The Siloam Springs School District athletics department had several coaching hires and changes approved at Thursday night's board meeting.
It's the first personnel moves the district has made under first-year athletics director Jeff Williams.
"I've got to give our administration a lot of credit on piecing everything together," Williams said. "Our building principals did a great job. Just everybody involved coordinated well. We're extremely excited about these hires."
Football
The district accepted the resignation of defensive coordinator Cole Harriman, who has accepted a defensive coordinator/head soccer job at Huntsville, his alma mater. Harriman, the son of outgoing athletic director Ken Harriman, has been at Siloam Springs since the fall of 2017 and spent the last three seasons as defensive coordinator for the varsity and ninth-grade coach.
"Thankful for my time spent at Siloam," Cole Harriman said. "Once a Panther, always a Panther!"
The district has hired Justin Wood to the football staff. Wood was offensive coordinator at Springdale High last year under Zak Clark, who was hired to take the head job at Searcy.
Wood is a Springdale alum who played on the famed 2005 Class AAAAA state championship team under Gus Malzahn.
He volunteered at Fayetteville before getting hired at Springdale.
Wood will coach offensive line and help coordinate the offense at Siloam Springs along with playcaller Jonathan Johnson.
"He's seen a lot of good football, been around a lot of good football," said head coach Brandon Craig. "Everybody we've talked to said he has a tremendous work ethic and he brought a lot to the table in his interviews. We're really fortunate to get a guy like that. We're excited."
Boys basketball
A familiar face is returning as a coach to the Siloam Springs boys basketball program.
Former Panther Luke Loveless was hired as a seventh- and eighth-grade basketball coach. Meanwhile, longtime eighth-grade coach Michael Robertson has been promoted to ninth-grade head coach and assistant varsity coach, which was formerly occupied by Bill Covington, who retired after 28 seasons.
Robertson also will continue to coach the golf teams.
Loveless played his ninth-grade and sophomore seasons at Siloam Springs. A native of Bentonville, he finished his high school career at Providence Academy but always looked back fondly on his career at Siloam Springs.
"I'm really excited to be here. This means a lot to me," Loveless said. "I loved my time here at Siloam as a student-athlete, and I really wanted to get back here at some point. Now that I'm here, it's just unreal -- it's a dream come true."
"When I was offered the job, it was a no brainer for me and I was overcome with emotion and excitement. The coaches, the community, and the schools are second to none and are full of great people with good hearts. Some of my best teachers were in Siloam Springs, and some of the best people I've met are from here"
After graduating high school, Loveless joined the National Guard and he's four years into a contract with two years left, he said. He also attended college at the University of Arkansas where he spent the 2019-20 season as a student manager under head men's basketball coach Eric Musselman.
This past season he coached as a volunteer for the Bentonville ninth-grade boys basketball program.
Loveless will be the head eighth-grade coach and will help with the seventh-grade team along with coach Conlan Efurd, head coach Tim Stewart said.
"To be able to hire a player that we know and had been in our system and cut from the same cloth we are, it's really exciting," Stewart said. "He's had a great experience going through college."
Loveless said he's happy to join a staff that he's familiar with as well.
"I can say as well that Coach Stewart, Coach (Chris) Cameron, Coach Robertson, and Coach Covington are some of the better coaches in the area," Loveless said. "I've been at multiple schools and programs in Northwest Arkansas, and I've seen winning basketball at the highest level underneath Coach Musselman as a student assistant, and I can say for sure that the coaches here at Siloam are preaching the right things, and they're excellent at what they do. They're great relationship builders, and they do a phenomenal job of connecting with their players and also holding them to a high standard. Siloam is in good hands with these guys here. I'm really excited to be underneath them and learn.
"I can't say enough how honored, blessed, and happy I am to be here. I'm ready to give back to the community, schools, and teams that gave so much to me, and I can't wait to get started."
Girls basketball
The Lady Panthers have added former Gentry standout Kim Edmonson to their coaching staff.
Edmonson will be the head seventh- and eighth-grade basketball coach, which was vacated by the resignation of Brittany Fields last month.
Edmonson coached at Gentry with current Siloam Springs girls coach Tim Rippy before Rippy left for Siloam Springs after the 2013 season.
Rippy said Edmonson will be a good fit for the seventh- and eighth-grade basketball players.
"I think it's important that we have someone in that position that is a great communicator and Kim is a great communicator," Rippy said. "Because it's our parents' and players' first time in the program. At that age, if you're a great communicator and you teach fundamentals really well, you're going to be successful in your job, and that's what Kim brings to us, someone with experience who's ran a gym, ran a practice, coached in ballgames and knows our system of play.
"She's going to do a fantastic job for us going forward. We were really excited to get her. I joke with her I think I've asked her three or four times as we've had openings over the years if she'd be interested. Now her kids are a little bit older and she was interested this time. I was very excited we could get her. She'll be a great addition to our staff."
Rippy also wished Fields well after serving two seasons in that role.
"She did an outstanding job," Rippy said. "She came in with no experience and had to learn everything on the fly. We're very grateful for the job she did the last two years. It was basically a tough situation. She was a late hire and had to learn everything we did from scratch. I wish her well. Hopefully her coaching days won't be over either."
Volleyball
The volleyball program promoted ninth-grade coach Leigha Towell to varsity assistant, replacing former SSHS standout Jessica (Wade) Merrill, who is moving to Alabama.
Towell has been in the volleyball program since 2017 when she was originally hired as head eighth-grade coach. She was promoted to ninth-grade coach in 2019.
"(Towell) will bring enthusiasm, defensive knowledge and net play as a product of Northeast Arkansas' Paragould High School and a player at Crowley's Ridge College," said head volleyball coach Joellen Wright. "Leigha also brings a built on trust relationship with me and the girls, as she has coached the current high schoolers as junior high players."
Towell also assists with seventh- and eighth-grade girls basketball and will continue in that role, Williams said.
The volleyball program also hired former Fort Smith Southside standout Andee Tiffee as head ninth-grade volleyball coach. Tiffee was a standout softball player at Southside as well as volleyball.
Cross country/Track and field
The district accepted the resignation of coach Craig Cowart, who had been with the cross country program since 2015. Cowart is taking a teaching position in Springdale. Cowart also was assistant baseball coach for three seasons before moving to the track and field program in 2017.
Siloam Springs has hired former Gentry coach Daniel Ramsey to replace Cowart's position on the cross country and track and field staffs.
Ramsey was defensive coordinator for Gentry's football program for several years and also coached in the Rogers School District.
Tennis
The district has hired Clay Taylor as head tennis coach to replace Scott Wright, who resigned his coaching position but will remain in the district as a teacher.
Taylor was already employed by the district and has experience with tennis, Williams said.
Wright was tennis coach at Siloam Springs since 2011. The Siloam Springs boys team finished Class 6A state runner-up in 2015 with Igor Jacociunas as individual state champion.
Cheer
The district has hired Samantha Clark as an assistant cheer coach, Williams said. Clark is filling the place of junior high assistant Lauren Ahern.