Friday, May. 16, 2008

Belton’s Gourley ready to take over at South

Jeff Gourley hates to leave Belton (Mo.) High School, where he coached the Pirates football program the last eight seasons.

He knows Mark Littrell, who resigned as the Olathe South football coach April 16, felt the same way about leaving the Falcons.

But the bottom line is Littrell was offered an opportunity too good to pass up, said Gourley, who was announced Thursday as Littrell’s successor.

“I’m in the same boat,” Gourley said. “I hate leaving Belton and the kids and the community, but this is a great opportunity to go to a place that appreciates athletics — football specifically.”

Appreciation, or a lack of it, played a critical role in Gourley’s decision to leave Belton, where a deteriorating relationship with higher-ups at the central office prompted him to seek another job.

“The truth of the matter is, they passed me up for an athletic director position twice,” he said. “I’m more qualified educationally. I’ve had more years of experience and so on and so forth. I could cry a whole river, but I’m not going to.

“The bottom line is they passed me over for somebody else. Kind of a good-ol’-boy system hire, and I said to myself, ‘This is ridiculous. Why sit here and whine? I’ll go somewhere where they’ll appreciate a job well done.’”

In a way, becoming the fourth football coach in South’s 28-year history, seemed fated.

“There are about six schools that I would apply for and feel like it was a move in a positive direction for me,” Gourley said, “and Olathe South is one of those schools.”

He decided that leaving Belton might be best for him in mid-April. The day after reaching that conclusion, Littrell announced he was leaving South.

“Holy smoke, if that’s not a sign, I don’t know what is,” Gourley remembered telling himself.

Named the 2007 Missouri Coach of the Year by the Kansas City Chiefs, Gourley guided the Pirates to a runner-up state finish last fall.

The Falcons, of course, also finished second at state, losing the Class 6A championship to powerhouse Hutchinson.

In fact, the similarities last season between Belton, which finished seventh in the Metro Sports Super 25 rankings, and South, which ended the year ranked sixth in the same poll, are eerie.

Both teams also finished 9-4 after sluggish starts.

The Falcons began their season a disappointing 3-2 before winning six of seven games to reach the 6A title contest, while Belton opened the year 2-3 before winning seven in a row en route to the second-place finish.

Gourley is eager to get acclimated to new job.

He’s not familiar with South’s returning players and staff, but that soon will change.

He’s already started watching some game film and will meet with the Falcons coaches early next week.

He’ll meet the players a few days later at an informal welcome party.

“I know it will be nerve-racking, maybe even gut-wrenching for the kids (at South),” Gourley said. “Nobody likes to lose their coach. Mark was their coach, and here’s the new guy coming in. What’s he going to be like? But I think they’ll find out that I’m not a bad guy. I’m not that different than Mark.”

The Pirates went 11-20 during his first three seasons at the helm, but have posted a 36-20 record during the last five seasons, including district championships in 2003, 2005 and 2007.

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