College coaches among candidates for Eagles' football opening

By CAROL STUART
Brentwood Home Page
More than 70 people have applied for the Brentwood Academy head football position, including college and assistant coaches, according to Head of School Curt Masters.

The private Christian school, which has won 10 state football championships, doesn’t have a specific timetable to fill the vacancy although it would be made well in time for spring practice, Masters said. He said the decision should be made "sooner rather than later."

“We've actually had folks who are head coaches in college and assistant coaches in college, and head coaches in high schools, former players, former college-level players who’ve been coaching, folks who have coached in private schools and public schools, folks who’ve been ADs and folks who’ve been coaches and not interested in the AD role, so lots of variations on it,” Masters said in an interview last Thursday.

“And from California to Florida to Carolinas to Ohio and Indiana, just all over the place really. Both sending us applications and sending us names of folks that they think would be a phenomenal addition to the program here.”

The process has been a completely different one since Masters hired the school’s most recent head football coach, Ralph Potter, five years ago. Potter resigned last month to return to the McCallie School in Chattanooga, where he was previously head coach (2001 state title), an assistant coach and also a student -- playing quarterback during his dad’s long coaching tenure.

Potter replaced legendary coach Carlton Flatt, who started the BA program and came out of retirement to also win the Eagles’ most recent state title (2006 against McCallie and Potter) – and its only one since the financial-aid Division II was created.

“Last time we were working quietly through the process before we announced that Coach Flatt was retiring, because 1) Coach Flatt wanted to tell his team beforehand and 2) we didn't want to have a protracted search going on after the announcement just for practical purposes,” Masters said. “So we just developed our short list, and tried to go about that quietly.”

In that coaching search, Masters said Brentwood Academy was “fortunate to find Ralph Potter, who is a guy who loved the mission of the school and threw himself into that five years, and brought his family with him who were great additions to the community as well.”

Curt Masters

It also makes the situation less urgent since there’s no deadline to choose a replacement at the same time as the departing coach’s announcement as in the case of Flatt’s second retirement. The only other head football coach in Brentwood Academy history besides Potter and Flatt (354 wins in 1970-98, 2002-06) was Tom Moore, who moved up from the BA coaching staff in 1999 and is now teaching at Memphis Christian Brothers.

“It's been a great process,” Masters said. “We’ve gotten a lot of great applicants from around the country and from locally as well. I’ve interviewed a good number of local folks and have had some conversations with folks from out of town as well. We continue to work on narrowing the list.

“I think we’ve had a little over 70 applications right now for the position. We’re just really grateful that so many strong candidates are interested in being a part of the mission at Brentwood Academy, and it’s exciting to talk with folks who are doing things well where they are and have ideas about how they can use their talents and experience to help with what we’re aiming for as well.”

Masters, who has been head of school at BA for 12 years now, said he will make the decision since he is charged by the board of directors to conduct all hiring and firing at the school. Right now he is narrowing the list with input from various people “who have a wide array of perspectives and wisdom,” and Masters also gave interviews to any local candidates with BA connections.

Coach has to be 'BA guy,' but not necessarily alum 

The BA headmaster, however, said it isn’t a prerequisite for the football coach to be an alumnus of the school nor is he being pressured to hire an alum. He also noted the other previous football coaches hadn’t been BA graduates.

“Without narrowing it to any particular group, we have had alumni who are in the applicant group for sure and some really qualified folks,” Masters said. “I don’t want to get into specifics . . .  but yeah, we have had some great alumni and some conversations with those folks as well as with others.

“. . . I think one of the strengths of BA has been the number of alumni who really believe in the mission and have come back and have gotten involved either at the teaching and coaching level, or at the parent level where they’re bringing their kids back. And so that’s a huge positive thing. I really don’t take that for granted.”

Kent Austin	Jeff Brothers

While Masters didn’t divulge any names of candidates, among the BA graduates whose names have been mentioned as possible candidates are current Nashville Christian coach Jeff Brothers, a former Vanderbilt defensive back and Pope John Paul II head coach, and Cornell University coach Kent Austin, a former Ole Miss quarterback and offensive coordinator.

