Search for new coaches underway: Three have applied for baseball job; one for soccer
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But at Warren County High School there will be plenty to do over the coming weeks, as administrators work to fill three varsity head coaching vacancies.
The retirement of baseball coach Jimmy Walker and the resignation of Charlie Hardee — who was slated to coach both the Lady Pioneer and Pioneer soccer programs in 2003-04 — have athletic director Andy Jacobs and the rest of the WCHS administration on the hunt for replacements as they prepare for the next school year’s athletic seasons.
Currently, three candidates have applied for the vacancy with the Pioneer baseball program, while one person has applied for the girls’ soccer job. Another coach has expressed interest in coaching both WCHS soccer teams.
According to Warren County Schools Director of Personnel Roy Pierce, Keith Hamilton has applied to coach the Lady Pioneers, while WCMS coach Chris Parker, WCHS coach J.W. Holt and Cookeville High School assistant Jed Douglass have expressed interest in the baseball job.
As a fall sport, the Lady Pioneer soccer vacancy is taking top priority, and only Hamilton has officially applied for the position. A problem arises, however, with the fact that Hamilton is not a faculty member.
“It’s the next sport in the calendar year, and right now we have one applicant for girls soccer, but that applicant is not a teacher,” Jacobs explained. “TSSAA bylaws say they can’t become a head coach until they’ve been a non-faculty head coach for five years.
“So we have a problem there, and that’s something we’re trying to address. It needs to be dealt with as quickly as possible, but right now we don’t have any applicants in from a teaching/coaching standpoint.
Coaches stepping down while maintaining their teaching positions at the school creates its own set of problems, Jacobs said.
“It’s an area a lot of people don’t see,” he said. “You lose a coach, but not a teaching position, so the hardest part of this is finding a coach that is not only qualified, but certified to teach in an area that you have available.”
Another coach, from the Chattanooga area, has called to inquire about the open soccer positions. Although he has shown a desire to coach both the boys’ and girls’ teams, he hadn’t officially applied for either job as of Tuesday afternoon.
Jacobs noted the Lady Pioneers are scheduled to attend their first summer team camp June 1, and said if a permanent new coach had not been found by that date, a suitable substitute coach will accompany the Lady Pioneers to their camp.
The vacancy at the head of the Pioneer baseball program has been posted since Walker announced his retirement, and must be listed among available positions for a minimum of 10 working days.
School officials have already conducted an informal interview with Douglass, and will be inviting him back for a second, more formal meeting soon, Pierce said. Interviews with a committee of school system officials will also be scheduled for Parker and Holt — as well as any other possible applicants — in the near future.
Jacobs said while there is more time to accept applications for the baseball job, director of schools Dr. Jerry Hale and WCHS principal James Bennett hope to fill all their coaching vacancies as soon as they can.
“They want a coach before school’s out,” Jacobs said. “They want to get them all filled as soon as possible, and hopefully before the end of school year.
“These kids deserve the best coaches we can possibly get for them, and that is the ultimate goal of the administration.”