A high school in Florida has fired its varsity football coach just more than two weeks before the start of the 2019 season, leaving the team scrambling to identify a replacement in time for the first kick off.
As reported by Georgia/Florida border CBS affiliate WCTV, Somerset (Fla.) Jefferson High School football coach Leroy Smith has been fired from his role. The move comes just more than two weeks before the program opens its 2019 season at home against Jefferson County (Fla.) High School.
Smith is a former Florida State cornerback who finished a four-year career with six interceptions, two of which he returned for touchdowns. In two years as the head coach at Jefferson, his teams went a combined 11-12.
While the timing of Smith’s dismissal is clearly suboptimal, the mystery behind why he is being pushed out currently takes center stage. The Somerset School District released a statement confirming Smith’s termination but refusing to be drawn on what precipitated the move.
There has been no immediate announcement about who will replace Smith for the 2019 season.
