Published: June 25, 2009 11:27 pm      

Rowan coach declines offer

HARRODSBURG — Rowan County High School football coach Shadon Brown is staying put.

Brown was offered the head coaching position at Mercer County and talked to school officials there before deciding to stay with Rowan County.

Mercer County principal Terry Yates confirmed to the Advocate-Messenger Thursday night that Brown was no longer a candidate for the position.

“Shadon is a nice young man and we did talk about the job,” Yates told the Danville newspaper. “We talked about the possibility of him being here. He had questions. I had questions.

“He did interview today about a teaching position and we talked about a coaching job. Both myself and Shadon agreed that it would not work for him here. He is no longer interested in pursuing the job.”

Last year Rowan County went 4-7 under Brown and is expected to contend for the Class 4A district championship this fall with several players returning, including top running back Darrell Cross.

Brown is the first African-American head coach in northeastern Kentucky history.

Meanwhile, the search goes on for Mercer County. The position came open when Marty Jaggers was not allowed to continue coaching after he resigned as a teacher. Then the man hired to replace him, Madisonville-North Hopkins coach Will Weaver, changed his mind less than 24 hours after accepting the job.