[MountainBall44]

According to his Facebook post, Head coach John DeRossett was officially fired today by the principal of the school. I’ll be interested to see if they can bring in a good coach.

[PHS Coach]

Can't say I'm shock....but.... then again I'm shocked. Shouldn't be hard to find a good coach as Prestonsburg has always been a football school and community.

[Spud6]

Saw on his wife’s Facebook that he said he was fired over the phone by the principal. I don’t know the situation and never will. But what that man did for the program speaks for itself and his dedication for so many years to be fired over the phone? How cowardly is that!?

Classless but like I said, I don’t know the situation.

[Blacksmith]

Not surprised at all he was fired, but at the same time I am because of the buddy system.Wouldnt even surpise me if they retracted it before season.. if you lived near, had friends,family etc in the program you would know why he was fired.. Done great things for a long time, the last several years things have been terrible.. In town talent wont even stay to play there now

[blue bomber]

About 4 years to late

[badbunton]

i would look for a young up and coming coach if i were prestonsburg. i think jarred jarrell was on the staff last year. he was a great player and loves the game... why not give him a shot

[plantmanky]

"I would like to tell the coaches throughout the state I got fired at Prestonsburg HS today via a phone call during my 7th period health class from my Principal. Please contact our new AD Ricky Thacker for scheduling or our new Principal Lori Bricken concerning any matters related to our football program. "

[Blacksmith]

"I would like to tell the coaches throughout the state I got fired at Prestonsburg HS today via a phone call during my 7th period health class from my Principal. Please contact our new AD Ricky Thacker for scheduling or our new Principal Lori Bricken concerning any matters related to our football program. "

While I might agree with the decision that's not the way it should have been handled

[Real Badman]

Well that is the death of Prestonsburg football.

[jetpilot]

Well that is the death of Prestonsburg football.

Seriously? It's the rebirth.

[Football_Maniac]

Seems pretty gutless if you ask me. Man has been there a while and deserved a better ending than a phone call - especially if he was reaching in the same building. WOW.

Best of luck to the black cats and Coach D.

[Real Badman]

What year did he start there

[Spud6]

What year did he start there

He has been there 22 years. I don’t know when he became head coach. He may have been a head coach there 22 years and been there longer. Not sure.

[HAIL PIKEVILLE!]

As someone else stated, this is too little-too late. They had the perfect coach for P-Burg on staff 2 years ago in Shawn Hager and let him go to Floyd Central.

[Pulp Fiction]

Who are the leaders in the club house?

I heard a (pretty familiar) name tonight at the Expo..... but no way I would mention it on here.

[Westside]

I don't know what went on at Prestonsburg the last few years and don't really care. The few times I ever spoke with John and James I really liked them. They both poured their heart and soul into the program for over 20 years for basically nothing more than love of the game, their players, and their town. Any former players that I ever heard speak about them only had good things to say. Petersburg was luck to have them. Too bad it ended this way. I 'm sure there is a school South on US 23 that would love to have him back.

[Real Badman]

180-101 as Leader of the Blackcats in 22 Years. I imagine he is the schools winningest coach?

Overall, not sure how many years he was at Betsy Layne, but I know he was successful there too.

[Glory Days]

As someone else stated, this is too little-too late. They had the perfect coach for P-Burg on staff 2 years ago in Shawn Hager and let him go to Floyd Central.

Also had Joe chirico on staff for a few years before he went to Paintsville

[doubledown]

Have know idea what has caused the program to take a downward spiral but they had some very good teams during coach D's tenure. Will be interesting to see who takes over to rebuild the program.

[Real Badman]

4 years ago they were 5 points from a state championship appearance

[Pulp Fiction]

4 years ago they were 5 points from a state championship appearance

There are four games before you make it to the state championship.

1st Round.
2nd Round.
Regional Championship.
State Semi-Finals.
State Championship.

2001: Loss to Bardstown; 16-47. State Championship.
2002: Loss to Breathitt County; 24-42. 2nd Round.
2003: Loss to Belfry; 19-27. 2nd Round.
2004: Loss to Belfry; 12-28. Regional championship.
2005: Loss to Middlesboro; 20-40. 1st Round.
2006: Loss to Belfry; 10-35. 2nd Round.
2007: Loss to DeSales; 20-33. Regional championship.
2008: Loss to Corbin; 7-20. Regional championship.
2009: Loss to DeSales; 28-33. State Semi-Finals.
2010: Loss to Corbin; 14-48. Region championship.
2011: Loss to Danville; 16-32. 1st Round.
2012: Loss to Danville; 14-16. 2nd Round.
2013: Loss to Somerset; 21-28. Regional championship.
2014: Loss to Shelby Valley; 14-21 (OT) Regional championship.
2015: Loss to Lexington Christian; 13-34. 1st Round.
2016: Loss to Somerset; 6-35. 1st Round.
2017: Loss to Lexington Christian; 12-42. 2nd Round.


The last time Pburg was in the state semi-finals was 2009, nine seasons ago.
Their last state championship appearance was 2001.

[pjdoug]

According to his Facebook post, Head coach John DeRossett was officially fired today by the principal of the school. I’ll be interested to see if they can bring in a good coach.

Haywood.

[AngryMob]

Chirico is the rumor

[Ike Cooter]

Chirico is the rumor

No way that happens. Give me one reason why he would leave Paintsville.

[Explorer]

Nothing ever surprises me with Floyd Co. schools, (minus the ridiculously high state test scores) but firing the man, the myth, the legend over the phone during school is a shock.

He has ran other programs into the ground any time they had success (baseball twice) and couldn't keep in house talent.

New Super must not care at all and good for that. The old way really hurt Floyd Co. schools in general.

That said, have more class than this. I don't care why he was fired, just do it in person after school for a meeting. He likely knew it was happening, rarely do coaches get fired and not have a clue. But again, do it in person.

[WILDCAT NATION]

No way that happens. Give me one reason why he would leave Paintsville.

Interesting comparisons:
-both list less than 20 incoming upperclassmen
-both have as many current freshmen than returning Sophs and Jrs combined
-new alignment will give both an opportunity to win the region but likely toughest competitor within the district
-both have big roadblocks in state semifinals (Beechwood in 2A, Pikeville and Hazard in 1A)
-both have larger county school they have to compete with

On paper these 2 are much more similar than many want to admit. The key may be which one has better incoming groups to work with in the new alignment. Someone else familar with the middle schools groups may be able to shed some light on that front and come up with an answer to the question.

[Explorer]

Interesting comparisons:
-both list less than 20 incoming upperclassmen
-both have as many current freshmen than returning Sophs and Jrs combined
-new alignment will give both an opportunity to win the region but likely toughest competitor within the district
-both have big roadblocks in state semifinals (Beechwood in 2A, Pikeville and Hazard in 1A)
-both have larger county school they have to compete with

On paper these 2 are much more similar than many want to admit. The key may be which one has better incoming groups to work with in the new alignment. Someone else familar with the middle schools groups may be able to shed some light on that front and come up with an answer to the question.

They are a lot more similar than I realized. It's hard for me not to have old school Blackcat football in my head when I think of Pburg tho. Poor mans version of Breathitt Co.

[pay now]

I believe that the search should begin and end with one name, Prestonsburg Alum, Aaron Stepp.

[Blacksmith]

Id like to see Prestonsburg what it once was, again.. The days of watching Seth,Dwayne and John was some fun football.. I know athletes like those guys are far and few between but still.. Some great teams back then

[pjdoug]

No way that happens. Give me one reason why he would leave Paintsville.

give one reason why he wouldn't.