Jep Irwin Lassiter football

Wheeler football coach Mike Collins resigns after nine seasons

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Wheeler coach Mike Collins resigns
Mike Collins of Wheeler, at left, and Jep Irwin of Lassiter were the deans of East Cobb football coaches. Photo: ECN file

Principal Peter Giles announced this afternoon that Mike Collins, the Wheeler football coach, has resigned to accept another position.

Giles released the letter at the bottom to the Wheeler community. He did not indicate where Collins is going.

Collins was 37-56 in his time with the Wildcats, and had two winning seasons. Wheeler made three trips to the state playoffs in his tenure, in 2012, 2015 and 2016.

In 2018, Wheeler started out with a promising 5-0 record. The Wildcats also returned to the state rankings for the first time in 27 years, but missed the state playoffs after losing four of their last five games to finish 6-4.

In their final two games, the Wildcats gave up 76 points to Westlake, then surrendered a 14-point lead to Pebblebrook in a win-or-go-home playoff setting in losing their season finale.

Wheeler football
The Wildcats were flying high in the first half of the 2018 season. Photo: ECN file

Collins is the second East Cobb football coach to leave his position since the end of last season.

In December, Jep Irwin stepped down after nine seasons at Lassiter. The Trojans were 1-9 in his final year. His successor has not been named.

The other four East Cobb high schools have named new coaches in the last two years. Walton’s Daniel Brunner has taken the Raiders to the state playoffs in both of his seasons, as has Brett Sloan of Kell, a former Walton assistant.

Former Pope player Tab Griffin also has guided the Greyhounds to a playoff berth, while Sprayberry’s Brett Vavra continues rebuilding the Yellow Jackets at his alma mater.

Collins, who previously coached at Chamblee and Pebblebrook, was hired at Wheeler in late 2009 to succeed Tom Flugum, who is now the Pope High School principal. Wheeler’s football fortunes had long faded from its days when Corky Kell presided in the 1970s, and as the school became better known for its basketball success.

In his letter, Giles thanked Collins, saying he has “done a tremendous job in improving the facilities, building a supportive and well-organized booster club, and developing the football program.”

Giles said Wheeler athletics director Troy Jones is accepting applications for Collins’ replacement.

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East Cobb high school football coaches: game has never been safer

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Jep Irwin, East Cobb high school football
Lassiter head football coach Jep Irwin. (East Cobb News photo by Wendy Parker)

As they prepare for a new football season that begins tonight, high school coaches in East Cobb and around the nation have been answering familiar questions about the safety of the sport.

Concussions and other crippling injuries involving former NFL stars continue to make the news. In late July, the Journal of the American Medical Association published a study showing that 110 of 111 now-deceased professional players whose brains had been examined had been diagnosed for chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE).

That’s a degenerative brain disease that’s been connected to concussions, and is discovered only in brains donated after death. The names of NFL legends with CTE is a long and sobering one: Dave Duerson, Frank Gifford, Junior Seau, Bubba Smith, Ken Stabler and many more. Some, like Duerson and Seau, have committed suicide.

Some living former NFL players have serious memory loss, also associated with concussions and linked to CTE. The physician and researcher credited with discovering CTE says any parent who lets their child play football is committing child abuse.

Walton football
(East Cobb News photo by Wendy Parker)

Some have called for the termination of youth football altogether, or at least seriously limiting contact for young players before high- and middle school age.

But coaches asked about the subject at last week’s East Cobb Pigskin Preview breakfast (ECN coverage here) say their sport is being unfairly characterized.

“High school football is not what you see on ESPN,” said coach Jep Irwin of Lassiter, whose Trojans play at Johns Creek tonight in their season opener. “There’s never been a safer, better time to play high school football.”

He was referring to how the media has reported about CTE and professional players. Irwin said that technology, equipment, officiating and medical intervention all have improved vastly in his eight years at Lassiter, including concussion protocols.

“Is it [completely] safe? No,” Irwin said. “There’s risk in everything that humans do.

“What you see in the NFL is not the case at the high school level. We’re not about win-at-all-costs” when it comes to the welfare of players.

Daniel Brunner, the first-year coach at Walton, pointed out that concussion rates for girls soccer are also high, “but nobody’s talking about shutting down girls soccer.”

Brett Sloan, the new coach at Kell and a former Walton assistant, said what he stresses with his staff, players and their parents is an education process at the youth level.

Other coaches say they also limit the amount of contact that takes place in practice. The East Cobb coaches said they weren’t trying to dismiss the severity of the CTE issue, and they understand parental and player concerns.

Concussion and CTE research at the high school level is not as extensive, but coaches say they’ve never been more committed to ensuring the safest environment for their kids.

Including Irwin, whose son is a sophomore at Lassiter and plays football.

“I love my son more than I love football,” he said. “If I didn’t think it was safe . . . then why play at all?”