RiverHawks fire coach - WFXG FOX54 Augusta - Your News One Hour Earlier

The Augusta RiverHawks announced Tuesday that Head Coach Rob Miller has been relieved of his duties. Team President Mark Richards will step behind the bench in the interim as the Organization searches for Miller's replacement.

After eleven games in his first season, Miller oversaw the RiverHawks to a record of 1-9-1, with their first victory coming this past weekend. The RiverHawks sit last in the Southern Professional Hockey League standings, four points behind the Huntsville Havoc and Columbus Cottonmouths.

President and Interim Head Coach Mark Richards released the following statement:

This is an extremely difficult day for the RiverHawks. We believe Rob is a quality hockey coach, and we wanted to give this team as much time as possible to respond to his voice and guidance. The start our team has endured is unacceptable, and when our fortunes did not change after we made some key player transactions it became clear that another voice is needed. Out of respect for Rob and his ability as a coach, we allowed the Team time to turn things around while we did a thorough evaluation of what the issues were. As a result of that evaluation and the mounting losses, we felt it necessary to make this move. We thank Rob for coming to Augusta and giving his best effort to our organization, and wish him the best of luck.

Our Organization is a proud one, and our mission is to deliver exciting, competitive hockey to the CSRA. We believe in the team that we have assembled and will not accept the way we have performed to this point. The community is supporting us stronger than ever before. In our first five games we have sold 30% more tickets per game compared to last season. Corporate support has increased similarly, and our revenues across the board demonstrate that increase in support. Our season ticket holders, fans and supporters in the community deserve better, and we intend to deliver.

We made this move at a time when we still have a very realistic shot of capturing a playoff spot with some improvement to the way we play our games. We expect to be successful in doing so, and provide the CSRA with another exciting playoff run, as we have each season. Our goal continues to be to bring Augusta its first hockey championship.

Miller was named coach this past summer following a very successful start to his coaching career in the Federal Hockey League. He replaced Brad Ralph who coached the RiverHawks during the 2010-11 and 2011-12 seasons, who accepted a position with the Idaho Steelheads of the East Coast Hockey League.

Richards takes the helm on an interim basis with plenty of coaching experience in his back pocket. He coached for two seasons with the Memphis Riverkings of the Central Hockey League, before coaching four seasons in the Southern Professional Hockey League with the Twin City Cyclones and the Pee Dee Cyclones. The organization will immediately begin an extensive search for the Team's next head coach.

The RiverHawks return to the James Brown Arena as they play Thursday, November 29^th against the Fayetteville FireAntz. The game starts at 7:35pm at the James Brown Arena. Ticketscan be purchased in advance by calling the RiverHawks at 706 993 2645 or in-person at the James Brown Arena box office. Season tickets and Flex Packs are still available. Additional information on the Team, tickets, and schedule can be found on the RiverHawks' home on the web, www.augustariverhawks.com, or by calling 706-993-2645.