CHRISTOPHER DABE
Published 12:00 am, Thursday, January 22, 2009
Eight head high school football coaches are among the 35 applicants for the vacant boys athletic director/head football coaching job at Port Neches-Groves, according to a list released Thursday by the PN-G ISD.
The district released the list after the Texas Attorney General’s office ruled that the Texas Public Information Act required it to do so. The district had asked the Attorney General for a ruling on if the law required it to release the names.
The final day for the first round of interviews for the job is today, according to a timetable released by the district.
A second round of interviews runs from Jan. 30 to Feb. 3. The board will vote on a finalist Feb. 10. The new coach/athletic director’s first day is March 2, according to the schedule.
Kelly head coach and athletic director Mike Long, a former PN-G assistant, is among the applicants. Long did not return a phone message Thursday.
Another head coach to apply is Calallen’s Philip Danaher, whose 396 coaching victories are the third most in Texas high school history, according to texasfootball.com. Danaher coached at Hamshire-Fannett before he went to Calallen in 1984.
Liberty Hill coach Jerry Vance is another applicant. Liberty Hill won two Class 3A state titles under Vance, in 2006 and 2007.
Other head coaches to apply for the position are Darrell Andrus (Flour Bluff), Robert Howell (Zachary), Robert Jones (Aldine), Kristopher Micheaux (Gonzales) and J. Mike Rabe (Ganado).
The hired coach will replace Matt Burnett, who coached at PN-G for 22 seasons, the last 15 as the head coach. The district reassigned Burnett to outdoor athletic complex coordinator and student attendance officer on Nov. 25.
Former Nederland quarterback and Kelly assistant Kevin Barbay, now the quarterbacks and wide receivers coach at Texas A&M-Commerce, also applied. Barbay’s wife is from Port Neches, according to the A&M-Commerce athletics Web site.
West Brook graduate Chuck Langston also applied. He got fired as head coach at Central Oklahoma after the school admitted breaking various NCAA rules during his five-year tenure there. Langston, a former University of Oklahoma center, is the special teams coordinator at Groveton High School, the list said.
The PN-G ISD released the list of applicants after The Enterprise asked for an expedited ruling from the Attorney General’s office. The district asked for a ruling Jan. 16, but the AG’s office has as many as 45 days in which to make a ruling.
The Enterprise is one of five news outlets to request a list. The others were KFDM Channel 6, KBTV Channel 4, The Examiner Newspaper and the Port Arthur News. Collin Cobb of Chambers, Templeton, Cashiola and Thomas law firm also requested the list.
Source: http://www.beaumontenterprise.com/sports/hs/article/Eight-head-coaches-among-35-PN-G-football-702643.php