Masters did say anyone hired needs to be on board with the school’s mission as a Christian school –and someone who is a “BA guy.”

“I think the pressure is both from us on the administrative team and from the broader community; we want somebody who is a BA person, and what I've tried to do is really be clear about what it means to be a BA guy,” Masters said.

“A BA guy is somebody who loves the mission of Brentwood Academy and is willing to invest himself, whether it’s his family or his resources or his own time and career in making that vision and mission come to life. And that means the current families that have just joined, those are BA guys. The kids who graduated last year are BA guys. The faculty who just joined us and started coaching last year, those are BA guys. I've been here 12 years, that's twice as long as somebody who came in seventh grade and stayed to graduate, but am I a BA guy? My answer would be ‘Yes, I’m a BA guy.’ ”

Masters said he didn’t grow up here nor did he know anyone when he came to BA and he is “really grateful for how people opened up the circle and let me in.”

He also said the person hired must be someone “who really believes in that idea of encouraging kids and developing their characters through the pressures of athletics and building a sense of community and pride in doing your best and using your talent for God’s glory and not just for selfish purposes.”

Potter also served as athletic director, and Masters said whether to keep the jobs together or hire two separate people will depend on candidates emerging from the process.

In addition to winning the 2006 state crown in II-AAA, Brentwood Academy also captured TSSAA championships in 1995 and ’96 in Class 5A; 1980, ’81, ’82, ’87, ’98 and ’91 in Class AA; and 1974 in Class A. The Eagles were also runner-up 14 times: 2007 and ’08 (under Potter) and 1998 and 2000 in DII-AA; 2001, ’02, ’03 and ’04 in DII-AAA; and in 1976, ’78, ’86, ’89, ’92 and ’93  in Class AA.

 'I don't feel any pressure about how many balls are in the trophy case'

Carlton Flatt

While Brentwood Academy hasn’t earned a state football championship under any coach but Flatt, the new Ensworth High School near the Davidson-Williamson county line has won the past two DII-AA state titles.

“I wouldn't perceive it as particular pressure other than the fact that in our Division II, there's a tremendously high level of competition and that challenges each school to continue to work hard to compete at the highest level,” Masters said. “So I think it's healthy that schools have strong competition and there are different cycles where schools have success and various areas.”

Masters also said the measure of success in a program isn’t just in wins or losses, since players and coaches cannot control how well the other team does or how well they’re equipped.

“What you can control is how you respond to the opportunities you have,” the BA head of school said. “Athletics is a great laboratory about how you handle your opportunities, your talents, the pressures you’re exposed to, the disappointments you have, the frustrations, how you rise to the occasion when you are facing an opponent that’s strong and tests you well.

“. . . How are people growing into the kind of adults you want and the kind of parents they should be and the folks that 20 years from now will look back and say that helped shape my character and helped me grow into the person I was? So I don't feel any pressure about how many balls are in the trophy case.”

He says there are ups and downs in every sport especially in Division II, so he doesn’t feel pressure about a school succeeding in a specific sport. Masters also said perception is also very individual for each student in whether there was success in their particular activity.

“I really want to make sure that we're doing the best job we can with the kids that we have each year and make sure the coaches who care about them and who are really equipped to help them make good use of their talents and to draw support from the community as well as within the school,” Masters said.

Masters called it “a great blessing” to see how many people wanted to be a part of Brentwood Academy. He said he didn’t think long-range plans for a major football facility facelift would greatly increase a candidate’s interest in the school, but rather the “mission and vision of the program.”

He also didn’t think Potter’s comments about negativity expressed toward his family would affect any potential applicants. Masters said people should understand the emotional moment of the off-the-cuff remarks made when Potter’s departure became public on the Internet and via social media during the private BA fall sports banquet  

“Folks accept the fact that you make comments in confidence in a meeting with a group of parents and express your heart, and part of the picture – the long years of service and the time spent encouraging kids -- isn’t washed away by that,” Masters said. “[It] certainly hasn’t left anything but appreciation for the role he’s played here.”