The Russellville football team will have a new face on the sidelines following the dismissal of longtime head coach and alum Mikie Benton earlier this week.

Benton, a star for the Panthers who played at the University of Kentucky before returning to take the reins in 2018, said he was informed of the decision on Monday. The decision came after several offseason meetings with Russellville Independent School District superintendent Kyle Estes. The first came right after the season in November.

“He made a statement that I guess the discipline of the team wasn’t up to par like what he wanted,” Benton said. “Basically he wanted me to put a plan together that fixed it, so you know I was like OK cool, no problem.”

Benton said he went back and put together a plan with the coaching staff that he presented to Estes a few weeks later.

“He was like I still think you need to add a veteran coach that’ll help you out, so I was like OK cool,” Benton said. “We went on the search. It was a bit of a struggle, but ended up finding somebody. I let them know that we had somebody hired and he was like OK cool, we’ll talk soon.

“I came to work Monday morning and I got pulled into the principal’s office. He basically told me you know we gotta have a tough conversation that basically the superintendent wanted me gone. It just literally caught me by surprise.”

Benton compiled a 40-52 record in eight seasons as head coach, perennially getting the Panthers to the postseason in Class A. Benton won six postseason games during his tenure, with his best season coming in 2021 when Russellville finished 12-2 and made the program’s first appearance in a state final game in 31 years. The Panthers lost in that title game 30-27 to Pikeville.

Russellville finished 5-6 last season, winning the final five regular-season games before falling in the opening round of the Class A playoffs.

“I don’t have any regrets you know, whatsoever,” Benton said. “To come in as an alum and be able to take us back to a state championship game for the first time in 31 years, definitely nothing to hang my head about. I think maybe some of the ways of me scheduling and being a tough mindset — just kind of build some different mindsets and everything … I don’t know, maybe that was part of the issue or anything. Looking back I wouldn’t change a single thing from what I did. At the same time, he assured me this had nothing to do with wins and losses so again I don’t know. I have any regrets whatsoever. None at all.”

Since he announced his departure on social media, Benton said many of his former players and people in the community have reached out to him to check on him and offer their support.

“it’s all been overwhelming, but at the same time it has been reassuring for me that I’ve been doing the right thing,” Benton said. “If it wasn’t the case, I don’t think I get the outpouring, the reactions to things on social media and the phone calls and text messages that I received. As upset and mad as I was about it, getting all those text messages and reading comments lets me know that I did things the right way.”

Benton will finish out his year as a teacher at Russellville, but said he definitely plans to stay in coaching. While he has already received offers throughout the state, Benton said he would like to stay in this area.

“Granted, I can’t sit here and say that it’ll be a head coach somewhere,” Benton said. “It very well could be. I’ve been given a few offers for that and then I’ve also had a few schools reach out to me that want me to come in as a coordinator role and some as an assistant coach role if I wanted to do that. I got quite a few different options. My phone has kind of been blowing off the hook here so I’m taking my time, weighing my options, talking to some people (to) just kinda see what all they have and for me and everything. I’ll take my time and talk with my family and then I’ll make a decision from there.

“Definitely how I’m kind of looking at it as a blessing in disguise. It gives me an opportunity to stretch my wings a little bit and take my talent somewhere else and see what I can build.”