How badly does Central want Carl Gross?

How would Carl Gross look in an orange and black sweater on the Cape Girardeau Central sideline?

The folks in charge of hiring Central's football coach would love to find out, and as sure as it's another cold Missouri day in January, they'd like to make it happen.

Central needs a winner. Not a coach, but a winner. The football program that's been stuck in mediocrity mode on the field for a couple of decades is tired of being just anther checkmark on the schedule of its 10 opponents. Gross, whose roots go deep in Cape Girardeau and at Central, was mentioned more within minutes after nine-year Lawrence Brookins was given his door prize and told to close the door behind him just weeks ago.

Gross told the local print media this weekend that his abrupt resignation as a coach and science teacher Thursday came after a couple of years of thought and planning. It was just time, he said. It was time to leave after 19 seasons and a list of district championships, SEMO Conference titles and statewide recognition. And, accoding to Gross, his resignation letter Thursday, January 24 was the result of two years of thought and planning.

But coaches don't clean out their desks in the middle of the week in January on a whim. They don't leave without telling their team goodbye. They don't assign a science project on Thursday and decide to not show up the next day. Or ever.

Even a minimum-wage restaurant employee is expected to give a two-week notice. Gross didn't just drive out of the Jackson High School parking lot. He left tire marks.

Gross described to the media his image of a carefree life of hunting and fishing and taking long afternoon naps in a La-Z-Boy. But he knows Central is on the hunt for a winner. And he knows he's on Central's list.

Central would love a chance to lure away Jackson's most prized coach and snub its nose at its conference rival across Interstate 55. It would be one of the biggest spitballs ever fired in the Central-Jackson history, and it would hit Indians fans square in the face.

The question isn't whether Central wants Carl Gross. The question is whether Carl Gross wants Central.