WEST CALDWELL SEEKING NEW HEAD FOOTBALL COACH
LENOIR —West Caldwell High School will be looking for a new head varsity football coach.
According to the Hickory Daily Record, school administrators have announced that head coach Randy Baldwin has been relieved of his coaching duties, effective immediately. Baldwin will continue teaching at West Caldwell, according to West Caldwell principal Jeff Link, who said he decided to make a change after a review of a football program that has had nine straight losing seasons.
The Warriors went 0-7 in the Catawba Valley Athletic 2A this season, finishing last, and 0-10 overall. West Caldwell went 4-7 in Baldwin’s first season, but hasn’t had a winning record since 2002.
The Warriors faced a rash of injuries during the season, with the biggest probably being standout running back Ryan Corpening. He suffered a broken ankle against Ashe County in the season opener and did not play again. Baldwin said that the Warriors lost nine starters to season-ending injuries prior to the start of conference play and before the season ended 21 starters had been injured.
The Warriors were 3-4 in the CVAC 2A the year before and tied Bunker Hill and Draughn for fourth place, the best conference finish for West Caldwell since 2003.
Baldwin came to West Caldwell after serving as offensive coordinator at East Burke. He replaced former West Caldwell player Mike Setzer. He was head coach at North Wilkes from 2001 through ’04 and was the head coach at Hibriten from 1993-95. Baldwin was also the head coach at Watauga for a year.
