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Lawhon resigns from Coppell

By Chris Roark, Staff Writer

Published: Friday, June 8, 2007 12:21 PM CDT

The mileage just got to be too much for John Lawhon.

The Coppell boys soccer coach turned in his resignation Friday, a day after getting hired by Corsicana for the same position.

The move drastically cuts down Lawhon’s commute as he had spent the last three years driving from his home in Corsicana to Coppell, which was about a 152-mile drive round trip.

“My daughter will be a senior, and I have two other little ones coming up,” Lawhon said. “There would be times when I’d get home after midnight and then have to leave for work the next day before they woke up. So I didn’t get to see them that much. I had been missing out on things that are more important, so I made the decision to put family first.”

Lawhon has compiled a 266-40-17 record as a head coach, which includes a stay at Corsicana before coming to Coppell. In seven seasons at Coppell, he led the Cowboys to the regional tournament six times and to the state tournament four times, winning the championship in 2004.

“I’m going to miss the kids,” Lawhon said. “They’re good, hard-working kids.”

Lawhon said it was also hard to leave because of the talent Coppell has coming up. Last season’s freshman team went undefeated, and the junior varsity team allowed only six goals all season.

Lawhon said he was fortunate to have the type of athletes he did at Coppell during its playoff run.

“Coppell has always had a great soccer tradition,” Lawhon said. “But I came in and was able to do the things offensively that I wanted to because I had the type of players that allowed me to do that. At Coppell, there are not a lot of weak links. There are more players to choose from. Before I got to Coppell, we had to play a possession and counter game. But at Coppell, we were able to attack. That’s what fans like to see, and we brought that to Coppell.”

Lawhon led the Cowboys to the playoffs every season he was at Coppell. In addition to the 2004 championship season, Coppell made it to the state finals in 2006 and the state semifinals in 2002 and 2005.

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