Exclusive: Ferndale Boys Basketball Coach Tom Staton Steps Down

varsity basketball coach Tom Staton stepped down from his position Monday, citing financial reasons after three successful seasons with the program.

Staton, an Eagles alum, recently accepted a position with Crime Stoppers of Michigan as the company’s campus program manager. The job wouldn’t allow him to commit the time needed to coach at the high school level.

“It actually has been kind of surfacing because of some economic challenges,” Staton said. “We don’t get paid a lot to coach. I’m not part of the school system and I wanted to be, but because of the budget cuts they weren’t able to bring me into the building.”

said Wednesday that the news was not a total surprise because he knew Staton was seeking a full-time job.

"It's a loss," Ivory said. "He's a very good coach. He's a motivator. Kids liked him, they respected him. But you have to do what you have to do."

Staton also received an offer to coach the Oakland County Cowboys, a semipro team in the American Basketball Association.

Coaching is Staton’s passion so he didn’t want to leave the game completely and the Cowboys’ schedule will allow him to gain some professional experience while not conflicting with his full-time job at Crime Stoppers.

“The Oakland County situation is a Saturday and Sunday situation,” Staton said. “It allows me a little more freedom and gives me some professional coaching experience under my belt.”

In 2010, Ivory asked Staton to come back home and help resurrect the school’s basketball program. Staton graduated from the school in 1975 and remains one of the most accomplished players in Eagles history. He was All-State multiple times and went on to play at the University of Michigan, where he played in a Final Four.

It didn’t take him long to bring a competitive edge back to Ferndale. He guided the Eagles to a conference title his first season, the school’s first since 1995, and in March helped the school win its

At the time, he dedicated the district championship to his mentor and friend Ivory, who was

Ivory was the first African-American coach in the Ferndale school system in the early '70s. Staton was his first captain.

“I had to bring him this championship,” Staton said, holding the trophy in March.

Now the two men , which made the decision a lot easier for Staton to make.  

“If Herb was still there I could not have done it, I will tell you,” Staton said laughing. “That’s my mentor, coach, friend and he is pretty much the reason I came because he asked me to.”

Staton called Ivory to tell him he was stepping down.

“We are as close as you can get; he was first person I called. He said, 'Man, I understand' and he told me to go get ’em,” Staton said. “He knows I’ll always be part of the family and support them.”

Ivory echoed those sentiments. 

"Tom graduated in 1975, he ran track for me, I knew his parents," he said. "He comes from a great family. I work with Tom a lot. Anything that I could do for him I would do."

Staton is hopeful the Eagles will be able to build on their recent success, he believes “the cupboard is pretty full” and he plans to send a letter of recommendation to the school for his assistant coach Herb Goliday, who he hopes will get consideration as his replacement.

"All the kids know him," Staton said. "He's a man of quite integrity."

Ivory said the coaching position is posted and there have been several interested applicants so far.

"Hopefully they'll come up with someone that's comparable to Tom," he said.