Dark Man

Watergate? Is someone bugging the coach's telephone?

Wild did not coach girls at Moore County. He did coach the boys to a state title.

Does anyone know if Hutto wants the job? Is he set up to have an interview next week?

Did these "inside" people know who any of the other candidates are that are going to interview for the position? Is there a second choice if Hutto doesn't want it? When is Hutto going to decide if he hasn't made up his mind by now? What is the hold up?

Shockley coached at Warren County too. He has coached boys and girls at several places.

As far as I know Shockley has always moved on of his own accord. As I said earlier, I have said all I am going to say about Mr. Thompson. The Luke that was mentioned is Luke Dycus. He is from White County where he was the boys freshmen coach for a while before becoming an assistant for Coach Bond at WC for 3 years before taking a head coaching job in Georgia. I believe he is back in White County now.

I have heard of him as well. I didn't know he was ever at WC. Where is he right now? He is a good coach, but if you're looking for stability I don't know if he would be your guy. He moves pretty quickly usually, but maybe he is looking for somewhere to stay for a while.

Who would be the guy that coached at Warren County and WC? I can't think of anybody that coached basketball at both places. I know you said you didn't know, but maybe somebody else does.

I don't believe bringing out information about a potential candidate's record is character assassination. Doesn't character count when hiring someone that is going to be leading young people? As for not being able to outcoach the guy, who knows. I have never seen any record for him as a head coach. Maybe on a separate thread on the boys board you can list all of the places where he has coached and his record at any school where he was a head coach, including the current school where he is coaching. I will stand by what I have posted previously with regards to the person in question and let it go at that. If others want to debate it further, so be it. No one said anything about wrongdoing in the press, but simply questioned the the judgement of campaigning to get the position in the newspaper. It may turn out to be a great move, but we'll find out soon enough.

This is absolutely incorrect. The coach that was at Cheatham County at the time was Tim Ray,who is now the AD and an assistant principal at Sycamore, and I can assure you that Coach Ray was in no way jealous of Coach Thompson or threatened by his presence. Coach Ray was not "canned" at Cheatham County, he got out on his own. He was replaced by Al Cooper who is now at Clarksville Northeast not Clarksville. Ted Young, former Vandy player and Clarksville graduate, is at Clarksville High School. I believe you are at least correct about Cooper being let go at Cheatham County. I highly doubt that Coach Thompson was ever offered the head job at Cheatham County based on my knowledge of the situation there. I know he showed up at Coffee County not long after that as an assistant, but I believe he was gone after a year there as well. It was a real teaching certificate that he used, but it was not issued to the Steve Thompson being discussed on this thread, but someone else of the same name. How he got access to this I don't know, but that is the story as I know it. I would prefer to leave Mr. Thompson out of this if, as a couple of posters of said, he is not interested in the LHS girls basketball position. The thread is not about Mr. Thompson and it would be better to get the focus off of him and back onto legitimate candidates for the Devilette basketball coaching position.

No innuendo about teaching under a false certificate or that he has bounced around from one school to the next for years and not always left by his own choice. I know positively that he was not asked to return to Cheatham County after serving there as an assistant coach some years back. He is a great talker and would be a very effective used cars salesman, but I don't believe you will ever see him coaching basketball in Wilson County. He may have changed over the years, but his past must be taken into consideration. Does anyone know if Butch Agee has applied for the job?

"Why has someone else not come out and said they know the task and would like to have the job. What does that say about the job?" I don't think it says anything about the job. Most of the time when jobs open those applying do not go and speak to the local press about it. I would think that anyone that is applying for the job knows what the current situation is and is willing to take it on. I know all kinds of coaches that have sought head coaching jobs and gotten them without ever having gone public about it during the process. Just ask yourself this question: How many times have I seen someone that is trying to get a high school coaching position go out and elaborate on it in a newspaper? Did Bud Brandon or Chris Fryer do that to get their positions? Did any of the head coaches in Murfreesboro have articles in the Daily News Journal when they were pursuing their current positions? It is just not the normal procedure to openly campaign for a job in the newspaper, but it may work for Coach Rickman. If it does more power to him, but my belief is that it damaged his chances of getting the job.

