Apparently the rumors are true and Middlesboro football coach Kenny Roark won’t be back to coach an 18th season at his alma mater. Also MHS basketball coach Bill Jones resigned from that position Friday.

Details on the move are not available as Middlesboro started their Spring Break Monday, several attempts to contact principal Sheila Smith on her personal phone were unsuccessful and a message left Friday night seeking comment was not returned. There was no answer at Roark’s home phone Monday evening.

According to the scuttlebutt around the MHS baseball game Friday evening and various postings on state-wide message boards since that time, Roark was informed of the decision Friday afternoon.

The 2009 season was Roark’s first with a losing record after 16 straight winning seasons at Middlesboro, highlighted by the Class A State Championship in 1998.

Roark graduated from MHS in 1975 and is a member of the Middlesboro Hall of Fame as a player. He went on to play center at the University of Kentucky and was named to the 1980 AP All-SEC team his senior season.

After starting his coaching career with stints at Union College and Tennessee Wesleyan he returned to Middlesboro as an assistant to Gary Barnett in 1989. Three years later he took over as head coach and had been very successful until last fall.

Several players either quit the team or were dismissed for various reasons as the 2009 season played out to a 4-8 finish. For now it’s all just speculation as to whether the move was made because of on-field performance or off the field issues.

In December the decision was made to not bring Roark back as athletic director. He was informed of that the day before Christmas Break. He will continue to serve as A.D. through June. At that time Smith said the move was done because the administration didn’t feel a person serving as a head coach could devote the time necessary to head the entire athletic program.

There was no indication in early January that Roark would not be retained as head coach.

He was reportedly offered the head coaching job at Perry Central and a position that paid around $90,000 per year. He turned the job down because his son didn’t want to move away from Middlesboro.

Perry Central last week hired Justin Haddix. Right now it is not known if Roark will choose to continue teaching at MHS or look to move elsewhere.

Jones too over as head coach of the Middlesboro basketball team for the 2005-06 season. Over his five years he compiled an overall record of 61-82. In 2008-09 he led the Jackets to their best season in recent memory as they finished with a record of 22-8, won the 52nd District regular season and tournament championship and reached the 13th Region semifinals.

Middlesboro was unable to replicate that success in the 2009-10 season and their record fell to 4-22.

Jones said he opted to resign in hopes of applying for the athletic director position.

We’ll try and update this story if more details come to light.

Jay Compton is the sports editor of the Middlesboro Daily News. He can be reached as sports@middlesborodailynews.com.