It has been an interesting spring and summer around my part of the world. Two critically important jobs have been open and the excitement over who would fill them has been palpable. No, it wasn't some political position, nor was the the president of a local bank. Even though my church got a new minister, that wasn't even the big news. No, it was the hiring of football coaches for the area high schools.
Okay, before I go any further let me give you a little background about myself and the area where I live. In the beautiful mountains I call home, football is king. Tremendous pride is felt in each community when our boys take the field on Friday night. Rivalries are strong and vocal. I live in a town that shares a state line with another community. The combined population is around 15,000 folks. On the first Friday of football season 10,000-12,000 of us gather to watch the two high schools renew their rivalry. Community pride and bragging rights are on the line.
As for me, I am a self professed football junkie. I am at a high school game every Friday night and have season tickets to the nearby ACC power Virginia Tech. My wife says if East Podunk was playing West Podunk and it was on the tube I would be watching; and she is right. For the sake of clarity, I should note that I have ties to both towns where the coaching changes are taking place. I live in one and work in the other.
Both of the high school vacancies came about due to less than ideal situations. In one case the incumbent coach resigned in June after one season citing health reasons. In the other case the coach, who also served as athletic director, was not reappointed following an investigation by the school board of improprieties. That coach had been a long time assistant, and had been the head man for six years, including back to back 1-10 seasons.
Each school has a proud football past. Each has one a state championship, with one owning three. One school has had four coaches in 50+ years, the other has had 4 coaches in 10 years. Both communities have high expectations.
In small communities the question always arises will the new coach be someone already working in the school system or will they go outside and bring in new blood. The other question was would they be hiring an experienced coach or someone young an untested.
I what may have been a shock to both communities, the new coaches are coming from outside the system and both will have taken their first head coaching jobs. Both have coaching experience in college as graduate assistants. One has served as an assistant coach at a military school that has a strong post-graduate program.
It will be interesting to watch how the season progresses and watch these two new leaders as they mold and shape young men into winning teams. And yes boys and girls I will keep you updated.
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