Gaston high school lets go of football coach Alan Beckett, cites 'different directions'

Citing moving in different directions, Gaston high football let go of head coach Alan Beckett on Wednesday.

The school confirmed the news to the Gadsden Times on Thursday. By Thursday afternoon the job was already posted on the Etowah County school system website. Beckett declined comment when reached by the Gadsden Time on Thursday.

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"We're just going in a different direction, excited for what the future has in store at Gaston high school," Gaston high school principal Tammy George told the Times on Thursday.

Beckett was hired as the head coach in August only two weeks before the season began and helped lead the Bulldogs to a 2-8 record. Before his hire there was questions if the Bulldogs were going to be able to field a team due to the lack of a coach and below average roster numbers. With new lockers, among other changes, the future of the program was looking up.

Since a strong stretch under Swane Morris from 2013-2016 the program has fallen off sharply going 9-61 over the last seven seasons. In that time frame the program won one of fewer games five times, and also went 0-10 in 2012, their first season in this stretch of being in Class 2A.

The news means that the Bulldogs will start their second search in the last year and whoever is hired will be the third coach in less than a year. Former coach Matt Harris stepped down after three seasons ahead of the season and took a role with West End.

The move also means that Gaston joins Southside and Etowah as schools in the county that will be breaking in new coaches ahead of the 2024 season. Southside hired Ben Stewart earlier this month, while Etowah hired Scott Peavey in December.

Maxwell Donaldson covers high school sports and Jacksonville State athletics for the Gadsden Times. Find him on Twitter/X @_Max_Donaldson and contact him at MDonaldson@gannett.com.

This article originally appeared on The Gadsden Times: Gaston high school lets go of football coach Alan Beckett