By Bob Sutton
Special to The Alamance News
Football players at Cummings were stunned by a late-May coaching change that came less than three months prior to the start of a highly-anticipated season.
Yet several of the rising seniors for the Cavaliers said it’s important to focus on areas they can control in the coming weeks.
“I didn’t see it coming,” linebacker Jaheim Marley said of the firing of coach David Grimm. “We had just gone through spring work. We don’t know anything.”
Grimm was dismissed as coach May 29, though he remains in a teaching position at Cummings. He coached the Cavaliers for five seasons with a 38-15-1 record, including two conference championships.
A week after receiving word about Grimm, Cummings players were coming to grips with the situation as they await the hiring of the next coach.
“It caught us by surprise,” said Devin Witherspoon, who has been a starting quarterback and/or running back the past two seasons. “When the news broke, we were shocked. We didn’t think it was real.”
Running back / defensive end Jaidyn Briskey said: “I was really shocked. This is new. We still don’t know (what caused this). We’ve been asking.”
Players offered support for Grimm, who directed a turnaround after eight straight seasons without a winning record prior to his arrival.
“Grimm was a good person and a good coach,” Witherspoon said. “He stuck with us. It was a hard time, losing a dude.”
Without knowing the reasons behind the coaching change, it has left uncertainty. Players said that assistant principal Ricardo Reid Sr. met with some of them.
“We haven’t gotten any details,” Marley said.
“He told us to keep everything open and be ready for change,” Witherspoon said.
From what Cummings players have said, Grimm established a solid foundation on and off the field.
“He was a great coach,” said JahSan Thompson, a starting receiver and cornerback. “He taught me a lot about the outside world.”
Players said they appreciated the efforts from Grimm, who Witherspoon said would typically be at the school from 7:00 a.m. to 7:00 p.m.
“Someone you look up to as a coach and a father figure,” he said. “You don’t like everything all the time, but he always came through for us.”
Especially after what Witherspoon said was “just finishing off a good spring ball,” he said the timing of the change was awkward.
“I do think it could have been handled better,” he said.
The players said that assistant coach Terrance Alford will oversee June workouts. That’s a comforting aspect amid the recent developments because he has been with the players for several years. The players said that Alford, who has overseen junior varsity players, has been a good mentor.
The Alamance-Burlington School System has posted an opening for head football coach at Cummings. Grimm has thus far declined comment.
Focusing on the future
In some ways, this could be a motivator for the Cavaliers.
“I feel like as a team, we got it,” Marley said. “It’s going to come down to how hard we work.”
The good thing, players said, is that they’re familiar with each other.
“As a team, this was all unexpected for everybody,” Witherspoon said. “We have to come together.”
Players said that they know the coaching situation has been out of their hands.
“I think we’re all handling it pretty well,” Thompson said. “We’re all going to grind and get that championship.”’
In the weeks ahead, players such as Briskey, Marley, and Witherspoon are planning to attend college camps. Those are, in part, connected to recruiting.
Briskey said there’s growing hype regarding the season opener August 22 against cross-city rival Williams. That means it’s more important to be ready for the beginning of the season.
“We’re going to work for this season so we get what we want,” Briskey said.
While there has been a form of stability taken from them, the Cavaliers will rely on each other to put the focus on preparing for the 2025 season.
“This is something new,” Marley said. “This is something we can (overcome) if we can push through.”
