By Myra Bean

Lance Pogue, South Panola head football coach, put to rest rumors he was leaving for the recently vacant Northwest Rankin head football coaching position.

“I don’t know where that got started,” Pogue said in a phone conversation Monday afternoon. “I am at South Panola and here to stay for a long time, I hope.”

Pogue led the South Panola Tigers to the state’s first ever national championship this past season. He has a 58-2 record in four years while at South Panola.

Northwest Rankin head coach and athletic director David Coates was recently fired for the accusations he, his two children and another student at Ole Miss and an assistant coach were trafficking in drugs.

Rumors started two weeks ago when Coates was let go on sites such as MississippiSportstalk.com that Pogue had put in an application for the job. Pogue, who was speaking at a coaches clinic at Mississippi State at the time, replied, “I’m about to speak at Miss. State Clinic. I haven’t applied for anything.”

Clarion-Ledger’s Rod Walker broke the news in his blog Monday that Pete Hurt of Center Hill was to be named last night. Hurt is the former coach of Clinton.

While he was down south last week, Pogue received the Gerald R. Ford All -American High School Coach Award from the All-American Football Foundation. Pogue received the award for his outstanding coaching for the national champions. The presentation was made at the Touchdown Club in Jackson.

In other South Panola news, he is still working to fill an open date in the football schedule on either September 9 or 16.

Pogue said he hopes to have it wrapped up in the next 10 days.