Arnold not renewing contract of boys hoops coach TJ Jackson

PANAMA CITY, Fla. (WJHG/WECP) -After just one season leading the MarlinsT J Jackson is out as Arnold’s head coach. Kind of strange how this information was released. Thursday afternoon, A.D. Rick Green sent us a text reading Coach Woolf, the girls head coach would be guiding both programs through the spring, and “a decision regarding the head coaching positions for both the girls and boys teams will be determined at a later time.” I texted back to coach Green asking what that meant, he replied “coach Jackson will not be coaching at Arnold.” I reached out to coach Jackson, and he told me he was shocked by the news, claimed he had not been informed by Green he was out. He says it sounded to him like “he wasn’t the right fit for the program, and they couldn’t tell him face to face.” Jackson, a short time later, added he did appreciate Arnold Principal Britt Smith and coach Green giving him an opportunity, and he’ll simply move on. Later in the day Principal Smith texted us “Before Spring Break, I met with Coach Jackson and was the one who told him that I would not be renewing his supplement to be the head coach for Boys Basketball at Arnold. When I spoke with Coach Jackson this afternoon he told me that he was asked if Coach Green had informed him of this decision and he stated no he had not spoken to Coach Green. I did not want anyone to think we were not communicating with our coaches.”

At any rate, Jackson is done after one season, a 10-15 year. The team did seem to improve in some ways, and though nobody is stating this, it would appear this decision was more behavior based than with the team’s performance.

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