Vince Lombardi was once famously quoted as saying, “Winning isn’t everything, it’s the only thing.”

If the former Green Bay Packer coaching icon was working now, he might want to revise that maxim. These days, even winning is apparently not enough – especially on the high school level – to appease some fans and board members.

Just ask former Hunter-Kinard-Tyler boys’ basketball coach Kevin Wright.

Despite a 41-15 record in two seasons and taking a young Trojans’ squad to the Upper State finals this season, Wright was forced to resign after he was told by superintendent Darrell Johnson that he would not coach the team next year.

The decision came on the heels of a petition from Springfield resident John Ross asking for Wright to be removed as head coach. Whether the petition played a role in the decision or not, Wright was understandably bewildered and left scratching his head right following a season which started with losing seniors William Brimfield and Ecorie Schofield with injuries and ended shy of upsetting nemesis Calhoun County to reach the Class A finals.

“Nobody expects more than us as coaches and players than anyone, but you have to be realistic,” Wright said in a T&D interview. “More realistic when you look at championships, you’ve got to have a little luck. You’ve got to stay healthy and when you look at all the teams that went through (Classes) 1-A, 2-A, 3-A and 4-A, there’s no one around here that has 30 championships in their gym or on their field. So, when it comes to expectations, it was high. But, when you come back and look at this season, there’s no one in this area that faced the teams we faced, the competition and the injuries we had and still get to the Upper State (finals) and take an undefeated team, the defending champions, to within two minutes of going to the state championship.”

The Wright situation harkened back memories to a year ago when the Orangeburg Consolidated District Five school board voted 4-2 not to renew Orangeburg-Wilkinson girls’ basketball coach Lyman Foster’s contract despite a 49-19 record and two Region 4-AAAA titles in three seasons. Much like Wright, the reasons not provided for making the change were never fully disclosed by the board, which also declined to hear an appeal.

In Wright’s case, he apparently had the support of his principal and athletics director, but neither the superintendent nor board member Joseph Garvin. Whether it was because of Wright’s 0-5 record against Calhoun County or perhaps some other undisclosed personal issues, the H-K-T community has not received a sufficient answer for why a winning head coach was not allowed to return.

This begs the question – what does it take to keep a head coaching job? If going winless against Calhoun County sealed Wright’s fate, explain why the number of head coaches with losing records to the Saints’ Zam Fredrick are still employed today at their respective schools?

If it was a personality clash or issue with his coaching style, where was the outcry from the players and even their parents? Were they among the reported 130 people who signed the petition or were some of the signatories, as Wright alleged, not necessarily from those people whose names appear on the document.

It would help if the petitioner or even Johnson or Garvin themselves came forward to bring clarity to the matter. Alas, it appears the board is taking the “we’ve got bigger fish to fry” approach and is moving forward with finding a replacement.

Certainly, debating over a head coach does not measure up in importance with improving graduation rates, raising test scores and maintaining school discipline. However, the biggest irony in this latest coaching controversy is the group most affected by the change – the players – had almost little or no say in the matter.

Had current players and their parents stood in the forefront of wanting a change, the matter would have been perceived much differently. By acting on those wishes, the school board and superintendent would be seen as truly acting in the best wishes of their constituents.

Instead, the impression left is one where the wishes of the few outweigh the needs of the many. The student-athletes lose a coach and teacher, the school now finds itself trying to find a newcomer to fill that void.

Whether this proves to be a winning strategy both on and off the athletic field, only time will tell.

T&D Senior Sports Writer Thomas Grant Jr. can be reached by e-mail at tgrant@timesanddemocrat.com or by phone at 803-533-5547.

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