Madewell beats out ‘big name’ applicants
When the committee searching for Warren County High School’s new football coach narrowed its list down to the final applicants, four names stood above the rest.
Although Chris Madewell, who was ultimately named the Pioneers’ new coach, was one of the most impressive candidates in the committee’s eyes, three coaches from some of the state’s top high school programs also expressed interest.
Deciding between Madewell, David Pack, Steve Britton and Scott Smith proved to be a difficult task, but Pack, Britton and Smith — from perennial powerhouses Christ Presbyterian Academy, Riverdale and Ezell-Harding, respectively — all had personal issues which kept them from totally committing to the Warren County job.
“We went out and talked to some of the top coaches and interviewed them,” said director of personnel Roy Pierce. “The first person we talked to was (Riverdale head coach) Gary Rankin, and he was in no way interested in the job.
“Pack, Britton and Smith showed great interest, but when it came down to hiring a coach the three had personal family reasons for not moving to Warren County. In most cases money was not an issue, but rather these three coaches had kids in school and didn’t want to move to McMinnville right now. It was a lifestyle change nobody wanted to commit to right now.”
The committee wanted to make sure they explored all options, but when it came down to hiring a head coach McMinnvile wasn’t very appealing to many outside canidates, Pierce said.
“One of the factors the committee had was, one of our requirements from the beginning, was if you were going to be the head coach at Warren County, you were going to have to live here. Some of those candidates didn’t want to live here,” said high school principal James Bennett. “I want to stress, Chris was on that list from the start. Each time we interviewed a candidate, everyone asked the questions they wanted to ask. Each time we got through with a candidate, we sat and talked for 35-40 minutes after they left about what their plusses and minuses were, and Chris kept coming back in our minds as being so impressive.”