ICARD — East Burke High football coach Derrick Minor has resigned, the school announced on Thursday afternoon.
In a text message, Minor cited some health issues he has been dealing with behind the scenes as his reason for stepping down from the Cavaliers’ lead post.
“We would like to thank Coach Minor for his time with our student-athletes,” said East Burke High School principal Anna Moose in a press release.
Allen Wittenberg, an EB assistant and former Draughn head coach, took over the reins for Week 3, at least. It is unclear if he will be interim coach for the remainder of the season, and Burke County Public Schools said at press time that it has no more information on the matter.
The decision abruptly brings Minor’s tenure with the Cavaliers to an end after four seasons and two games of a fifth year, during which EBHS started 0-2 with losses of 26-0 at home to Christ School in Week 1 and 12-7 on the road in Fat Friday 50 versus Freedom in Week 2.
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Minor’s run with the Cavs ends with a 13-25 overall record, including 8-20 in conference games. He previously was the head coach at Foard (2016-18), Rockingham County (2015) and Princeton (2012-14) and his combined record is 62-64.
Minor’s EB teams went 4-3 (4-3 Northwestern Foothills 2A Conf.) in the spring of 2021, 3-6 (2-5 Catawba Valley 2A Conf.) in the fall of 2021, 3-7 (1-6 CVAC) in 2022, and 3-7 (1-6 CVAC) in 2023 before this year’s 0-2 (0-0) start.
After a couple seasons on Minor’s EB staff, Wittenberg will take over the Cavs program for his second head coaching opportunity in Burke County following a 1-10 (1-7 South Mountains 2A/3A Conf.) season with Draughn in 2014. After leaving the Wildcats, Wittenberg coached the next two seasons at Hickory.
“We appreciate Coach Wittenburg stepping in for us in this week’s upcoming games,” Moose said. “We look forward to continuing the strong tradition of Cavalier football and growing our athletic programs to be the very best they can be for our student-athletes.”
Wittenberg’s first game as East Burke head coach was against his former team as the Cavaliers hosted nearby rival Draughn for the 15th “Five Miles of Wild” game late Friday.
