Stewart leaves hard feelings behind among Jets players
former James Clemens football coach Bill Stewart
It didn’t take long for former James Clemens football coach Bill Stewart to clean out his office in the fieldhouse at James Clemens High School.
On the job for just over a year after leaving his coaching job at Etowah High School in Georgia, Stewart left the first year program in the lurch with a surprise announcement the morning of January 11 that he was leaving to take a position as director of safety, security and activities for Jackson County Schools in Jefferson, Ga.
Stewart starts work in Georgia on Feb. 1.
He left behind some hurt feelings among players.
“He came in one morning while we were working out and told us he was going over to work with Dr. Green and how the job was better for his family. Most of us were surprised but a few of us had heard rumors,” said sophomore linebacker Dylan Hampton.
Only a few days prior, Hampton said that he “heard a few rumors that he was leaving but didn’t believe it. So I was kind of shocked.”
“I am upset that he left because he was a good coach. He taught me a lot of good techniques and I really did like him. I think any coach would have had a tough time since we were so young,” Hampton said.
“Most of the younger kids thought that he was leaving because we didn’t have such a great year. After I thought about it I think he did this for his family and that is why he left,” Hampton said.
Hampton was one of the bright spots for the Jets. Stewart took a liking to Hampton and his older brother Jayse who also played linebacker. Stewart, a former linebacker at Central Florida, coached the linebackers.
To be sure, the first year program struggled in their only season under Stewart. The Jets went 0-10 in Class 6A, region 8 with a particularly bad 72-0 loss to Bob Jones in the second week of the season.
One of the common complaints about Stewart was the length of his practices which often lasted until dark, even during game week.
Injuries devastated the already thin lineup the Jets put on the field. Cameron Bowins, a starting defensive end missed four games with a concussion suffered in practice.
In an October interview Stewart said, “depth is critical and we don’t have any depth.”
“Right now we are thin everywhere,” Stewart said. “If someone gets a concussion we don’t have the bodies to plug in there. We have had a couple of injuries that have set us back. Not only are we a small 6A but we are very young.”
Leading receiver Deondre Douglas missed five games with a broken elbow.
Douglas said that a coach more familiar with high school football in Alabama would be better suited for the job.
“I was real mad because he was telling us how we should not quit and leave because we had a bad season. This organization is supposed to build up but then he just leaves on us, I didn’t like it at all,” said Douglas.
“I think the bad season had something to do with Coach Stewart leaving. He thought that we weren’t going to build up and he just left.”
“I am staying with it, I am not quitting,” Douglas said.
