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Lansdell resigns at Zion Christian, leaves grid program in ‘lurch’





Charlie Lansdell, shown addressing his Columbia Academy football team during the 2021 Maury County Jamboree, confirmed his resignation as Zion Christian coach after three months Thursday.RIC BEU / MAIN STREET MAURY

Charlie Lansdell, shown addressing his Columbia Academy football team during the 2021 Maury County Jamboree, confirmed his resignation as Zion Christian coach after three months Thursday.RIC BEU / MAIN STREET MAURY

Charlie Lansdell’s tenure as football coach at Zion Christian lasted three months, as the longtime Columbia Academy mentor confirmed his resignation Thursday.

“I decided to step back and re-evaluate things for me and my family. That’s really what I’m doing right now,” said Lansdell, who was named to the Eagles’ helm in early March following nine years as head coach at CA. Over that period, he led the Bulldogs to nine consecutive playoff appearances, five region titles, two state semifinal berths and left as the program’s winningest coach.

“It’s more about timing than anything for me,” he said. “I think Zion has a really good thing going for them and in a few years they’re going to be able to do all the things I wanted to do, but at this stage right now in my career and probably the speed I wanted to work at, it wasn’t possible for us to do that. That caused me a little hesitation, and I just wanted to step back and re-evaluate it.”

 

 

With Lansdell’s arrival, plans were for Zion Christian to resume 11-man football – after transitioning to eight-man competition for the 2021 season, under first-year coach Jeff Jordan – and rejoin the Tennessee Secondary School Athletic Association, after leaving the state’s primary high school athletics governing body to join the Tennessee State Independent Athletic Association.

All of those plans are now up in the air, according to ZCA head of school Rick Jarvis.

“This decision by Coach Lansdell to resign put us in a little bit of a lurch just because of a timing thing,” he said. “I’ve been processing this with (athletics director Derek) Boyd now for about 48 hours.”

Zion Christian currently has eight 11-man football games scheduled for the upcoming season, including a home-and-home series with Macon Road Baptist in Memphis, along with September road contests at Mt. Pleasant and Summertown. The school will continue its TSIAA membership for the 2022-23 school year.

Jordan, meanwhile, has left the school.

“We have a committed athletics and administrative staff that will continue to move our athletics programs forward,” Jarvis said in a release. “We are already making tremendous progress with building a new state-of-the-art weight room and our recent TSIAA state championship in softball. We have much to celebrate.

“We believe that the Eagles’ best days in athletics are still to come. We look forward to working hard this summer, supporting the Eagles in all our fall sports, and enjoying the fellowship our football games bring to our community at Holcomb Field.”

In the meantime, Lansdell — who was also named assistant AD upon his arrival — will continue to consider his next move.

“I think in a couple of weeks or so I’ll be able to talk more on what the plans are as far as me moving forward,” he said.

“I don’t want anyone to misinterpret this decision as anything negative about Zion. I was impressed with their school and their desire to grow and the kids I worked with, the coaching staff we were attempting to put together. I got to see first-hand – they’ve got a lot of things going for them and what the future looks like there. They’ve got a lot of positive momentum to build on. I’m not sure what the coaching staff and administration plan to do going forward. I’ve got full confidence they’ll make the best decision for the school and the program.”

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