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Patton resigns as Solon basketball coach
(by Tony Lange - May 09, 2012)
Patton resigns as Solon basketball coach
By TONY LANGE
Bob Patton resigned as Solon's head boys varsity basketball coach last week after just one season with the Comets.
Citing family obligations for his decision, Patton said he has a 4-year-old daughter who will be attending preschool in the fall and a 14-month-old daughter who is in day care.
"Obviously, with me being a coach on the east side, I could never help with day care and picking up and other stuff like that, because I had obligations on the east side of town over there at Solon," said Patton, who teaches at Westlake High School. His wife teaches at Garfield Middle School in Lakewood.
Before he was hired at Solon, Patton reportedly resigned his position as the head coach of the Westlake boys basketball team, a position he held for four years. He kept his teaching job at Westlake. He lives about halfway between Westlake and Solon.
"Until we get to a place where both of my kids are in school and we're living in a spot that might be conducive to me going somewhere else, I'm not really looking at coaching," Patton said.
During his one season with Solon, Patton coached the Comets to a 9-13 record, which was comparable to the previous year, when former head coach Sean Fisher coached Solon to a 9-14 finish during his fourth season with the Comets.
Solon High School Principal Erin Short said the district had every intention of rehiring Patton for a second season with the Comets.
"Bobby Patton had the support of the high school administration and Mr. Regano," she said, referring to School Superintendent Joseph Regano, "and we were absolutely going to recommend him to be rehired, but, for family reasons, he chose to take some time to step away from basketball."
Short said, "This is a program that this now will be their third coach in three years, and so we feel it's very important for us to go out and find the right person and make a good match for our program, for our kids, who also hope to continue to build what coach Patton has put in place."
Both Patton and Short confirmed that some parents were not happy with the coaching transition this season, but they said that had nothing to do with the resignation.
One parent approached the Solon School Board last month to express concerns about the boys basketball program.
Ms. Short responded to a written complaint from another parent in January and said there had been just a couple other complaints.
"The people at Solon wanted me to come back, which I was trying to work some different things out," Patton said. "It's just unfortunate that it wasn't going to be able to work out."
"In our mind, Coach Patton was our guy," Short said. "We have parents who have concerns about teachers, who have concerns about coaches in public light. We listen to them, and, if they bring serious concerns to the table, we will certainly do an investigation, but there's nothing really further that I'm going to say about any individual concerns that parents brought forth."
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