Never said he was or wasn't qualified. I don't see a whole lot of a record to go on however. He may end up being the next John Wooden, but there just isn't a whole lot to suggest it from what I have seen and heard about him from some folks around the WC program. Now to the self-promotion aspect of this. Saying you are interested in the job could have been done in a sentence or two, but the article in the Democrat went way beyond that to the point of campaigning for the job in the newspaper. That may be fine with you, but I know that there were quite a few people that thought it was ill-advised and showed a lack of discretion on his part. Maybe it will land him the job, but I believe it hurt his chances of being taken seriously for the job.

Put me in the hunt. I need it because I need an outlet to express my thoughts so that I don't drive my wife crazy. Dark Man become Divorced Man if not. Please if you have any regard for the institution of marriage make me one of the recipients of a free subscription.

PHargis what are you talking about? LHS has not been down that long. Prior to the past 3 years they were competitive in 7-AAA for at least 4 consecutive seasons when it was a stronger league from top to bottom than it was the past couple of years. It will take some patience and someone to change the mentality, along with the normal qualities one expects from a good coach such as being solid in teaching fundamentals, game planning, game strategy, and the public relations aspect of the job, which I think was more than anything else why the change was made. I think you are making this out to be way more than it is, but that is just my opinion. As for Rickman being the only one to make a committment to the job, I don't think campainging in the newspaper has much to do with committment. I'm sure there are others that are involved that are just as committed to it as Rickman, but they just are choosing to be a bit more subtle in their pursuit of the job. My guess is that most coaches just don't think it is appropriate to handle the process in such a public manner and I also would bet that those doing the hiring probably don't appreciate it either.

What is he doing now? I know he was at Walter J. Baird a few years back, but lost track of him.

Since Mr. Thompson apparently isn't interested in the LHS girls job let's forget about him and stay on the topic for this thread before it gets shut down. Hutto is a legitimate topic until it is confirmed that he is not interested in the job. If he is interested he would surely be a front-runner for the job, which is why I asked about him.

What does being interested in what Hutto is doing have to do with Thompson. I don't hate Thompson, but I do know that he has bounced from one place to another like a rubber ball. I didn't realize he was in MS. The last I heard he was in KY, but who knows because he moves so often. Since you seem to know so much about him why don't you list where all he has been and what his accomplishments were along the way? But if he isn't interested in the job why not just forget about him and concentrate on the people that are interested in the job?

He was there about 6 or 7 years and was a very good pricipal. Oakland would be getting a good administrator if he were hired. However, this thread is about the LHS girls basketball job so lets go back to that topic.

My understanding is that interviews will begin when Spring break ends, which means March 27th. Has there been any kind of a list of applicants published in either the Democrat or the Wilson Post? What is the latest on the Hutto watch?

I don't know if this is a job well suited to a young coach. This is going to be a job that requires patience and that is not always an area that is strong among young coaches. It will require someone knowing what they want to do and knowing how to get there, while being able to control their emotions when there are trials and frustrations that will no doubt come along the way. This is not to say that there are not any young coaches that have these qualities, but they are rarer in younger coaches that are in a hurry to prove themselves.

Why would he harbor ill-will towards LHS? Isn't this the same guy that once got caught using a fake teachers certificate? You can't seriously believe that he would ever be hired again in Wilson County. What success has he ever had other being hired and run out of about 15 different school systems? He is truly a legend in his own mind.

Is he not the AD that chose the previous coach? I think Mr. Hassler will be more involved in the decision than just rubber stamping Mr. Benson's choice. Hassler has a coaching background himself and I would think he will be pretty involved in the selection process.

Hallums wasn't doing so bad when she got out. LHS had at least 4 consecutive winning seasons going and had been pretty competitive in 7-AAA during that period. The season before she got the job they were winless and it took sometime for the program to be built back up to respectability and Hallums did that.

I read the article, but I don't remember reading that there were 16 applicants. Maybe I just missed that part. By the way, why do you think they would consult Hutto?