Riverside Set to Announce after Spell's Resignation

Spell Resigns

On Wednesday (1/19/2011), according to local reports, third year Riverside head football coach Todd Spell decided to resign his position after posting a combined 6-27 [2010 - 1-10; 2009 - 4-7; 2008 - 1-10] overall mark from 2008 to last season.  During his tenure the Pirates missed the playoffs for three straight seasons and were 4-15 in conference play [2010 - 1-5; 2009 - 2-4; 2008 - 1-6] (http://www.highschoolot.com/content/story/8965689/). Prior to Spell taking over the  helm of the Pirate program he had served as an assistant to head coach Tommy Blalock and was a member of the 2006 coaching staff that helped the Pirates reach the 4AA State Championship game against the Tommy Knotts coached Independence Patriots.  No additional details were provided on the reasons behind Spell's resignation, but it should be noted that since he took over the program, the administration at Riverside changed at the top with Florida native Jackie Tobias taking over as principal.

The last time the Pirates reached the playoffs and had a winning season was during the 2006 State Championship march. Any discussion of the 2006 campaign has to include mention of all-everything and subsequent South Carolina Gamecock Weslye Saunders.  He dominated on both the offensive and defensive side of the ball and in many ways was the deciding factor in the outcome of a number of games during the season.  For those that have followed the game and were privy to some of the behind the scenes of that year the fact that the Pirates were able to reach the championship is an even more amazing story than their opening 3-4 start of the season can even begin to express.

Since 2006, the Pirates have faltered on the field, posting just one season with more than one win (2009), including Blalock's final year guiding the ship in 2007 when the Pirates went 1-10 and 1-6 in PAC-6 play.  Since 1999 the  Pirates have been a roughly below-average program when it comes to wins and losses, posting an overall 63-79 mark.  During those 12 years the Pirates have managed one PAC-6 crown and a total of five winning seasons, while managing six seasons with four or fewer victories.  Within the current PAC-6 that includes, East Chapel Hill, Person, Jordan, Northern, Southern and Hillside, only one team, East Chapel Hill has posted less wins over the same time period (21).  Person has managed 65 over that same time period, with Northern and Hillside (80), Jordan (85) and Southern (119) rounding out the conference.

The Numbers and How They Compare

Statistically, the Pirates have struggled primarily on the defensive side of the ball the past three seasons.  On average the Pirates since 2008 have given up just over 36 PPG against their non-conference opponents while yielding just over 37 PPG against conference foes.  The raw numbers are 505 points in non-conference play and 704 in conference play.  Offensively, in 2009 and 2010 the Pirates did better on the offensive side during their conference schedule as opposed to non-conference, posting roughly 19 PPG in 2010 and just over 16 PPG in 2009 against the PAC-6.  They struggled against their non-conference competition during those years, managing just 12 PPG last year and just over 14 PPG in 2009.  In Spell's first year as head coach, the Pirates faired much better in non-conference play with 22 PPG and just under 14 PPG in conference play.  Overall during Spell's three year tenure, the Pirates put up just under 16 PPG in non-conference tilts while managing just over 16 PPG in PAC-6 play.  Offensive numbers aside, it's clear that the immense amount of points allowed defensively made it difficult and would have made it difficult for any offense to keep the Pirates in games (it should be noted that the defensive numbers include scores by special teams as well as offensive turnovers that may have directly ended in a score.  To what extent those numbers serve as an overall percentage of the defensive statistics I am unable to comment on).  Taking non-conference and conference as individual categories over the past three seasons (six categories), the Pirates allowed 35 or more points in four of six categories, with the best overall performance occurring in 2009 during non-conference play when the Pirates allowed just under 27 PPG.