Shane Carter is no longer the head football coach at Rantoul Township High School.

Carter officially resigned from the position on Friday after learning earlier this week he would not be retained by the RTHS school board after the board met Feb. 13.

RTHS Superintendent Scott Amerio said coaches are reappointed every year, and the board made a decision at its meeting to not reappoint Carter, who went 7-29 in his four seasons with the Eagles. RTHS didn't reach the playoffs during his tenure.

"I'm stepping aside," Carter said. "I had set expectations for this program when I took over, and we have failed to reach those expectations. The powers to be feel that they need to go in a different direction. It's kind of a mutual agreement between them and me that it's best that I step aside. We haven't = reached, in those four years, the expectations that I had set."

RTHS finished 1-8 during the 2011 season, including 1-7 in the Corn Belt Conference. This comes after the Eagles went 3-6 in both the 2010 and 2009 seasons under Carter, who was 0-9 in his first season in 2008.

Carter, a 1989 RTHS graduate, was an assistant coach for six seasons at RTHS before becoming the head coach prior to the 2008 season. Amerio said Carter's overall record at RTHS wasn't a factor in the decision. The Eagles dressed roughly 30 players all season at the varsity level in 2011, and had to cancel its freshman season because not enough players had come out.

"If we keep going this way and the numbers continue to decrease ... what's next?" Amerio said. "Are we going to have to cancel both the freshmen and sophomore seasons? That's doing a disservice to the kids. That's ultimately what it boils down. To those people who say, 'Well, I'm not buying this. It's about the record.' No, it's about doing what we need to do for the benefit of the kids. If the kids aren't out there playing football, which they weren't this year because the numbers were down, we've got to figure out a way to change that."
mdaniels@rantoulpress.com

For more on this story, please pick up the Feb. 22 edition of the Rantoul Press.