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Yep.McFatten to step down as Lumberton football coach | Robesonian
LUMBERTON — Dennis McFatten is resigning as head football coach at Lumberton High School, he announced in a social media post on Thursday. He leaves Lumberton after one season leading the Pirates…
He may be going with Corey Johnson to Marlboro county.
He seemed like the next major name down there in Lumberton, in my opinion. While I have a lot of concerns, I am aware that this circumstance has led to some difficult questions for the upcoming round of interviews. Will there be a temporary interim?
Feels like every hire here is an interim. This county has open enrollment and Lumberton is the biggest school. Hire a guy who wants to be there, let him build a staff and you will have the best program in the county.
Although Lumberton is the largest school in the area, you would assume it wouldn't have any issues with athletes. The same school Marquez North attended. I'm not sure what's going on? On the staff idea, I'm not sure. When has a coach been allowed to bring in his own staff?
I believe the previous coaches all had the ability to bring in their own assistants. I know that Lumberton always has jobs available in positions to hire quality assistants. Now the question becomes, how many want to move to Lumberton to teach/coach? If they don't live near enough to commute? They've had some very good coaches over the years just haven't been able to put it together. Same with Hoke County. Got the athletes, but missing something.
What is more important to know is: Given the current state of this program, who has the knowledge and expertise to step up to the plate and lead Lumberton to success? Athletes are heavily represented in the community, so that is not the problem. What will it take to draw athletes as well as the coach or coaches?
IDK. That's the million dollar question. Lumberton hasn't been good since I've been in this area. 9 years almost. It's a tough job! Got some good facilities and good athletes. Just really need some consistency to develop the program over time. It's not going to happen at LHS overnight. Gonna take a 5 year commitment to get it done.
I struggle to comprehend why they are unable to just draw in a top-tier coach. There are more athletes to select from in the corridors and the largest school in the largest county. It might be possible for new athletes to participate if they could merely gain some momentum and advance to the first round, regardless of the outcome.
In my book they have never been good nor has any team from the county barring the James McDougal lead Maxton teams from the 70s. It's nothing new or something that has fallen off. It's just never been there at all. It's a football graveyard. I do believe the Lumberton basketball team went to the state title game once or maybe even twice in recent years but other than that they never seem to compete ever in hoops. It's just never been there and not likely to ever be.
I went and looked up the championship game records that date to 1913 regarding High School football. I found the only Robeson County schools that reached the state title games ever in recorded history
You're a Harvard University Research Graduate
That's a good question. Maybe I overlooked that
Don't get me to lying... (maybe early 2000's) It would have been when Vonta Leach played.
I went back and looked again. I dont see any year listed where South Roberson played in a state title game.
That Harvard University Research Graduate knows that......
That's all great and taking nothing away from that but I clearly said that I was looking into state championship game appearances which that was not. Still granted I admit getting that far is clearly a great season and achievement. And no I didn't know that South Roberson advanced that far into the playoffs.
Did I say anything at all that was untrue? You seem pissed that I laid out facts here. The facts are that in 111 years of recorded history only 5 Robeson County teams at all levels combined have played in a state championship game.
There isn't anything that you or anyone else can do about it. Not your responsibility or problem. I just had to lay out the facts because you said I was wrong when I said there is little to no achievement in Lumberton prep football history. But I can't blame you for supporting your local teams. Hopefully Lumberton makes a good hire and has better days in front of them.
Been there.... Tough place to work, tough place to live, tough place to raise a family (safety wise). I really don't think any magical coaching hire is going to fix any or all of the socioeconomic problems
