Rocky Mount's Holt resigns as head football coach

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ROCKY MOUNT - The rumor that has been brewing almost this entire calendar year has become fact.

Rocky Mount head football coach B.W. Holt has coached the Gryphons for the last time. He turned in his resignation to RMHS principal Leon Farrow Tuesday afternoon.

Holt then gathered his players in the school's weight room and told them that he was stepping down as head coach.

When asked why he was resigning, he had to rip off a one-liner.

"Because of the other 41 years I coached," he quipped.

"We, Barbara (wife, RMHS math teacher) and I, have been so blessed to have a chance to come to Rocky Mount and coach here for six years. I appreciate what Judy Bradshaw (former RMHS principal), Mike Gainey (RMHS AD) and Dr. George Norris (former Nash-Rocky Mount superintendant) did in getting me here. But it's time for me to go home."

While the couple shared an apartment in Rocky Mount, their real home is a hillside retreat in Bristol, Tn. - a place they have rushed back to every chance they could over the last six years.

But at that players' meeting Tuesday, it was a moment many in attendance saw coming.

"We knew this might happen, but it was still pretty emotional for all of us," said senior offensive lineman Whit Barnes, who will be headed to Wake Forest in the fall. "It's a shame that next year's players won't have the pleasure of playing their whole careers under him. It was a great ride for me. I wouldn't trade it for anything."

Holt, 64, is just one of three active coaches in North Carolina with 300-plus wins. A former assistant coach in the East-West and Shrine Bowl of the Carolinas games, he led the Gryphons to a runner-up finish in the NCHSAA 3-A eastern finals in 2008. He also guided Rocky Mount to two other eastern final berths. He recorded a 71-12 record and won four conference titles during his tenure as the Gryphons' head coach.
 

During his 39 years as a head coach, he led teams to 20 conference titles and 21 playoff appearances. He has sent 60-plus high school football players to the college level - including seven from his 2008 squad.

He concluded his career with a coaching record of 321-112-2.

"It's been a great six years," Holt said.