Rodney Webb took a leap of faith when he left Rockwall to become the football coach at Denton Guyer in late March.
Webb had never been inside any of the facilities at Guyer, so he wasn’t sure what he would have to work with. He never met in person with any members of Guyer’s search committee, which can be unsettling for a coach who is a self-described “people person.”
Webb’s entire interview process consisted of a conversation with Denton ISD athletic director Joey Florence and an hourlong Zoom teleconference session with Florence, Guyer’s principal and the district’s human resources department. With schools closed to in-person learning for the remainder of the school year because of the coronavirus pandemic, that was all it took for Webb to fill perhaps the most high-profile coaching opening in Texas this offseason.
“It’s always a little bit more awkward when you don’t have that interpersonal communication,” Webb said. “Even though you can hear each other and see each other, there is nothing like being in a room together.
“The superintendent has been given the authority during this crisis to do hiring without the approval of the school board. It was never a situation where I had to go attend a school board meeting or virtual school board meeting.”
Florence said that is just the case in certain situations.
Dallas-area school districts have had to change their interview and hiring procedures since candidates and members of search committees are quarantined. They also have fewer candidates to interview.
“Not as many coaches are looking to change jobs right now,” Frisco ISD athletic director David Kuykendall said.
Denton ISD (Guyer football), Mansfield ISD (Lake Ridge volleyball) and Prosper ISD (Prosper boys/girls swimming) have each had one high school varsity head coaching job open up since March 13. Keller ISD recently filled the two openings it has had since schools were closed, hiring Denton Guyer defensive coordinator Derek Ramsey as Fossil Ridge’s head football coach and campus athletic coordinator and hiring South Grand Prairie assistant coach Zach Weir to be the boys basketball head coach at Keller.
“I interviewed for the [Flower Mound] Marcus job several years back. It is way different,” Ramsey said. “You can’t get a feel for peoples’ body language, reactions. You can’t work a room. There is really no presentation that you give. It’s just question and answer.”
DeSoto ISD asked its community to answer an online survey to help with its search for a successor to longtime boys basketball coach Chris Dyer, who is retiring after winning three state championships at DeSoto. The school district collected more than 400 responses and “incorporated that feedback into its review of submitted applications.”
Former DeSoto assistant coach Steven Pinchback had been one of two finalists for the DeSoto job, a source said, and he received a great deal of support from the community and former DeSoto athletes. But after DeSoto ISD didn’t name its new coach at Monday night’s school board meeting — saying that it now plans to wait until May 11 to do so — Pinchback withdrew his name from consideration and will remain the head coach at San Marcos High School.
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Dallas ISD and Frisco ISD have a combined 32 high schools competing in UIL athletics, but they have combined for just 21 varsity head coaching openings since March 13. Each district has filled four jobs.
Ramsey is keeping all of the Fossil Ridge assistant coaches on his staff, at least for now. He doesn’t want to put anyone out of a job during these uncertain times.
“I told them I wanted them to have job security, and I want the kids to be in a comfortable situation. We’ll deal with that later on,” Ramsey said. “For the kids, for the coaches’ families, for everybody, sometimes there are more important things that need to take place.”
Ramsey’s interview process consisted of two Zoom meetings. He has never been inside the facilities at Fossil Ridge.
“To me, it’s more about the kids that are in that building than it is the actual building,” said Ramsey, who was hired at Fossil Ridge nearly two months after Tony Baccarini retired. “It’s nice to have good facilities, but it’s not a must. It’s all about the people that work inside those buildings. I got to know several of them, and I felt comfortable with that.”
Frisco ISD and Mansfield ISD are also conducting interviews via Zoom, Prosper ISD meets with candidates on Google Hangouts, and Dallas ISD uses Zoom and/or Skype. Prosper ISD athletic director Valerie Little said districts are spending more time calling references since they can’t meet candidates in-person.
“One of the challenges when hiring a new coach via Zoom or Skype is we cannot get a clear perspective of what the candidate is really like in person and how he/she handles themselves in front of administrators, parents and kids,” Dallas ISD athletic director Silvia Salinas said. “Are they personable? Are they comfortable at our campus/in our district? Are they the ‘best’ coach for our kids?”
When Webb interviewed for the Rockwall job in 2013, he met with the athletic director, high school principal and the superintendent in a hotel lobby. Despite that personal touch missing this time, Webb left a 12-3 Rockwall team that was coming off an appearance in the Class 6A Division I state semifinals to take over a Guyer team that was 14-2 and the 6A Division II state runner-up.
“I’ve got a deep, healthy respect for the athletic achievements in Denton ISD, the commitment to athletic programs and all extracurricular programs in Denton, specifically at Guyer,” Webb said. “That’s a campus where they tend to be good at everything.”
Keller ISD athletic director Eric Persyn said a recommendation for a new coach is made by the hiring committee, athletic director and principal, with final approval coming from the superintendent. Frisco ISD generally has search committees only for the campus athletic coordinator (head football coach) position, and in the cases of other school athletic staff, the principal usually has final say, with input from the campus athletic coordinator and district athletic director.
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