TJCA Dismisses Girls' Basketball Coach After Five Seasons and Three Playoff Appearances

What happened: On Tuesday, May 2, 2023, Thomas Jefferson Classical Academy dismissed Brandon Young as head coach of its varsity girls' basketball team. Young had led the Gryphons for five seasons, beginning in fall 2018, after inheriting a struggling program that had gone winless the previous season. During his tenure, TJCA's girls' basketball team compiled an overall record of 52–57 and reached the state playoffs three times. The record represented a substantial improvement from the team's 0–19 finish in 2017–2018. Nevertheless, school administrators decided to replace Young.

Young told The Daily Courier that he learned of his dismissal through a telephone call from Executive Director and High School Principal Jason Cole. He expressed surprise that the decision had not been communicated by Athletic Director Steven Jones, who had been his principal point of contact at TJCA. Jones and Cole subsequently explained that the Academy increasingly preferred varsity head coaches who were also employed on campus. Their statements suggested a change in the school's approach to athletic staffing, prioritizing coaches who were available during the school day. Young's dismissal therefore raised a central question: how much weight did TJCA place on a coach's demonstrated accomplishments when those accomplishments conflicted with the administration's preferred staffing arrangement?

What was established:

Young rebuilds a struggling basketball program

Young became TJCA's head girls' basketball coach in fall 2018. The team he inherited was coming off an 0–19 season. Over the next five years, the Gryphons improved sufficiently to reach the state playoffs three times. Young compiled an overall record of 52 wins and 57 losses during his tenure.

Although the team did not finish with a winning cumulative record, its repeated postseason appearances were a significant achievement compared with its condition before he arrived.

The program's progress formed the basis of Young's reaction when he learned he had been dismissed. He told the newspaper: "After the success I've had at Thomas Jefferson, I was shocked."

Young's remarks reflect his belief that the results he had achieved should have weighed more heavily in the school's decision.

A telephone call ends five seasons of coaching

Young worked a third-shift job outside TJCA. According to his account, Cole telephoned him on May 2 while he was sleeping after working overnight. Young returned the call and was informed that he was being relieved of his head coaching duties. He described the communication as abrupt and expressed dissatisfaction that the school had not arranged a more personal discussion.

Young also questioned why Cole, rather than Athletic Director Steven Jones, had delivered the decision. Jones had been Young's primary contact at TJCA. Young told the newspaper that he did not even have Cole's number saved in his phone. That detail illustrates the limited direct relationship Young described having with the administrator who notified him of his dismissal.

Young also said that he had not been offered an assistant coaching position. Cole subsequently explained that he had wanted to thank Young for his contributions to the school and its basketball program. The accounts present sharply different perspectives on the same conversation. Young experienced the call as an impersonal ending to five years of work; Cole described his intention as acknowledging the coach's service.

Administrators prioritize coaches who work on campus

Young told The Daily Courier that, to his understanding, a new committee wanted all varsity head coaches to be employed by the school. Athletic Director Steven Jones confirmed that TJCA was increasingly emphasizing on-campus coaching personnel. Jones attributed the preference to the school's growth and the practical advantages of having coaches available throughout the school day. He described an ideal arrangement in which all of TJCA's approximately 35 teams would have coaches employed on campus. Jones also suggested that other schools were moving toward similar models. The rationale was therefore presented as an organizational preference rather than a specific criticism of Young's coaching results. The newspaper did not identify a written policy establishing on-campus employment as a mandatory qualification for varsity head coaches.

Nor did it establish whether the requirement had been formally adopted by the Board of Directors, how existing coaches were notified, or whether exceptions would be permitted.

These omissions are meaningful because the staffing preference was central to the school's public explanation for dismissing a coach whose program had shown measurable improvement.

