Rumors that Greenville High School Athletic Director and football coach, Alvin Briggs was stepping down were put to rest on Thursday morning by Greenville High School Principal, Dr. Kathy Murphy.

"Coach Alvin Briggs is still a Greenville High School Tiger," said Murphy. "None of us were happy with the way that this past season turned out, but Coach Briggs is putting a plan together right now to improve things."

The rumors are no shock to Briggs'

"No, I'm not resigning, I'm staying here," Briggs said.

Rumors of Alvin Briggs's dismissal as athletic director of Greenville High School and as the coach of the Tigers football team began circulating as early as the fourth week of the season. They became even more prevalent when the Tigers entered homecoming 0-6 and then became even stronger following a 64-7 defeat by 4A Demopolis to close out the dismal 2004 season.

The Tigers finished this season with a 1-9 record at the end of the 2004 season despite going to the playoffs as a No. 4 qualifier a year prior.

"I have the support of the administration, my coaches and my players and we are going to work and fix things that went wrong this past season," Briggs said.

Murphy has confidence in her coach.

"Coach Briggs is looking at the season to see what went wrong and ways to remedy it," Murphy said. "He has worked up a plan of action that will be put into effect soon. He is working a new weight program and has his coaching staff working with him."

Briggs has already began making plans for next season and has gotten offseason workouts well underway.

"I'm very excited about the way things have gone so far in the offseason," said Briggs. "The kids are real enthusiastic about things."

With workouts and conditioning programs just starting, the Tigers have 86 athletes participating in them.

"It is great having that many kids after having a season that nobody liked," Briggs said. "To almost double our roster is a big positive for our program and for the student-athletes that are out here."

With 86 student-athletes participating right now, Briggs hopes to retain at least 80 all the way through until next football season.

"I like to think that we would retain at least 80," Briggs said. "With the workout that we are doing we thought that we would have already lost some, but we haven't. We already have some athletes saying that they want to join us after Thanksgiving. For them to make it through and stay this first week means a lot."

Briggs is taking steps to improve on last season. Besides beginning offseason workouts, Briggs plans to have his athletes attend passing camps and seven-on-seven camps during the summer, along with working on individual skills.

Briggs, who played football at Auburn University, is finishing his fourth year at Greenville High School.