Dalton High School close to naming football coach

Published 4:30 pm Wednesday, December 18, 2024

Dalton High School is expected to name a new head football coach as early as Friday while Southeast Whitfield High School and Murray County High School are still working through the process of finding their new coaches.

Coaches Kit Carpenter (Dalton), Kurt Napier (Murray County) and Todd Murray (Southeast) won’t be back next season.

Dalton High Athletic Director Ryan Richards told the Daily Citizen on Wednesday he expected to extend an offer “late this afternoon.”

Richards declined to identify the coach involved but said he expected the school board to vote on the choice Friday morning. The Board of Education has a called meeting planned for 8 a.m in the third floor conference room in City Hall.

“We hope that when we go home on Friday we’ll have a new football coach,” Richards said.

Richards said he had a spreadsheet with 60 to 70 names of applicants who were considered. Five prospects were interviewed.

At Southeast, Athletic Director Stephen Stacy said 30 applications have been collected, with plans for a selection committee to winnow that number to 12-15 before beginning interviews on Jan. 15.

Committee members include Stacy, interim school principal Denise Pendley, football booster club member Brad Ramsey and the athletic directors at “feeder schools” Valley Point and Eastbrook.

Stacy said one of the key things committee members are looking for is a commitment to remain with the program “for a number of years.”

Stacy also wants a coach who will “build relationships with every player on the team.”

Murray County Athletic Director Blake Lawson said the search to find a replacement for Napier is “in the interview process.”

Lawson said a committee including himself, MCHS Principal Andrea Morrow, boys basketball coach Keith Robinette and several community members will interview eight candidates. The list will be narrowed to three who will be interviewed a second time before a final decision is made.

Lawson hopes to have a new coach in place by mid- to late January.

“I would prefer sooner to later but definitely want to get it done by the end of January,” Lawson said.

What is he looking for in a coach?

“I want someone who can come here and build a new culture in our football program and who will be committed to building the total student-athlete,” said Lawson. “We are looking for a high-character person.”