Six years after their school named its gymnasium after them, longtime Campbell basketball coaches Randy McClure and James Gwynn are out of jobs.
Campbell on Tuesday told the two coaches — who have exactly 1,200 career wins and 71 years of head coaching experience between them — that their teaching and coaching contracts will not be renewed.
McClure’s girls team was 23-5 this season. Gwyn’s boys team was 15-11. Both made the Class 7A quarterfinals in 2024.
“I’m pretty shocked and hurt and, I don’t mind telling you, pretty upset by it,” McClure said. “It came out of the blue. If they’d done it the right way, I’d be fine, but they didn’t. They didn’t tell me at the first of the year. I felt like we deserved better than that.”
Gwyn expressed similar feelings.
“We were taken aback a little bit,” he said. “I was hoping to do it another two years. Even if it had been one more year, I could’ve planned and gone out on my own terms. I know everything’s got to end, but I wish I’d known that during the season.”
Campbell principal Vanessa Watkins released a statement to the AJC on Thursday morning.
“Recently, we made a difficult but necessary decision regarding the leadership of our basketball programs. We want to express our deepest gratitude to Coach Gwyn and Coach McClure for their years of dedication, leadership, and the lasting impact they’ve had on our student-athletes. Their commitment to excellence has shaped countless young lives, and we sincerely appreciate their contributions to our school and community.
“This decision was not made lightly, and we recognize the strong foundation that has been built. We are committed to ensuring the continued growth and success of our basketball programs.
“We thank Coach Gwyn and Coach McClure for their years of service and wish them nothing but success in their next endeavors.”
The coaches said they were told the decisions were based in part on a teacher allotment numbers. There was no mention of basketball performance, the coaches said. McClure and Gwyn are retired teachers working part-time, or 49% of full-time, and taking up what amounts to one teaching slot.
“I don’t want to feel like (teacher allotments) was reason used to cover up a deeper reason,” Gwyn said. “Was it allotments? What is part-time (status)? Was it age? Do they think we’ve lost touch with the kids? Wasn’t it something else?”
McClure just completed his 36th season as Campbell’s girls head coach. He has 617 career victories and 12 state quarterfinal appearances or better.
“We played in the region championship (game) for the last 13 years in a row, so it’s not about that,” McClure said. “The team GPA has been 3.7 or higher for the last same years. Kids are getting into college. They don’t get into trouble. They win basketball games and develop into good young ladies.”
McClure, a Charlotte native, came to Georgia to attend Morehouse and began coaching at Smyrna’s old Wills High. He became Campbell’s head coach in 1989-90 after the merger of Campbell and Wills.
Gwyn has 583 career victories. He was Campbell’s coach the past 30 seasons and coached the six years before at North Clayton, where his 1993 team won a state title. Gwyn’s Campbell teams won its fourth region tournament title in 2024. The 2025 team finished third in the region standings behind top-10 teams McEachern and Pebblebrook.
Campbell built a 3,500-seat gym in 2017 and named it the McClure-Gwyn Gymnasium in May 2019.
“We both tried to do things the right way,” Gwyn said. “We didn’t recruit. Some people are going to be on top longer because they do things other ways. We turned down other jobs. We made a commitment to this school and community. ...
“Both our names are on the gym. We wouldn’t have that if we’ve got a lot of issues. I just feel they should give you a little more respect if you’re being dismissed.”
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