Carroll Set To Determine Coaching Finalists

[NT80]

Carroll set to determine coaching finalists

12:59 PM CST on Thursday, January 18, 2007

By BRANDON GEORGE / The Dallas Morning News

A six-person committee will meet at 2:30 p.m. Thursday to decide the finalists for the job of football head coach at Southlake Carroll. Twenty-eight persons applied for the job, said Derek Citty, Carroll ISD chief personnel officer.

Seven of the 28 are from out of state, Citty said, and most whom applied are high school football head coaches. Citty said Carroll hopes to name a head coach by the end of next week after a round of interviews early next week with each finalist.

The job posting requested that those whom applied have at least Class 4A or 5A assistant or head coaching football experience, Citty said. Carroll accepted applications through Tuesday.

A six-person committee consisting of Citty, Carroll ISD superintendent David Faltys, athletic director Ronnie Tipps, Carroll Senior High principal Daniel Presley, Carroll High principal Rick Westfall and booster club president Jack Luna will select the finalists.

Here are the 28 who applied for the job, according to Citty:

John Addicks: Athletic director/head coach, Lake Hill Preparatory

Edward Arledge: Head coach/boys athletic coordinator, Clear Brook

Gabriel Alvarado: Defensive coordinator, George Jenkins, Lakeland, Fla.

R.J. Bond: Head coach, DeLay Middle School, Lewisville

James Brown: Athletic coordinator/head coach, Brazosport

Mike Burzawa: Head coach, Driscoll Catholic, Addison, Ill.

Lonnie Cook: Head coach, Holy Trinity Catholic, Temple, Texas

Kevin Ellison: Varsity assistant coach, Pflugerville Connally

Bryan Erwin: Athletic coordinator/head coach, La Marque

Clint Finley: Defensive coordinator/QB coach, Schulenburg

Rod Fuhrmann: Head coach, New Waverly

Vance Gibson: Head coach, Frisco

Tony Heath: Head coach, Pearland

Tyrone Hughes: Assistant coach, Dallas Jesuit

Kevin Kopecky: Head coach, St. Thomas Aquinas, Overland Park, Kan.

Eugene Lockhart: Former Cowboys linebacker

Dennis Lorio: Assistant coach, Parkview Baptist School, Baton Rouge, La.

Todd McVey: Former head coach, McKinney

Eli Melton: Varsity assistant coach, Southlake Carroll

Weldon Nelms: Athletic director/head coach, Wimberley

Phil Pettey: Former NFL and collegiate assistant coach, former NFL player

Johnny Ringo: Head coach, Plano East

David San Juan: Assistant coach, Allen D. Nease, St. Augustine, Fla.

Mike Sneed: Former head coach, Weatherford

Blaine Springston: Athletic director/head coach, Andrews

John Ullrich: Head coach, Life School of Oak Cliff

Nathan Washington: Enterprise Car Sales of Idaho/Utah group finance manager; hasn't worked as a coach since 1999

Hal Wasson: Head coach, Keller Fossil Ridge

The job came open in mid-December when Todd Dodge announced he was leaving to become coach at North Texas. Over his last five years at Carroll, Dodge built the football program into one of the nation’s best by going 79-1 and winning four Class 5A state titles.

[NT03]

HiJackeD

[good_ken]

Because there's only one assistant left at SLC, all the others now work at UNT.

[NT80]

I'll go on record now on who will get the job: Hal Wasson: Head coach, Keller Fossil Ridge

[NT03]

I'll go on record now on who will get the job: Hal Wasson: Head coach, Keller Fossil Ridge

Im pullin for Weldon Nelms ( Wimberly ) he's a GREAT coach! Maybe Im a bit bias because he was once my HS coach , but he took us from a playoff drought ( can't remember the # of years ) and a 15 game losing to the playoffs in his 1st year.

[NT80]

My favorite darkhorse candidate: Nathan Washington: Enterprise Car Sales of Idaho/Utah group

[NT03]

The father of soul will have a hard time relating to the kids at Southlake

Edited January 19, 2007 by NT03

[NT80]

Updated article:

........................................................................

