By Terry Boehmker
NKyTribune sports reporter
Dan Woolley, the most successful coach in the history of the Scott High School football program, is stepping down after seven seasons to spend more time with his family.
“My family has sacrificed a great deal for me over the past seven years in pursuit of my professional goals and it is time for me to devote more time to being a better husband and father,” Woolley said in a statement he posted online Tuesday afternoon.
Woolley, 38, told the Scott players he was resigning on Monday afternoon while the team was packing away equipment following a season-ending loss in the second round of the Class 4A playoffs last Friday.
The Eagles finished the season 7-5 to give Woolley a 45-35-1 record in seven years as head coach. When he took charge, the program had just one winning season in 34 years. His teams posted a winning record five of the last seven years, including a best-ever 10-3 mark in 2015.
“I’m proud of the things we were able to accomplish together,” Woolley said.
“Obviously I didn’t do it alone. It comes back to the kids,” he added. “We’ve had a lot of talent that we didn’t have in the past and I’ve had some great assistant coaches. The kids bought in and believed and it was nice that we were able to do some things that had never been done before.”
Woolley was an assistant football coach at Scott for four years before taking charge of the program in 2012. He plans to continue teaching at the high school and spending his free time with his expanding family. He and his wife have a 2-year-old child with another one on the way.
“I don’t know that I’m done coaching, but at this point in time I’m done being a head coach,” Woolley said. “I still love the game and love being around the kids, but being a head coach is pretty much a full-time job. With that and teaching and having a family, it was a tough decision, but at the same time an easy one. You’ve got to put your family first.”
Scott’s athletic department has already posted the head coaching vacancy on Twitter. The football team will be in a new Class 4A district next season with Holmes, Boyd County, Harrison County and Rowan County. The Eagles have a 4-7 record in state playoff games over the last seven years.
“There are many amazing things in place that will allow Scott to be successful in the future,” Woolley said in his online post. “I have no doubt that the best days of the Scott High School football program lie ahead.”