought it was important for the players to hear it from me. I didn't want any kind of false rumors circulating.

"I think they were kind of shocked. But they were all gentlemen about it. They came back and wished me the best and thanked me for all of our time together. I was really touched by the kids.''

Benedictine, traditionally one of the city's strongest programs, has been down the last three years. The Cadets have gone only 11-19 during that span, including 5-5 this season. But Brackett said that had nothing to do with his decision to step down.

"That wasn't a factor at all,'' he said. "If you look at the season this year, we played six teams with winning records and five went to the playoffs. We went 2-3 against those teams. We battled injuries toward the end. I was really proud of the team. We have a pretty good sophomore class waiting to step up next year.''
There had been speculation that Brackett would be fired after BC suffered back-to-back losing seasons in going 4-6 in 2003 and 2-8 in 2004. But he said he was not under any pressure to resign.

"Those kinds of rumors always happen when you're losing,'' Brackett said. "I just think the program needs a little jolt, some new blood. I go back to when Coach Walsh stepped down and I took over. There was some excitement and some enthusiasm. I'd like to see that for the school again.''

Prior to coming to BC in 1995, Brackett had a 40-16 record in five years as head coach at Southeast Bulloch from 1990-1994. His overall career record was 119-55 in 16 years.

Brackett, 49, said he plans to stay on at the school until the end of the year and fulfill his teaching duties. But he said he wasn't thought about coaching anywhere else.

"I haven't talked to anyone,'' Brackett said. "I'm not seeking a job and nobody's talked to me about a job.''

Walsh, who coached BC for 25 years before retiring in 1994, said Brackett's decision didn't surprise him.

"I thought he was getting restless,'' Walsh said. "His leaving didn't have anything to do with the last couple of years. That's going to happen. He was very successful here. I just think it was kind of a family thing. He has some things he wants to accomplish.''

Walsh said he had no timetable as to when Benedictine would hire a new coach.
"We know of a couple of people who might be interested,'' he said. "But we haven't really talked to anybody about it because it was so recent that (Brackett) said he wasn't coming back.''