Former Carolina Panther Percell Gaskins resigns as Garinger High football coach

Percell Gaskins, a former Carolina Panther, has resigned as Garinger High football coach, Wildcats athletics director Tony Huggins told the Observer.

Gaskins, who was hired in February 2014, was a head coach for the first time. He was 0-21 in two seasons. Garinger has lost 42 straight games and hasn’t won a game since October 21, 2011, when the Wildcats beat Harding.

Huggins said Gaskins wanted to be closer to his family in Ohio.

“While he didn’t win a game,” Huggins said. “He did a lot of the right things. He got the program moving in the right direction.”

Garinger has had five winning seasons in the past 42 years, and Huggins’ next coach will be the school’s nine since the start of the 2002 season.

Gaskins grew up in Daytona Beach, Fla, and played college football at Kansas State. He was drafted by the Rams in the fourth round of the 1996 NFL draft and played two seasons in the pros. He played in the '96 season for St. Louis, accounting for 36 tackles in 15 games. He played for the Panthers in 1997, appearing in 12 games.

This story was originally published December 17, 2015 at 8:03 PM with the headline "Former Carolina Panther Percell Gaskins resigns as Garinger High football coach."