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Coaching search hits snag as top candidate declines
School officials are back to square one in the search for a new Smoky Mountain’s men’s basketball coach after the leading candidate turned down the job.
Rosman Coach Mick Galloway tentatively accepted the position on Tuesday night, May 23, according to Superintendent Sue Nations. He went so far as to inform Rosman players of his plans.
However, he called Nations the next morning saying he had changed his mind due to family considerations.
The job is being re-advertised with a closing date of June 7. Athletic Director Mutt DeGraffenreid confirmed that is an indication the search committee was not comfortable with any of the candidates other than Galloway.
“We felt like we wanted to open it back up because our kids deserve to have the best coach we can possibly find,” DeGraffenreid said.
“I’m very disappointed,” Principal Alex Bell said of Galloway’s decision. “I was excited about him taking the job. He had a proven record. He is very energetic and enthusiastic, and has a passion for the game.”
Galloway is a graduate of Rosman High and finished college at Western Carolina in 1995.
His entire coaching career since then has been in Rosman, first as a middle school head coach and later as a high school assistant. He has been head coach of the Tigers the past six seasons, compiling a 97-61 record. Rosman played in the Western 1-A Regionals the past two years.
DeGraffenreid said he was disappointed a new coach won’t be in place by the end of school. He pledged to take care of setting up camps for the summer and being in charge of the program until a coach is hired.
When the job was previously advertised, it was for a 10-month position. Some school officials had hoped the new ad would be open-ended as to number of months in an effort to attract a better pool of applicants.
Nations said established personnel procedure requires the number of months be included in the ad. It is still listed as a 10-month position.
When asked why the same ad might attract better candidates this time, Nations replied, “Anytime you advertise, there’s a certain pool you’re going to get. Maybe this time we will get people who didn’t know what they were going to do at the end of the year.”
She added that the advertisement is being more widely circulated than it was the last time.
How many months the coach should be paid for has been a matter of debate since an April 27 school board meeting. Board member Mark Brooks proposed making the men’s and women’s basketball coaching positions 12 months, but the measure died for lack of a second. He also proposed making the men’s position 11 months, but that also did not receive a second.
It’s unclear whether keeping the position 10 months has hurt the quality of applicants.
The school is looking for a replacement for Scott Hartbarger, who resigned after nine seasons and a 74-146 record.
Also still open is the volleyball coaching job. Continuing the basketball search will not hamper the volleyball search, according to Bell.
“We are still working on that,” he said. “We want to finish sooner rather than later.”
Cindi Simmons, who served as volleyball coach from 1983-2003, will be in charge of making arrangements for camps and taking care of the program in other ways until a coach is named, according to DeGraffenreid.
“I don’t know anybody who understands more what needs to be done for volleyball than Cindi Simmons,” he said.
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