Editor's Note: This story was updated on Jan. 11 at 3:20 a.m. to correct Eddie James' coaching record the past three seasons.
Eddie James carried a list of high school football coaching jobs that, if they became available, might be worth checking out.
One of those jobs was the head coaching position at Highlands in Fort Thomas.
James, after four years as head coach at Franklin County, has been named the head coach at Highlands. The announcement was posted on social media Saturday by both Fort Thomas Schools and James.
“There were maybe five or six, and they needed to be a perfect fit, not just for me but for my family,” said about the schools on his list.
James led the Flyers to their first state championship game in school history this season, where they lost to Boyle County in overtime.
After going 5-6 his first year as head coach, FCHS went a combined 30-6 the next three seasons.
“The last few days have been really tough,” James said. “I’ve had some really hard conversations trying to make this decision, but I feel confident. I’m excited.”
Those hard conversations included telling his team about his new position.
“That was one of the hardest things I’ve ever done in my life,” James said.
James, a 2005 Franklin County graduate, served as an assistant coach at FCHS and Boyle County before being named the Flyers’ head coach in 2017.
“This place is special to me, and I’m going to miss it, but for our players, our school and our community, we did it the right way,” he said.
“My mom always told me if you do something, leave it better than you found it, and in my heart of hearts I think I’ve done that.”
James replaces Brian Weinrich, who stepped down as Highlands’ head coach at the end of the 2020 season. The Bluebirds won their 23rd and last state championship in 2014, Weinrich’s first year at the helm.
Since the 2014 season, Highlands has gone 38-34, including 5-6 this past season.
Matt Bertasso, Highlands’ principal, talked about one of James’ attributes on the district’s online post.
“Eddie James sees the football program as an extension of his own family,” Bertasso said. “He is about championship building, for sure. But he also uses football to teach life lessons that will help mold our students into fine people long after they leave our program. That’s very important to us.”
James and his family will move to Northern Kentucky, but the details and timing are being worked out. His wife, Nikki, teaches in the Franklin County Schools system. They have two children, Ava, 6, and Jax, 3.
“Nikki’s excited, Ava’s excited,” James said. “Jax is Jax. He’s just along for the ride, being a little kid.”
Right now, James is looking forward to his new challenge.
“I’m only 33,” he said. “I’m going to work hard and give it everything I’ve got, and we’ll see how the chips fall.
“For me, this is a once-in-a–lifetime opportunity. They have things people dream about in my profession. I tell our kids to dream big, and I’m dreaming big.”
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You know, Coach James disappointed me (as a former Flyer player and now a fan) and obviously his players by jumping for the golden ring after just 4 years at the helm. Going to Ft. Thomas Highlands, where the Bluebirds have claimed 23 state championships, is an especially a bitter pill because for many years it was Highlands that knocked those great Franklin County teams out of the playoffs. Teams with legacy players like UK's Ryan Timmons, NFL QB Logan Woodside, and others. I hated going up these in Highlands' concrete canyon, where after each touchdown, they set off a cannon that echoed through the stands. Their teams always were big and lean and fast, and looked more like a small college. They are no longer in the same class, so they won't be meeting up again anytime soon.
James says that he is looking forward to his new challenge. What challenge that hasn't been already achieved many time over at Highland...by somebody else? I really don't know how good of a coach James would have been if he hadn't had the outstanding players that he has been blessed with during his 4 year stint, but having UK star Randy Hollaran's progeny come through his ranks didn't hurt none, nor did having a quarterback like Nick Broyles or receiver, Fred Farrier. But given the state champion freshman team coming up next year, he probably could have built this program into a steamroller.
I was hoping being a local boy who played at FCHS and calls Frankfort his home, that maybe James could follow in the footsteps of a couple of coaches that I played football with at Franklin County in the late 60's, Gary Dearborn and Sammy Harp. Dearborn went on to play in college and then came back to coach at Franklin County for years, and was inducted into the 2020 class of the Kentucky High School Hall of Fame.
Sammy Harp was an outstanding younger player who went on to play at Western KY University, and later transferred to KSU for his last two years, earning All American national honors. After college, Sam inherited a Danville football program in 1988 known for winning, and turned the Admirals into a complete juggernaut. They were so good that I would often travel up on Friday night to meet my friend who lived in Danville for some home games.
Harp led the Admirals to seven state championships and helped solidify the community’s Title Town legacy, and was also inducted into the 2020 class of the Kentucky High School Hall of Fame. He finished his career with a record of 326-106 when he retired after 24 years in 2012, which now ranks sixth on Kentucky’s all-time list. His record of 7-3 in state title game appearances is equaled or surpassed by only three other coaches.
Those wins included trips to 27 consecutive state playoffs, 19 district titles and 16 region championships. He went 82-21 in the postseason in Classes A and 2A. Danville won its first state title under Harp in 1989. From 1991 to 1993, the Admirals won 42 games straight, including the Class 2A state titles in 1991 and 1992
A five-time Kentucky Coach of the Year honoree, Harp was a two-time finalist for National Coach of the Year and one of the founders of the Kentucky Football Coaches Association. He was previously inducted into the Hall of Fame at both Danville and Franklin County High School. And he did it all without feeling like he had to leave and coach at any one of the much larger schools who were always knocking on his door, trying ot lure him away with more cash.
Highlands’ principal talked about one of James’ attributes being that he sees the football program as an extension of his own family, and teaching football lessons. The good thing about a coach developing a family type relationship with your players is that it bonds the team together in a special way. The bad thing about that family atmosphere is how it breaks their hearts when you leave them for just some money. I guess that is one of football's "life lessons", is that coaching is a business and not really a family and that sometimes coaches that you love just leave you, even though you have done nothing wrong or anything to deserve it.
Good luck to Coach James, I hope he finds what he is searching for.
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