By CHRIS HOBBS
HobbsDailyReport.com
CATAWBA – Trent Lowman, a fixture in Bandys High football first as a player and then as an assistant coach and head coach, is leaving his alma mater.
Bandys athletic director Brandon Harbinson — responding to an inquiry by HobbsDailyReport.com about 10:30 p.m. on Tuesday night — confirmed Lowman has resigned after five seasons as head football coach.
On Wednesday morning, Lowman told HobbsDailyReport.com he will be a head football coach at another high school in North Carolina next season but he won’t be prepared to provide details about or discuss his move until Thursday.
Lowman said he met with his Bandys players and coaching staff on Tuesday to let them know he won’t return next season.
LOWMAN
BANDYS HEAD COACHES
Head football coaches at Bandys High, which will have a new one next season after Trent Lowman’s resignation after five seasons in the job. The school began playing a full varsity schedule in 1959 and the list below is head coaches since Dick Foster came there in 1964:
Coach First year Years
Dick Foster 1964 14
Randy Burroughs 1978 6
Tony Paroli 1984 3
Randy Lowman 1987 26
Trent Lowman 2013 5
SOURCE: HobbsDailyReport.com research and files.
Harbinson released this statement by email on Wednesday shortly after 9 a.m:
“As of yesterday (Tuesday) at 3 p.m., Coach Trent Lowman resigned from his position as PE teacher and head football coach at Bandys.
“The Lowman family made a lasting impact on Bandys football, and on our community as well.
“We appreciate his leadership and we wish him the absolute best in the future.”
In an email response to questions from HobbsDailyReport.com, Harbinson later said:
— Bandys officials will begin a search for a new head football coach immediately, with he and Principal Angela Williams forming a committee to review candidates before they decide on a name to send to the Catawba County Schools Board of Education.
That’s the normal process once a candidate is selected, with the board then voting on approval of a teaching contract for the new head football coach. Coaching assignments are made by principals in the school system once the board has signed off on an offer of employment.
Applicants should do so through the school system website and also send a resume and cover letter to Williams at Angela_Williams@catawbaschools.net.
— All of the current Bandys assistants – Jim (Goody) Goodwin, Kyle Lowman, Eric McCombs, Frank Porter, Jason Barnes, Bill Vaughan, Stan Hojnacki and Brian Ballard – are expected back next season.
— A decision will be made within 48 hours on who will coordinate the football program while the coaching search is ongoing. That person will do so until a candidate is selected.
Bandys High Athletics posted this comment on Facebook — along with a video (https://www.facebook.com/404324093256250/videos/588530194835638/) — at about 9:45 p.m. on Tuesday:
“We wish Coach Trent Lowman the best as he embarks on a new journey. He has been a part of Bandys football his entire life. You WILL be missed! Thank you.”
Trent Lowman’s coaching experience also includes a tenure as an assistant on the football staff at Lenoir-Rhyne University.
Next season will be the 60th for Bandys football, with the Trojans led by a member of the same Lowman family each of the last 31 seasons. Trent Lowman became head coach in 2013, stepping in after his dad, Randy, retired as head coach after 26 seasons. A third Lowman, Kyle, is also on the Bandys coaching football coaching staff.
Bandys’ field, at Butler Memorial Stadium, is named Randy Lowman Field.
The next Trojans head coach will be the fifth since the 1964 season, when Dick Foster arrived to take over a program that had gone 16-31-3. After going 1-8-1 in Foster’s first season, Bandys went 8-1-1 in 1965 for the program’s second winning season.
After a record of 19-21 over the next four seasons, Bandys moved to the forefront in football for the first time in 1970 and 1971, going 10-3 and 10-1-1 with powerful teams that included Randy Lowman as a tailback on the roster.
Bandys became a recognized state contender in 1996, in Randy Lowman’s 10th season as head coach. The Trojans went 14-2 in 1996, falling in the state 2A title game, and 14-1 the next year (lost in the West 2A final to Shelby).
A 13-1 record followed in 1998 and the Trojans were 10-2 in 1999, finishing off a four-year run with a record of 51-6. They played for a state title two more times under Randy Lowman (2002 and 2003).
Trent Lowman played sparingly on the varsity as a freshman and sophomore (1997, 1998) but was Bandys’ starting quarterback in 1999 and 2000, graduating as the school’s all-time leading passer at that point. He threw for 1,674 yards and 19 touchdowns as a senior in 2000 and finished with 3,329 yards and 42 career passing TDs.
As a head coach, Trent Lowman got his alma mater to the state 2AA playoffs three times – with each of his first two teams (2013, 2014) and last season, when the Trojans went 5-7. His record as Bandys head coach is 23-35.