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MA’s Wicker resigns By BARRY BURLESON
Editor  | | Keith Wicker |
Keith
Wicker, head football coach at Marshall Academy, has resigned effective
at the end of the school year due to health reasons. He
has been at MA five years, four as head coach. In those four years the
Patriots went 36-12. They made the state playoffs each of those seasons. “My
four years at Marshall have been remarkable – beyond my expectations,”
Wicker said. “Everything has been positive. The kids and the parents
are outstanding. It has been great.” In 2007, his
first year at the helm of the Marshall football program, the Pats lost
in the state championship game and finished 12-2. It was only the
second berth in the state title contest in the school’s history. The
Patriots were eliminated in round one in 2008 and finished 6-5, in
round two in 2009 and finished 10-2, and in round one this season and
finished 8-3. Wicker met with his team Wednesday of last week to break the news. He called it “somber.” “It
shocked them,” he said. “It was hard. I wanted to tell them before the
news started trickling out. I had to tell the boys first. “When
I stepped in four years ago to lead this program, I didn’t ask them to
like me. The first thing was to earn their respect. The liking would
come along later. I think we accomplished that.” Wicker said he believes he has laid the foundation for more success. “I hope the good things keep happening,” he said. “We have a good group of kids coming back next season.” He
has been coaching 29 years – 16 of those at Centreville Academy as an
assistant. He was also head coach at Prentiss Christian from 1996 to
2000. “I’m retiring, and now I’m going to do what I want to do,” Wicker said. Jane Hubbard, headmaster at Marshall Academy, called it a “sad day” when Coach Wicker told her he was resigning. “We
have grown to love Coach Wicker so much and know next year will be
tough without him.,” she said. “We do, however, want what is best for
him, and his health is definitely most important.” She
said she will be meeting with coach Susan Rodgers, athletic director at
MA, and other coaches to develop a plan for finding a replacement. |
