Madison High School's vacant athletic director position was filled with the hiring of former Patriot player Mark Gosnell as countywide athletic director, replacing former high school AD Darren Ponder who resigned earlier this year.
According to a published story in the News-Sentinel newspaper in Madison County, Gosnell had applied for the football head coaching position which was recently filled by junior varsity head coach Eric Schneider.
“It’s going to be exciting,” Gosnell said. “The one goal that I have is to bring back togetherness … We need to be together in everything we do. We can’t make promises, but we’re going to bring some pride” back to Madison sports, Gosnell told the Marshall newspaper. "When I played there in 1987, there were five of us that received college scholarships in football … some type of college scholarship. Since then, “everywhere that I have been, I have coached college scholarships athletes. I have a lot of contacts all across the nation with college coaches in football and baseball, and I know a lot of basketball coaches. I’ve got a lot of contacts. The thing is, if we have the athletes who can play at the college level, we need to get their names out there.”
Gosnell's most recent employment was as assistant football coach and head baseball coach for Stephens County, Georgia, where he led his teams to an overall record of 51-14, a Region 8-AAA championship in 2007 and a berth in the AAA state finals in 2008 where the Indians lost to Cartersville. Stephens County's 29 victories under Gosnell in 2008 is a school record for wins in one season.
Gosnell came under fire last season due to a national controversy surrounding the conduct of a pitcher and catcher in the third game of his high school's team's state championship series against Cartersville High School. The video of the incident quickly circulated nationwide on the popular website YouTube, which can be viewed at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-tsFSALrA1o&feature=related According to the Toccoa Record newspaper, the school was fined $1,000 by the GA High School Association, and, as part of the GHSA’s penalty, Gosnell and his assistants were instructed to complete a sportsmanship education program. Gosnell resigned his position in early July, according to published reports.
Despite the recent events, Gosnell told the News Record and Sentinel that it was his experience on the field at Madison which will serve him well in his return to his alma mater. “I played football there from 1983 to 1987. I was the varsity quarterback my junior and senior years. We had winning records and made the playoffs. I broke the all-time passing record there, and also broke the all-time school record for touchdown passes,” he recalled. He said the Patriot football team in 1986 was “ranked as high as number two in Western North Carolina,” and he was the Western North Carolina pass leader in 1987.
Gosnell attended Wingate College on a double scholarship - in baseball and football - but “baseball bought out the football scholarship” so he could focus on being a catcher. He earned his degree in parks and recreation administration at Wingate, and then attended the University of North Carolina at Pembroke to earn his teacher certification in physical education.
Madison's football team finished with a winless 0-11 season in 2007.
