Marble Falls ISD sets timeline for AD/football coach hire
Marble Falls ISD plans to recommend a new head football coach/athletic director to the Board of Trustees by Dec. 18. File photo
The Marble Falls Independent School District plans to hire a new high school head football coach and athletic director by the end of December.
“We hope to have a recommendation (for the position) for the school board to consider by Dec. 18,” MFISD Superintendent Dr. Jeff Gasaway told DailyTrib.com.
A public input meeting is at 5:30 p.m. Nov. 29 at Marble Falls High School, 2101 Mustang Drive. Attending residents will be encouraged to voice their opinions on the search.
“We want to give the community a chance to give us any thoughts they might have and to share ideas related to who they are hoping will be the next head coach/athletic director,” Gasaway said.
The job search follows Brian Herman’s announced resignation on Nov. 7 as head football coach and athletic director.
“I’m very appreciative how quickly Coach Herman let us know that he’d be leaving (MFISD),” Gasaway said. “It put us in a good position since our search is one of the earlier searches.”
District officials believe the Dec. 18 deadline will benefit the football program by giving the new coach and players time to get to know each other.
“We want the kids to be able to spend the second semester with their next high school football coach/athletic director,” Gasaway said.
In discussing the job search, the superintendent outlined some attributes he would like to see in a new coach.
“Some of the things that we’re looking for is somebody that can really work with our middle school and our development leagues to have a better focus on building those lower-level programs,” Gasaway said. “We want the programs to be fun for kids, while also being extremely competitive. They also need to share our vision of loving and inspiring kids. That’s very, very important.”
MFISD began accepting applications on Nov. 8. The submission window is set to close on Dec. 4.
“We’ve already had a number of applications, and we’re not even a week into the process,” Gasaway said. “We anticipate that we will have candidates who are current head coaches, offensive coordinators, and defensive coordinators. We also anticipate receiving applications from a number of position coaches who haven’t had the opportunity to become offensive or defensive coordinators or a head coach.”
Initial interviews will follow the Dec. 4 deadline.
“We’re hoping to interview somewhere between 20 to 24 candidates in the first round,” Gasaway said. “It will be a phone interview.”
Second- and third-round interviews are planned for the week of Dec. 11.
“We’re going to try and narrow that list down to eight candidates (by the second round) with the goal of having a third-round interview that week,” Gasaway said.
Contingency plans exist if the district fails to attract enough qualified candidates.
“We do have plans for if we feel concerned about the applicant pool — or lack thereof — to divert the timeline,” Gasaway said.