I am sorry Coach Dean and his wife did not make any friends while briefly in our community, and I am sorry his children are not happy. I am disappointed Coach Dean has chosen to leave a great city (Troy), but I am more disappointed that he chose to bash a community that he stated did not support him. I know for a fact that not only did the city support him but also the entire county supported him. I know for a fact that at every away game we went to there were more Troy fans than the home team crowd and, when we arrived at the state championship game, we had three times the number of fans as Oneonta. The community supported Coach Dean more than I have ever seen in this area, and I graduated from Charles Henderson High School almost 30 years ago.

We had supporters at every game who did not have any children in the school system, and we also had parents from other school systems in the county at every home and away game. The comments made in the Dothan Eagle and The Messenger are not accurate. I am puzzled by the “cliques” remark because he was in with the largest and the wealthiest people in town. Coach Dean took it upon himself to be ungrateful for the support he had. This community bent over backwards for him and for what he asked for. Coach Dean was not denied anything he wanted or asked for.

The athletic boosters worked extremely hard to give him everything he asked for and did well beyond the call of the organization. Also, the foundation worked hard and gave Coach Dean more than what he could have ever wanted. And the board of education gave him money to purchase all new uniforms and equipment his first year here. The people who were not in or behind the scenes to know all of the hard work of these two organizations and the efforts of Superintendent Hicks should not speak on hearsay or rumors.

I am personally disappointed in Coach Dean’s arrogant attitude and actions because he did not have the nerves, courage or the audacity to sit down with the most important people that were with him for the past two years – the coaches and the football team – and explain or give an explanation of why he resigned. Coach Dean should have told his coaches and players on Monday morning during first period and not let them hear it from the community and the “breaking news” of The Messenger. The coaches and players deserved better. These kids fed into every word Coach Dean said, and they believed his philosophy. These football players were at practice every morning before 6:30 a.m. and routinely did not get home until 7 p.m. or later depending on the night. Coach Dean has not talked to his players as of Thursday and I know this for a fact because my son is on the football team. If he would tell the real story of his resignation (which is he wanted to coach a 6A team) as he told the football team before he turned in his resignation, he had two job offers on the table. … For all of you who did not know Coach Dean has told the football team all year he was going to quit, so going to the state championship solidified his job offers.

As some of the players said disappointedly Friday of the loss to Oneonta, Coach Dean quit on them at the game. I guess he already knew which job he was accepting and did not care whether we (CHHS) won or lost because several of the players said he “choked” or just clearly gave up because he was putting the players in the wrong formations. What do you think of this? A coach who yelled all season except the one game that counted and has never taken the blame for the loss? He blames the team (ultimately it is there loss) but a real coach will take the blame and say, “I did not prepare my team to the best of my ability” and not put the blame on players (now, this is what I hear from great college coaches and NFL coaches). But when you say, “I watched the film six times” and (this is a Coach Dean quote) “I don’t know what team showed up,” I think you should have said, “I don’t know what head coach showed up because it was not Coach Dean.”

I think we would all agree that Troy is a great city and I am a die-hard Trojan fan. I wish Coach Dean success wherever he goes. I hope the move back to Mobile is good for him and his family and the school he is going to; I hope this move will make him and his family happy.

From a football mom who is saddened and who stood behind and defended this coach for the past two years and did a great deal for this program, I say: It’s a great day to be a Trojan. Go Trojans and I am ALL IN.

Mary Bland

Troy