Tanner Withrow, No. 22, makes one of his many plays for the Raptors against Page, one of the three games Ravenwood won in 2010. Photo courtesy of Dale Cash.

AD hopes to announce new soccer coach within days
By SUSAN LEATHERS
Brentwood Home Page
Over 100 people want to be Ravenwood High School’s next head football coach. Of those, six are still in the running, RHS athletic director Patrick Whitlock said Tuesday.

“We’ve received over 100 applications from 20 different states which was kind of overwhelming,” he said. The candidate pool includes head coaches, assistant head coaches, and even a few assistant coaches on the college level.

Second-year head coach Tom Shuman stepped down at the end of the season but remains on the Ravenwood staff as a teacher. The Raptors went 3-7 (1-4 in District 11-AAA play) in the 2010 season.

Whitlock said a final round of interviews remains for three or four of the finalists. In addition to Whitlock, members of the school administration are taking part in the hiring process. Because the Tennessee Secondary Schools Athletic Association requires all high school football, basketball, baseball and softball coaches to have both a valid Tennessee teaching license and be full-time educator, each finalist will also meet with the department head of his teaching area.

“We’re looking for the best education and coach combination,” Whitlock said.

Ravenwood’s head baseball coach Chad Kirby was recently named athletic director of the new Summit High School in Spring Hill which opens in August. Kirby will finish the year at Ravenwood, but his departure will open a spot in the physical education department. Whitlock said other RHS teachers may move to Summit which would result in other positions becoming open.

While there is no deadline for a decision, Whitlock – who coaches the Raptors’ boys basketball team – said he hopes the new coach will be named within the next several weeks.

More pressing, Ravenwood needs a new soccer coach before the boys’ spring season begins next month. Former boys and girls soccer coach Clay Watson resigned in November after the Lady Raptors went to the state tournament. He said he planned to join his family’s printing business in Nashville.

Whitlock said he is “very close” on that hire.

“We’ve made a decision,” he said, but several administrative matters must be completed before he can make an official announcement.

A search for a new baseball coach will be next for Whitlock and the RHS administration. Kirby has been the Raptors’ head baseball coach since 2008.  He also was an assistant football coach and served as the defensive coordinator in 2005 and 2006 when the Raptors won the 5A State Championship in 2005 and played in the championship game the following year.