SL Carroll opening draws lots of interest

10:38 PM CST on Thursday, January 18, 2007

By BRANDON GEORGE / The Dallas Morning News

SOUTHLAKE – Three area Class 4A/5A football head coaches are among 28 applicants for Southlake Carroll's head coaching job, a Carroll ISD spokesman said Thursday.

Plano East's Johnny Ringo was the only area 5A head coach to apply, said Derek Citty, Carroll ISD chief personnel officer. Two area 4A head coaches also applied: Keller Fossil Ridge's Hal Wasson and Frisco's Vance Gibson.

A six-person committee met Thursday afternoon and selected five finalists, who will be brought in for interviews next week, said Carroll ISD superintendent David Faltys. Faltys, who is on the committee, refused to release the names of the finalists Thursday night because not all of them had been contacted. Citty said Carroll hopes to name a coach by the end of next week.

"We have some great folks in there with some good credentials from some well-known programs," Faltys said. "Some of those guys have coached a lot of games the last couple of years. We have some very good candidates coming in for interviews."

The new coach will take over one of the nation's premier high school programs and have to fill the shoes of Todd Dodge, who announced in December that he was leaving to become North Texas' head coach. Dodge was 98-11 in seven seasons at Carroll, including 79-1 with four 5A state titles the last five seasons.

One Carroll employee, longtime coach/teacher Eli Melton, applied for the job. Melton, 52, grew up in Southlake. Three Carroll assistants previously followed Dodge to North Texas.

Wasson, 50, has strong ties to Carroll. He was the running backs coach there in 2001 and 2002. Wasson's son, Chase (now at Texas State), was a record-setting quarterback at Carroll and led it to the 2002 5A Division II state title. Wasson is 122-83-2 in 19 seasons as a head coach, 28-15 in four seasons at Fossil Ridge. He's reached the playoffs 11 times, including last season's 10-2 Fossil Ridge team.

Ringo, 46, is 68-41-2 in 10 seasons as a head coach at Irving MacArthur, Coppell and Plano East, where he's 21-15 in three seasons. Gibson, 53, is 15-7 in two seasons at Frisco, his first high school head coaching job since he was at Sherman in 1984. Gibson was 89-41-1 in 13 seasons at Howard Payne University, where he won three conference titles.

Two applicants played for the Cowboys: Eugene Lockhart (1984-1990) and Tyrone Hughes (1998). Phil Pettey, a 6-4, 274-pound offensive guard for the Washington Redskins in 1987, also applied. He has been an NFL assistant for the New York Jets and New Orleans Saints and a college assistant at LSU, USC and Pittsburgh.

Successful head coaches from Kansas (Overland Park St. Thomas Aquinas' Kevin Kopecky) and Illinois (Addison Driscoll Catholic's Mike Burzawa) are among the seven out-of-state applicants.

Kopecky has a 131-93 career record in 23 seasons and is 72-37 in 10 seasons at St. Thomas Aquinas. Driscoll Catholic has won six consecutive state titles, including the last two with Burzawa as the head coach.

Two in-state applicants are coming off deep playoff runs last season. Bryan Erwin led La Marque to the 4A Division II state title, and Tony Heath led Pearland to the 5A Division I state semifinals. Erwin is 65-8 in five seasons at La Marque, including state titles in 2003 and 2006. Heath is 87-32 in 10 seasons at Pearland, where he reached the playoffs eight times.

Former McKinney coach Todd McVey and former Weatherford coach Mike Sneed also applied.

[Cr1028]

It should be Wasson but if for some strange reason he doens't get it, I'm pulling for my high school coach, Johnny Ringo.

[AJR2010OX]

plano east had a good playoff run this season..... why doesnt ringo just stay? im sure hughes and brence wouldnt mind seeing him leave though. Whatever happens that coach is going to have a ton of pressure put on him. Did you happen to go to east?

It should be Wasson but if for some strange reason he doens't get it, I'm pulling for my high school coach, Johnny Ringo.

Edited January 21, 2007 by AJR2010OX

[Cr1028]

plano east had a good playoff run this season..... why doesnt ringo just stay? im sure hughes and brence wouldnt mind seeing him leave though. Whatever happens that coach is going to have a ton of pressure put on him. Did you happen to go to east?

Nope, I played for him back when he was at Coppell.