rallykat

Just my two cents worth, and it may not be worth that much. No assistant on the current staff is qualified or ready to be the Head Coach at Oak Ridge. We need to find a proven and successful head coach.

The last I heard he was working in the Radiology Department of a hospital in South Carolina.

Much of what you say is correct. However, my point was that the hiring process was basically over when the offer was made to the Baylor coach (still can't remember his name). It is only when the OR administration (current principal) called Joe, that movement began toward his becoming the OR coach. He did make himself availabe for the interview. The Baylor coach did the same, and he was offered the job, and then turned it down. So making yourself available for an interview, is not hardly "breaking the door down" with interest. Joe may have taken the job if offered, we will never know, because it wasn't offered. My only point is that THEY CALLED HIM, not the reverse. Like I said, the current OR Principal can confirm that. The article announcing his return, and a news report from a Knoxville TV station stating the same, were obviously premature. It worked out well for Joe, because he is in a great place, and he is happy, and successful. What happened to Oak Ridge, and the football program, was not so good, and it serves the administration right, although I am sorry for the kids, and the program.

Not much.

As I said on another thread, I am a friend of Joe's, although I don't talk to him that much since he left Oak Ridge. The Oak Ridge administration called him four years ago, when their choice for the job turned them down. That is hardly what I would call "beating the door down to come back". They called him. He was not interviewed originally, and would not have been a candidiate at all, had they not called him.

I usually just read with interest, but I decided to respond to this one. Let's set the record straight. First of all, Joe was a friend of mine when he was here, and I still talk to him occasionally. Four years ago, when the head coaching position was offered to the Baylor coach ( I can't remember his name), the coach turned it down. At that point, the Oak Ridge administration called Joe up for an interview. Joe had not been part of the initial interviews. THEY CALLED HIM. If you don't believe that, then refer your questions to the current OR Principal, since he is the one who called him. Now that doesn't hardly sound like he was "nearly breaking the door down with interest in coming back"! I haven't spoken with Joe since his season ended, but I do know that he is happy in Henry County, and I can't imagine why he would want to leave. He has turned that program around, he has great support from the community, he has a great coaching staff, and a great administration.