GONE, BUT NOT FORGOTTEN … wow, one day Blue Devil fans are looking forward to great things in the upcoming football season, and the next thing you know they’re stunned by the sudden resignation of their head coach and wondering what the future will bring …

When Steve Smyte abruptly announced his resignation earlier this week, effective immediately, he left a big hole in a program desperately in need of continuity … Smyte had been at the helm for only three years, long enough to see certain improvement, but not long enough to truly build a program … it’s been a while now since Davis High has had a head football coach for more than a handful of seasons …

For my money, Smyte was the right man for the job, his coaching credentials superb, his dedication to the task at hand unquestioned, his concern for making those in his charge great citizens of this community a top priority … but being a head football coach, even at the high school level, has become virtually a full-time job … there are practices to conduct, endless film to watch, players to evaluate, specific game plans to put together, discipline and citizenship issues to deal with, and numerous community service opportunities, not to mention the fundraising and public-relations aspects of the job …

High school football has become a big deal in this area … we now have high school games on live television, with seemingly everything geared toward a playoff berth … it’s a grind that can devour even the most dedicated soul … we were lucky to have Steve Smyte in our midst, if only for three years … I wish him well … I’m sure his family is happy to have him back as a regular at the dinner table once again …

THERE’S ALWAYS A SILVER LINING … even with the sudden resignation of Steve Smyte, Davis High School football fans can thank their lucky stars that Blue Devil Hall of Famer Marc Hicks is ready to step into the head coaching position, even if only on an interim basis …

Put simply, there are very few schools around that have someone the caliber of Marc Hicks available to take over on a moment’s notice … Hicks is an All-American in every sense of the word, be it his incredible athletic career, his knowledge of the game, his solid citizenship or his dedication …

He’s a native son who bleeds Blue and White … he understands the school, the program, the students and the community … it may be tough to take over the head spot under such circumstances, but if anyone can do it — and do it well — it’s Marc Hicks …

THE READERS ALWAYS WRITE … one kind soul, after reading the Above-Pictured Columnist’s thought about the $18.5 corporate fraud settlement between CH2M Hill and the federal government — CH2M Hill being the sole remaining bidder on the Woodland-Davis water project — suggested that I needed to do a “little more investigative reporting” to establish a firm link between the CH2M Hill that settled with the feds and the CH2M Hill that wishes to win our lucrative water contract …

Well, I’ve done all the investigating I need to, my friend … if CH2M Hill wasn’t involved in the corporate time card fraud as the parent company of CH2M Hill Hanford Group, then why did CH2M Hill agree to pay the $18.5 million? … the letter writer claims a certain degree of expertise in this matter because he once attended Hanford High School in Richland, Wash. … well, I once stayed at a Motel 6 in Kennewick, so I guess that makes me an expert, too …

FAREWELL TO A LOCAL LEGEND … a celebration of the life of Herb Bauer, the conscience of Davis who died in May at the age of 103, will be held at 2 p.m. Friday at the Unitarian Universalist Church on Patwin Road … it’s certain to be a standing room only gathering …

— Reach Bob Dunning at [email protected]

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