BY DAN HILDEBRAN
Citizens lined up at the June 10 Union County School Board meeting to express their opinions on the firing of Union County High School football coach Andrew Thomas.
Mike Jackson started off the lineup by emphasizing that the most important consideration was the student-athlete.
He then complained about the lack of quality equipment for the program and warned about the risk of injury. He also criticized coaches using profanity under Thomas’s watch and said his son quit the team, and the squad dwindled to under 20 players after the spring game.
Steve Hoard, who has coached in Union County for years, asked audience members to refrain from attacking one another. He also rebuffed claims about the program he had seen on social media.
“Being in that locker room and being around for over five years, a lot of things that I’ve read on social media or heard people say, I never saw, never heard,” he said.” Now that didn’t mean that I heard or saw every single thing that happened.”
Hoard added that Thomas and his family invested in Union County and loved the school system.
“Does that mean they’re perfect?” he continued. “No, myself, none of us are perfect.”
Agriculture teacher Tom Williams said he had worked with Superintendent Mike Ripplinger for decades and trusted his judgment.
“I’ve had the opportunity to work with our superintendent of schools for 25 years and in that time I’ve seen him in the good times and the difficult times,” Williams said, adding that he has seen Ripplinger give money to students and pray for them.
“I’ve witnessed a man that had the fortitude and the resilience to make difficult decisions and difficult times and difficult environments that we live in today,” he said.
Lem Lane told Ripplinger that he disagreed with the decision to fire Thomas and said the reasons the superintendent gave for the dismissal were vague. Lane then refuted some of the reasons he had heard Thomas had been let go, including team culture, a shrinking roster, and the use of profanity.
Aaron Dukes criticized the timing of the termination.
Nobody’s calling into question Mr. Ripplinger’s character,” he said. “I do call into question his decision. I think it was a bad decision. I think it was the decision that sabotaged our 2025 football season. And I’m standing up here today not to criticize Mr. Ripplinger personally because as Mr. Williams said, “he has made a difficult decision, but sometimes difficult decisions can be made in error and sometimes a good man can make a bad decision.”
Scott McDaniel praised Thomas for the improvement in players’ behavior and the coach’s personal contributions to their wellbeing.
McDaniel also accused Ripplinger of treating the coach unfairly, acting on parents’ complaints without giving the coach a chance ot respond.
“I would hope that when someone complains about a principal, you don’t just rain down on their head, but that you speak to them,” he said.
