Springfield hopes to hire football coach this week

School board could receive recommendation Thursday.

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By Michael Cooper, Staff Writer 10:59 PM Saturday, February 4, 2012

SPRINGFIELD — Springfield High School Superintendent David C. Estrop said the school is hoping to have a recommendation for its next football coach at the school board meeting on Thursday.

“Our goal is to present the successful candidate to the board of education at our next meeting,” Estrop said last week.

On Friday, Estrop said he received two final candidates from the search committee. Those finalists will receive a final interview with Estrop, who couldn’t release the names, and members of his cabinet on Monday.

The position opened on Nov. 28 when former coach Adam Taylor announced he wouldn’t seek re-employment after five months as head coach. He took over for Rick Robertson, who resigned in April 2011 to take the vacant position at Oakwood.

After a monthlong application period, the district received 34 applicants for its coaching position.

Of the four Greater Western Ohio Conference football openings which surfaced after the 2011 season, Springfield remains the only vacant position.

Troy hired assistant coach Scot Brewer, West Carrollton hired Fairmont offensive coordinator Chris Newman and Miamisburg hired former Edgewood coach Steve Channell on Thursday.

Channell was also an applicant for Springfield’s open position.

After a lengthy interview process, Taylor, an assistant coach in 2009, was hired on June 23, just five weeks before the season began.

Compensation has hampered the district when it comes to hiring a football coach. In their previous search last spring, former South and North coach Jim Dimitroff, a teacher and assistant coach at Upper Arlington, withdrew his name from consideration because it would require him to take a large reduction in pay.

“We don’t pay the highest salary by any stretch of the imagination,” Estrop said.

According to public records obtained by the Springfield News-Sun, Taylor was one of the lowest-paid coaches in the GWOC Central Division last season.

Hamilton and Middletown, school districts similar to Springfield according to the Ohio Department of Education, paid their coaches an average of $30,000 more last season, including teaching contracts based on longevity and supplemental contracts for coaching football and monitoring the weight room.

Estrop said the salary may not be the highest, but they are in a position to hire and aren’t facing layoffs. He said they’re at an advantage because they can offer a teaching position to go with their football coaching position, unlike other school districts who aren’t able to do so financially.

“Unlike many school districts across the state, because of the nature of our salary structure and benefits structure, we’re not laying off people,” Estrop said. “We’ve haven’t had to go through some of the layoffs many other school districts have faced.”

Veteran teachers who are hired into the Springfield City Schools district are limited to a starting salary with 10 years of experience, even if they’ve taught for longer, according to the Springfield Education Association collective bargaining agreement — meaning a coach would likely have to take a pay cut depending on their service.

At the community forum held by the school district on Dec. 5, hiring a coach with 10 years of experience at the Division I varsity level was one of eight traits the community hoped to find in the next coach.

Estrop said the length of the searching process has had a positive impact in finding the best person for the job.

“You want to look at these candidates very carefully,” Estrop said. “You want to be totally knowledgeable of the candidates, and that takes time. It requires interviewing them, talking to references. You want to make sure you’re making the best decision that you can make with all the facts that you have available.

“To do it, and do it well, you have to make sure you do it very carefully.”

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