Stuglis will be missed, but he's no victim

The Rant’s feelin’ conflicted about Jim Stuglis’ resignation at CL South this week.

Stuglis was a mighty good football coach. His Gators are on a nine-season (and countin’) run in the playoffs, with a couple of state semifinal appearances in 2005 and ‘08.

Without his work with the Gators football team the past 10 years, those C-G vs. South football games wouldn’t have become the great local spectacle that they are today.

But there’s rules in life. Athletes sometimes get breaks the rest of us don’t – anybody who thinks that’s not true, spare the Rant yer jibber-jabber – but eventually, anyone who doesn’t follow ‘em will catch up to ya.

Rant don’t know the facts of what happened with missing or misappropriated cash at South. There’s two sides to every story an’ we haven’t heard either of ‘em.

Whatever happened, it was enough to force Stuglis out of a job he clearly loved. That’s a shame for him, his family, and his football team.

But he’s not a victim.

Rant’s pretty sure that the Gators football team will be OK next season, with a senior QB comin’ back in Drew Ormseth, a big O-lineman in Jake Bernstein and a tough RB in Bolek Mikulec.

New coach Chuck Ahsmann isn’t new at this game, either. He’s been an assistant in the program for 22 years.

Stuglis did enough to leave a legacy at South, and Rant thinks it’ll last awhile. It’s a shame it ended the way it did, but it has folks. And now he and his team have to move on in different directions.