An assistant coaching position remains uncertain

Young expressed frustration that he had not been offered an opportunity to continue as an assistant coach. He also told the newspaper that another dismissed head coach, O.J. Gary of the softball program, had been offered an assistant position. Jones and Cole disputed Young's description of Gary's situation, saying that Gary had requested permission to remain involved rather than receiving an offer. Jones subsequently indicated that Young, too, might have an opportunity to continue as an assistant if an appropriate opening arose. His remarks did not constitute confirmation that such a position had been offered or accepted. The distinction matters because Young initially described the decisions as involving different treatment of dismissed coaches. The school disputed that characterization and presented assistant coaching opportunities as dependent upon staffing circumstances.

Why the dismissal matters

Young's dismissal presents an unusually clear example of a school replacing a coach despite a documented record of improving an athletic program. The decision involved a coach who had taken over after a winless season, produced 52 victories, and guided the team to three playoff appearances. Administrators did not publicly identify poor competitive results as the reason for his departure. Instead, they emphasized the advantages of employing varsity coaches who also worked on campus. That preference may affect scheduling, availability, supervision, and administrative communication. But the May report offers no documented assessment explaining how those considerations were weighed against Young's accomplishments. The manner of his dismissal also raises questions about how TJCA communicated consequential personnel decisions.

Young described receiving the news by telephone from an administrator with whom he had limited regular contact, rather than from the athletic director who ordinarily oversaw his work.

The incident illustrates a conflict between demonstrated coaching performance and an administrative staffing preference whose formal adoption and application were not explained in the contemporary reporting.

Young's departure also occurred approximately four months after football coach Barry Shuford resigned following disagreements with TJCA administrators. The same May newspaper investigation established that head softball coach O.J. Gary had been dismissed. Together, those developments document substantial coaching turnover during the first half of 2023.

Original evidence:

• Jeff Rollins, The Daily Courier (Forest City, NC), May 6, 2023, p. A8, "TJ dismisses Young as head coach."Direct interviews with Brandon Young, Athletic Director Steven Jones, and Executive Director Jason Cole documenting Young's coaching record, dismissal, the manner in which he received the news, and TJCA's stated staffing preference.

• HighSchoolOT, Here are the new head basketball coaches in North Carolina for 2023–2024, November 2023. Identifies Brittney Jackson as TJCA's new girls' basketball head coach.

Subsequent developments: By November 2023, HighSchoolOT identified Brittney Jackson as the new head coach of TJCA's varsity girls' basketball program. The publication listed Jackson's previous coaching position as Nazareth High School in New York. Her appointment confirms that the program entered the 2023–2024 season under new leadership following Young's dismissal.

The available reporting does not establish whether Young subsequently received or accepted an assistant coaching position at TJCA. Nor has the archive established whether the preference for coaches employed on campus became a formal, consistently applied requirement across the Academy's varsity programs. Those are important distinctions because Jones presented the staffing model as a significant factor in the decision to replace Young. Additional records could establish whether the policy was adopted by the Board, which administrators participated in the decision, and what criteria were used to evaluate coaches whose employment was limited to extracurricular athletics. TJCATruth.com welcomes coaching contracts, athletic department policies, staff announcements, Board records, and correspondence concerning Young's dismissal, the selection of his successor, and TJCA's approach to employing varsity coaches.

Report from the community: Young provided a detailed firsthand account of his dismissal to The Daily Courier. His statements described the surprise he experienced after five seasons of coaching, his dissatisfaction with being informed by telephone, and his frustration over the absence of an assistant coaching offer. Jones and Cole provided the Academy's contemporary explanation, emphasizing its preference for coaches employed on campus and disputing portions of Young's description of other coaching personnel decisions. The newspaper preserved these accounts but did not include interviews with students or families who had participated in the girls' basketball program during Young's tenure. The materials reviewed for this entry contain no additional independent firsthand accounts describing how the dismissal affected players, their families, or assistant coaches. TJCATruth.com welcomes recollections from individuals involved with the girls' basketball program between 2018 and 2023, particularly concerning Young's leadership, the team's development, the communication of his dismissal, and the transition to a new coaching staff. Individuals with relevant firsthand experiences are encouraged to contact TJCATruth.com. Requests for anonymity will be respected, and identifying information will not be published without the contributor's explicit consent. All submissions will be handled with discretion and confidentiality.