STARKVILLE — Starkville High School Athletic Director Milton Smith expects the search for his school’s next football coach to pick up in the coming days.
With school being out the last couple of weeks due to the Christmas holiday, Smith said the search process hasn’t advanced much since Ricky Woods resigned in November. Smith said 15-20 people have applied for the position, but he said the interview process hasn’t started.
But with high school staff reporting back today and students returning Thursday, Smith feels a new coach will be hired soon.
“We’ll reconvene as soon as we get back in school, probably it will be one day this week, toward the end of the week or next week,” Smith said. “We’ll go over our applications and go through the applicants we’re going to interview. Hopefully we’ll have somebody in place before the end of the month.”
Smith and a five-person committee will identify the best applicants to interview. Following interviews, the committee will present its choice to superintendent Lewis Holloway.
Smith didn’t name any of the applicants because he didn’t feel it would be helpful.
“Anytime you’re hiring a head coach at this caliber it’s not going to be easy,” Smith said. “We’ve got to find the right fit for our program and for our kids. We’ve got a great program. It’s going to be a hard process but a fair process.”
Woods went 21-5 in two seasons at Starkville. He led the Yellow Jackets to the 2015 Mississippi High School Activities Association Class (MHSAA) 6A State championship. Starkville failed to make the playoffs this past season.
Woods apparently left Starkville to become football coach at Eupora, but he decided to return to South Panola, where he coached from 2002-2006 and won four MHSAA Class 5A State championships. He went 74-1 and won 60 consecutive games at South Panola.
Woods took over at Starkville in 2015 after Jamie Mitchell left the school to become football coach at North Little Rock (Ark.) High. Mitchell went 52-17 in five seasons at Starkville High.
Smith, who became the school’s athletic director in May 2015, wants to find someone who will be in the position for the long haul.
“We’re looking for a great football coach that’s going to be great for our kids, great for our community, and continue the tradition we have here at Starkville,” Smith said. “It’d be nice go find somebody that wants to be here for a while, but you can never tell. You hope it’s a situation where it’s good for them that they want to stay.”
Follow Dispatch sports writer Ben Wait on Twitter @bcwait
Ben Wait reports on Mississippi State University sports for The Dispatch.
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