MOWEAQUA, Ill. -- Longtime Central A&M football coach Mark Ramsey will not return as Raiders head coach.  Ramsey told Central A&M administrators his decision, following a couple of weeks of controversy.
 
"The main thing now is, that we can get someone in there," Ramsey said.
 
Ramsey, who had just finished his 30th season as Central A&M head coach, announced retirement short after the end of the IHSA football season in November, but said he was offered a job that would have allowed him to continue coaching.
 
When he told the administration he wanted to stay, he was told they were going to move on, and find another coach.
 
"I think it's turned into kind of a bad situation.  I don't want to see the kids have to suffer because of this," he said.  "I don't like the way it was done, but I'll get over that."
 
Ramsey could re-apply for the position, and a discussion about the job was set to take place at a 7pm board meeting on Monday.  Ramsey said, instead, he wanted it to be done.
 
"I met with football players and told them, at this point, I think that I'm going to move forward, and they're going to move forward, and hopefully there's not going to be a big deal."
 
The 55-year-old amassed 239 wins as a head coach, the most in area history.  While his time on the Central A&M gridiron appears to be over, he did leave open the possibility of taking a coaching job elsewhere.