Bill Dee Steps Down at Oscar Smith
Bill Dee will not be back as the Head Football Coach of the Oscar Smith Tigers in 2017.
Dee confirmed the news to VirginiaPreps.com on Tuesday, citing health related reasons.
"I've fought health issues all year and am fighting those same health issues. Getting healthy has to be priority number one for me right now," Dee told VirginiaPreps.com.
Hired last April to replace Rich Morgan, who left to become the Head Football Coach at Marietta High School in Georgia, Dee led the Tigers to a 13-2 overall record, regional title and return to the 6A State Championship game.
For the second straight year, Oscar Smith fell in the state title game to Westfield, this time 34-28 in double-overtime after falling to the Bulldogs in triple-overtime in 2015.
"Obviously, our goal is to win the State Championship and we're all disappointed in coming up just short of that," reflected Dee. "But looking at the whole big picture, with a new staff, my situation with my health, we were one play away from winning the State Championship."
A 1975 graduate of Mansfield State who played offensive guard, Dee began coaching in New York as the defensive coordinator at Greene High School for four seasons. From there, he moved to Virginia and was the defensive coordinator at Denbigh in Newport News from 1979-80 before becoming the Head Coach at Southampton, a position he held from 1981-84 until landing at Phoebus High.
Dee, who coached for seven seasons at the collegiate level with stops at both Old Dominion and Christopher Newport University, built Phoebus into a perennial power. He led the Phantoms to a 215-64 record, a lofty .771 winning percentage, during his 24-year tenure that featured four State Championships along with seven Eastern Region crowns and nine district titles. It was a remarkable turnaround for a program that at one point had lost 18 straight games during the 1980's to go 9-3 in just his second season at the helm.
On Tuesday, Dee informed his Oscar Smith players that he wouldn't be back as Head Coach.
"They were very supportive and understood the situation from what I went through this year," said Dee of how it was received. "I'm real proud of what the kids accomplished and they've got to look at what they did on a positive note also, but at the same time you never want to be satisfied and want to finish first."
This leaves Oscar Smith searching for its third Head Coach in as many seasons. Under Morgan, the Tigers went 164-20 with 12 consecutive Southeastern District titles, six regional crowns and two State Championships.
Oscar Smith hasn't missed the playoffs since 2002 when the Tigers finished 7-3 overall. Their last losing record was in 2001, going 4-6 overall.
Also departing from the Chesapeake powerhouse is quarterback Shon Mitchell, who started the past four seasons and led the team to three state titles games. Now headed to play his College Football at William & Mary, Mitchell finished with Virginia High School League passing records for yards (11,380), touchdowns (123) and completions (747).
Dee, who'll turn 64 in April, isn't sure if he'll grace the sidelines again in a coaching capacity.
"I don't know yet. I just couldn't give everything I wanted to the program because of my health, so I didn't feel like it was fair to the program and the kids," he commented.
"I appreciate everybody's support through everything I've been dealing with and am very appreciative of my friends in the coaching profession."
Matthew Hatfield serves as Publisher for VirginiaPreps.com, part of the Rivals.com Network, and is a staff writer for Tar Heel Illustrated. Check out Hatfield’s Twitter page for more sports related updates, and you can also read his work in the Suffolk News Herald. To contact Matthew, please e-mail hatfieldsports2k4@yahoo.com, and don’t forget to listen to him every Saturday at 10AM on ESPN Radio 94.1.