The search for a new head football coach at Siloam Springs is winding down and could be wrapped up early next month.
The school district has received 58 official applications to fill the vacancy left open when Bryan Ross resigned on Nov. 10 after serving as head coach for 14 years. Assistant superintendent Jody Wiggins said the narrowing process is underway and interviews with finalists will be scheduled for later this month.
"We're hoping to interview somewhere between five and eight candidates, although that's not necessarily a set number," Wiggins said. "We've had a lot of interest in the job, a very deep pool of applicants, so the people we call in for interviews are going to be very well-qualified from experience and past affiliations."
Wiggins said the narrowing down process began with evaluating each applicant's experience. The district wants to hire a head coach with a proven record of leading or being a major part of a successful program, and that doesn't necessarily mean experience as a head coach. They've been "doing some background work" by calling coaches and administrators who have worked closely with candidates.
"We're trying to find the right person from a character standpoint and a relationship standpoint," Wiggins said. "Head coaching experience was not necessarily a requisite, it's just another component from their background. But I will say that most of the people we interview will have head coaching experience, or they have been coordinators at highly successful programs."
This is the fifth search for a head football coach in which Wiggins has been involved. He said there is more interest from a "sheer numbers standpoint" than past coaching searches and added that the quality of the candidate pool also appears to be higher.
"That's not to say that we didn't hire quality people in the past, it's just that the depth of the quality is impressive," Wiggins said. "We're very appreciative of people who have applied and we are confident that the people we are going to interview will be quality applicants because of the quality of the pool we have to choose from."
Finalists will all interview in front of a five-person committee that will include Wiggins, high school principal Jason Jones, athletic director Kevin Downing and two others who have yet to be determined but will "give us a little different perspective."
"We'll have a set list of questions that we'll ask each of them," Wiggins said. "I don't know if all of them will, but a lot of times, the coaches usually bring a prepared packet with them that outlines their plans for the program; what they see as strengths and weaknesses in the program and that sort of thing.
"We're looking forward to it."
Sports on 01/17/2018