Leaving was right for Lane

It took me all of one day as a sportswriter to learn that people will call the newspaper for any reason. My first night on the job 15 years ago I had to settle a bar bet. I don’t remember the question, but the dude on the phone hung up cursing. I’m assuming I didn’t give him the answer he was looking for.
So even though I didn’t have anything to do with Brian Lane’s departure from South Florence High School after just one year on the job as football coach, a couple of folks have picked me to sound off on about the topic the last day or two. Makes me scratch my head a little, but it’s hardly surprising.
It’s understandable. South Florence and its supporters really thought they had found the guy last January that would turn their floundering football program around. Lane is likable, by all accounts has solid values, came from a winning program at Byrnes High School and is the guy most any parent would want their kid to play for.
Now he’s gone, and some Bruin supporters feel like the proverbial jilted lover. Not everyone, mind you. I believe most people close to the South Florence situation know Lane is leaving for Woodruff after much soul-searching and prayer. But there are some who just don’t care and would call Lane disloyal.
The truth is, he’s probably just the opposite. Lane says he’s leaving because of family, which in his system of priorities – God, family then football – makes perfect sense. He’s from the Upstate and most of his family, close and extended, live there, as well. Couple that with the situation at Woodruff – a perennial state playoff program, a 2A school with better facilities than many larger schools – and it’s easy to see why he would take that job.
And you never know – this might work out best for Lane and for South Florence.
If Lane had no family ties or no good reason to leave Florence for the Spartanburg area, it would be much easier – and acceptable – to criticize him.
But he’s very clear on where his loyalties lie, and he’s sticking to them.
Good for him.

Log In | Register as a new member