By Scott Buttram
Publisher
Commentary
TRUSSVILLE — Here’s what we know about the search to fill the athletic director post left open by Karen Johns’ resignation last month. It’s a plum job and a lot of people want the spot. And by a lot of people, I mean a whole lot of people.
According to sources within the school system, the athletic director opening has drawn more than 70 applications. More applications are arriving at the rate of about five per day. The applications have come from within the community and across the United States with varying degrees of athletic department experience ranging from university level to none.
I don’t anticipate a comprehensive list of candidates. While every search for a high profile position is its own journey, we did learn from the last search that we’ll probably only know the finalists. The primary reason is that most applicants are currently employed and don’t want their name in the public domain unless they become a serious contender for the job. That’s understandable and a reasonable request.
With the search for an AD well underway and multiple qualified candidates to choose from, one element is critical to the future success of the Trussville City Schools athletic program. Follow the appropriate procedures and leave to decision to the right people.
The interview and hiring process deserves input from multiple parties.
Jeff Mauldin is arguably the best high school baseball coach in the state, if not several states. Josh Floyd just led football to the best season in school history. When has David Dobbs not had cross country ranked among the best in Alabama? Tonya Hunter has a blue trophy to her credit. Either through establishing qualifications, reviewing resumes, or directly interviewing candidates, these coaches and their colleagues should have input in the process.
The superintendent and board of education will be held responsible by the general public for the success or failure of the new athletic director. They certainly play a role as no school system employee can be hired without their recommendation and approval. That’s a given.
But the most important decision makers in this process absolutely must be the principals, specifically, Tim Salem and Lisa Berry. The final recommendation to the superintendent and the recommendation she delivers to the BOE should be theirs.
When reading through the Alabama High School Athletic Association handbook, there is a noticeable absence of references to athletic directors. Yet the role of the school principal is prominent. There’s a reason for that. Athletics is part of the academic mission of schools. It isn’t the primary mission.
Many coaches will also be teaching units. Those units are already too few and cannot afford to be squandered. Only the principals are positioned to make the call on who can best benefit both the academic and athletic sides of the equation.
The policies of the AHSAA make it clear that the principal is responsible for everything from certifying eligibility of athletes to being accountable for any violations of the athletic program. It is therefore critical that the athletic director be accountable to the principal without reservation.
The recommendation for the AD post should come from Salem and Berry to the superintendent to the board just as any other personnel recommendation would.
The role of the new athletic director and the roles of other administrators should be clearly defined before any hiring takes place. After the hire, all parties must be respect those boundaries and responsibilities.
18 Comments
Phillip Acton
Karen Johns might be available…
Debbie Renfroe Rogers
Karen Johns has the best resume and a a PROVEN record! She put Trussville on the map!
Wendi McConnell Peters
My vote is for Karen Johns! Our recent success has been a result of her decision making.
Justin Williamson
I nominate Jake Garrett
Thomas Kendrick
Jack Wood put HT on the map as far as Football goes. Regardless of how successful the 2016 Football season was,coach Wood was successful in building a football program that was horrible pre 1983.For 18 yrs he developed boys into men. We are very thankful for that. People need to know their history before making ludicrous comments.
Frog Price
Well said, big guy. Once again you have shown why you are THE MAN.
Scott Buttram
Thank you for the kind words, Frog Price.
Chuck Biddinger
One of the rare benefits of being on Facebook is being able to offer my opinion when no one asked. 🙂
Meg O'Neal Pritchard
Just out of curiosity, how or why are athletics under the academic charter of a school? I have always been under the impression we have school sports because we just want to for lack of a better way of saying it. I can’t figure out how sports are academically relevant. I am sure it builds character but character is not math. Not arguing just curious of the rationale.
Scott Buttram
Meg, I think you’re asking for a history lesson that I’m unqualified to teach. I have a lot of the same questions. In Europe, athletics are club sports unaffiliated with schools. As much as I would like to see that here, Pandora’s box is too wide open.
Meg O'Neal Pritchard
Haha! Your article is so nice, I assumed you knew the answer. Yes I am more of a fan of the club sports than state funded sports. I know it is way to ingrained in society to change. But I still continue to dream that one day we will place as much importance both in respect and pay scale on the chemistry teacher as we do a football coach. I am clearly in the minority especially in this state. 😂😂
Scott Buttram
I’m a former high school coach, my son is currently a coach, and I agree with you 100%.
Ryan Jennings
Meg, I was a high school athlete. In soccer and basketball, and several other individual sports like swimming, tennis etc students are more likely to get a college scholarship through club organizations and travel leagues. Im really glad you made your post. Ive never even thought about the “why” before though. It is so engrained now though especially football with club league ending after 5th grade, that that sport will most definitely never change. Really intrigued about this topic now. Haha. If you guys dig into it any deeper, and find out more, I’d like to hear about “why” it is the way it is.
Wendy Dunn Treglown
Great thought provoking question- one that I have never considered. Sports have been a part of schools for as long as I can remember and even before that. One plus side of having school affiliated sports as opposed to only having club sports, in my opinion, is that you can involve many more children. There are children that wouldn’t get to participate in sports because their parents can’t or won’t make the time to get them to practices, games, meets, etc.
That could stem from many reasons- parents that have to work a lot- regardless of whether it’s blue collar work or the fact that they’re doctors/nurses, etc.- money issues, lack of clubs near every child’s home, etc.
I always love to hear the stories about inner city kids that, instead of turning to drugs or crime, turn to sports and really excel in that sport. In no way do I think that only inner city areas have issues with drugs and crime. There are many affluent areas that have their fair share of these issues. This is just my two cents, for what it’s worth. I think sports in schools is a good thing. It can help to motivate an otherwise unmotivated child and possibly give the kids that don’t “love” reading, writing, and arithmetic, something to look forward to and strive to obtain.
Scott Buttram
Thanks to all that read and commented on my op-ed. I received some information yesterday that I believe is very pertinent to my column. An individual who applied for the AD position called tell me that they had been brought in to discuss the position with three school officials on Thursday. Among those three school officials were Tim Salem and Lisa Berry. In my view, that is exactly the approach that should be taken in filling the athletic director position.
Meg O'Neal Pritchard
Excellent! Thanks for the follow up.
Meg O'Neal Pritchard
I don’t disagree that sports are tremendously helpful to students. It is as vital to some kids as many other services offered to other kids for different reasons. There will always be competing factions of how to responsibly spend money. I think I lean more to the European club model. It certainly isn’t perfect but nothing ever is. My concern is that we have so many things for athletes, IEP students and GaTe students that regular hard working students that would greatly benefit from an awesome science lab get lost in the shuffle. I would love to see more travel of groups to Spain when they are learning Spanish and D.C. when they are learning history, etc… Bottom line is there are so many things and choices to be made no board, principal can please everyone and we the people often only see things through our issues. I want to be open minded enough to be persuadable on issues that others face and not put only my issues at the top of the list.
Meg O'Neal Pritchard
Interesting about the clubs and scholarships. We play on a competitive soccer team with a child that is in the Olympic training program and they even put the club level first. I do believe sports are important and a live saving outlet to some kids. I just found it interesting that they were under the academic umbrella.