It was one and done for Larry Archie at Granby High School in Norfolk.
Archie announced his resignation as the Head Football Coach of the Comets following just one season. Without a position at the school during the day, Archie felt it would be in the best interest both of the program and himself to move on, he said.
"This whole year was uncharted territory for me. I was working at Churchland Middle School and during the season I would change my clothes at each light that I hit going to Granby every day. It's unfortunate there was no job for me in the building and the administration did all they could to get me in," Archie told VirginiaPreps.com.
"It's no one's fault. Guidance positions just aren't a dime a dozen or one with a high turnover, so they were unable to get me in the system. It's most beneficial being in the building as a Head Coach as well as for assistants, too. I didn't feel comfortable looking into other jobs while being the Head Coach at Granby. I also didn't think it was fair to Dr. Gibson or the kids at Granby. This is all new to me, but I know I don't want to get caught driving from Portsmouth every day."
Prior to coming to Granby, Archie was the Head Coach at I.C. Norcom High School in Portsmouth for 18 seasons, amassing an overall record of 152-63. That included an 8-5 finish during the 2018 campaign, where the Greyhounds reached the Region 3A Championship and fell to Phoebus in a triple-overtime heart-breaker, 7-6.
With 34 years of coaching experience, Archie isn't limited to being the Head Coach. At the college level, he served as an assistant at both Norfolk State University and Bowie State. He also served as an assistant to Hank Sawyer at Lake Taylor.
Archie went just 2-8 overall in his lone campaign with the Comets, leading them a 9-7 victory over Wilson and 14-2 over Kempsville. That halted a 17-game losing streak that dated back to the end of 2017. Competition was stiffer than usual last year in the Eastern District, which featured a pair of State Champions and Lake Taylor and Maury that outscored Granby by a combined total of 120-27.
Dave Hudak is the only Head Coach in Granby's history to lead them to the playoffs on multiple occasions, doing so in 1991, 95 and 98. Even he was unable to guide them to a postseason victory. The Comets haven't advanced in the playoffs since 1966, a year where they beat Andrew Lewis 13-0 at Foreman Field under Bill Ralph.
"There's nothing etched in stone that says I have to be coaching next year because I've been doing this for 34 years. I would love to have another shot at it, but if it doesn't work out, that's okay. I guess I'm at the point in my career where I'm not super stressed out about it and I don't want to be," Archie added.
"Football is football. There are good kids at Granby that work hard and they deserve the best. I don't know that I can give them my best again. It was a tough situation. I didn't want to hold anyone up or do anything at the last minute. The thing is I've never been a ring chaser. I don't mind developing talent. It's still in me to do it and I'm not chasing anything, but I am going to seek some jobs somewhere. Hopefully I can be in the building because being at two different schools is challenging."
Matthew Hatfield serves as Publisher for VirginiaPreps.com, part of the Rivals.com Network, and is a regular contributor to the ACC Sports Journal. 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 weeknights from 6-7 PM on The 757 at 6 as well as every Saturday at 10 AM to Noon on ESPN Radio 94.1.
