By Emmie Amason
The head coach of Rockbridge County High School’s varsity boys’ soccer team has resigned. Mike Kelly’s departure comes after school administrators say parents were upset with his lack of communication.
“They (the parents) felt like they weren’t communicated with adequately, and that was their main concern,” Principal Mike Craft said.
Cancelled practices spark confusion
The team’s practices were cancelled on March 27 and March 28. Players were notified of the cancellation during school on March 27 by Athletic Director Adam Haynes, according to Gavin Fox, the father of sophomore striker Cooper Fox.
There is a GroupMe group chat with parents and players from all levels, Fox said. Kelly was constantly sending out information and keeping people informed.
“I never felt like he was not communicating or that I didn’t know what was going on,” Fox said.
When his son, a sophomore on varsity, told him practice was cancelled, it was the first thing he had heard. “There was no information from the school,” he said.
The parents and players received no information from the school from March 27 until March 31, he said. During the weekend, the players got together and worked out on Virginia Military Institute’s field.
On March 27, Fox said, he was painting the soccer field at Maury River Middle School with Kelly. Kelly mentioned he had a meeting later that afternoon with the athletic director but was unsure what it was about, Fox said.
Tomlin steps into interim role
A parents’ meeting for the boys’ soccer teams was held at Maury River Middle School on March 31 at 6 p.m., Craft said. At that meeting, school officials fielded parents’ questions and announced Jeffrey Tomlin as the new head coach.
Fox said that he wants Kelly and his son to still feel welcomed in the local soccer community.
“While my resignation is bittersweet, I don’t want to be a distraction to the players who worked so hard for a successful season,” Kelly wrote in an email to the Rockbridge Report on Thursday. He said he is excited to be a parent in the stands, cheering the team on.
“While I wish I could still be there patrolling the sidelines I have full faith in coach Jeff (Tomlin) and he has my full support,” he added.
On March 31, school officials approached Tomlin asking him if he would like to be the interim head coach for the season.
Tomlin said he had long sought to be in charge of a soccer program. He said he was thrilled to take the position and that Carrie Dietz, an assistant coach for junior varsity and varsity girls’ soccer, was also supportive of the move.
Since it is a personnel matter, Craft said, there is not much school officials can say about Kelly’s resignation. Kelly was at the meeting as a parent, since he has a son on the junior varsity team, Craft said; he ended up speaking at the end since the school officials could not make statements.
Athletic Director Adam Haynes did not respond to emails and telephone messages left for him by the Rockbridge Report.
“Unfortunately, I cannot discuss issues that happen to be personnel-related in nature, so I will not be able to discuss Coach Kelly’s resignation,” Superintendent Phillip Thompson said.
Fox, who is the middle school soccer coach, said he and Paul Gregory, president of Rockbridge United Soccer Club, met with Tomlin on April 7 to discuss his plan for the season. Tomlin came prepared with a great plan for the team’s future, Fox said.
While he is the interim coach this season, Tomlin said he plans to apply for the job.
While Kelly’s resignation came as a shock to Fox, he said he was thrilled the school did not just “place a random teacher in the opening.”
“It’s double-sided. We’re excited about Jeff, but we’re sad about Mike,” he said.
A promising start under new leadership
Players and parents have already been giving good feedback on how practices are running and their game on April 4, Tomlin said.
“From my time at Turner Ashby (High School), I knew that it was going to be a challenge,” he said. “I knew that in a very short amount of time I would have to instill at least the basics of what I wanted to accomplish tactically as a team and our fundamentals. And I think that was extremely well bought into.”
On Friday, his team lost to William Monroe, 2-1. But he noted it was an improvement from last season, when the team fell to William Monroe, 8-0.
Tomlin played soccer at Southern Virginia University from 2018-21 and later became the goalkeeper coach. He also served on the coaching staff at Turner Ashby before joining Rockbridge County High School in 2023. He was the junior varsity girls’ soccer head coach before becoming the varsity boys’ soccer interim head coach.