Board members could vote on the issue as early as Tuesday, which is when they are scheduled to have their next meeting.
Scott High School football coach Shane Griffith brought the issue to their attention last month.
Under Boone County Schools’ current system, vice principals — Doug Cox at Scott High School, Todd Barnette at Sherman High School and Eddie Hendricks at Van High School presently man those positions — are responsible for athletic director duties.
Griffith said hiring full-time athletic directors not only would help the vice principals but also would benefit the high schools, athletic departments and students they serve.
“When that practice was put into place, the vice principal’s duties were not as demanding and time-consuming as they are nowadays,” Griffith said. “The vice principal has to wear so many hats on a daily basis.
“Oftentimes, the athletic director’s hat must take a backseat to the vice principal’s hat and understandably so. The curriculum, the school, the students, the discipline … those are significant areas they must deal with first and foremost.
“The athletic director’s duties nowadays require an individual who has time allotted for those duties.”
Griffith, who received his master’s degree in athletic administration last month, started researching the issue, looking at what athletic directors’ responsibilities, stipends and schedules are in other counties.
He learned that other counties have hired coaches or other employees as athletic directors, paying them a stipend to compensate them for the additional duties.
“Some schools give their athletic directors $450 for each varsity sport they offer,” Griffith said.
He also learned that, incidentally or not, athletic directors often are their schools’ most successful coaches — take Wayne High School football coach Tommy Harmon or Logan High School baseball coach Roger Gertz, for example.
Griffith said Boone County needs to make a change in an effort “to keep up with the Joneses.”
“We are behind the times,” he said.
Griffith said he expects some people to oppose the measure because they don’t consider an athletic director a necessity.
He strongly disagrees with that notion, however.
“Just look at everything an athletic director has to do,” Griffith said.
He offered a role-by-role breakdown of an athletic director’s duties, which he believes often are overlooked under the current format.
N Compliance and eligibility
“There are so many rules and guidelines within the (West Virginia Secondary School Activities Commission) that determine what the compliance and eligibility of a student-athlete is,” Griffith said. “It is no longer a 2.0 grade point average and that is all you have to focus on.
“High school athletic directors also have to be aware of the compliance and eligibility issues for student-athletes who are going to the next level (college), making sure their test scores, their curriculum and their credits afford them an opportunity. That is significant.”
N Facilities and grounds
“Most colleges — even small colleges — now hire three or four people — associate athletic directors and other employees under them — who have a full-time daily job that revolves around facilities and grounds,” Griffith said.
“Facilities and grounds have become a huge issue. It is an issue that, in my opinion, requires daily attention on the maintenance and upkeep. That includes exploring the possibilities of renovating, restructuring and renewing the facilities and grounds.”
N Marketing and promotions
“My last point leads me to my next point,” Griffith said. “It is impossible to accomplish the wants and needs of the facilities and grounds without properly marketing and promoting each team and the entire department.
“That is a job that becomes busy. It is all too often hit-and-miss contacts that give you opportunities to advance and move forward.”
N Sports information director (also known as a media relations director)
“Once again, my last point leads me to my next point,” Griffith said. “You can’t market and promote your program and your department without the media and a well-established relationship with the media that affords your school an opportunity to be heard.
“With a school our size and what our athletic department is involved in and the success we have had, I would think there is almost an opportunity for daily interaction with the media (either local or state).”
N Game management
“The final aspect is what most people think of when they think of an athletic director,” Griffith said of filling schedules, booking officials and selling tickets, among other duties.
“My concern is not that someone is not doing his job, but that there is not enough time afforded for the first four areas I mentioned. Clearly, we are always going to make sure the fifth area is covered.
“My concern is, what are we missing out on in those four untapped areas and how much easier and more significant could the fifth area become if those four areas are given more attention?”
Griffith said he also expects some people to question whether hiring full-time athletic directors for the schools is an example of putting athletics ahead of academics.
He said it isn’t. Instead, he looks at it as an effort to bridge the gap between the two.
“Athletics is an extension of academics,” Griffith said. “I think the valedictorians (six), the Governor’s Honor Academy representatives (six) and the Mountain State Boys Academy representatives (seven) our program has produced supports that statement.”
Griffith admits he wants to become the athletic director at Scott High School if board members vote in favor of the measure.
However, he said that isn’t the only reason he is pushing the proposal.
“With the favor and support of the community and without the favor and support of the community, I have made decisions that I feel convicted are in the best interest of Scott High School’s football team,” Griffith said. “Many of those early changes and decisions have been forgotten in recent years because of the wins, but they still exist.
“I will pursue this (issue) with the same conviction and determination that I pursued those (issues). I think it is a necessary position for the schools. I think it is a position that catches us up to the times.
“For me to be the one pushing this opportunity right now, it would be easy for someone to say, ‘Well, how nice. He is going to make more money and have a bigger title.’ I don’t know anyone, regardless of their career choice, who doesn’t pursue both of those.
“But I think my record - not wins and losses, but my character and what I have accomplished and how I have worked to do it - speaks to the notion that there is more of an inner desire here to accomplish within the athletic director position what I have accomplished within the football coach position.”
Griffith was named the Coal Valley News’ Coach of the Year after he led the Skyhawks to the third round of the state playoffs for the first time in school history in the fall.
He has a 55-33 record in eight seasons at his alma mater, which had only two playoff appearances before he came but now has seven, including five in a row.
There is a chance Griffith might not roam the Skyhawks’ sideline next season.
If this proposal passes and he becomes Scott’s athletic director, he will remain the Skyhawks’ football coach.
However, if it doesn’t, he will consider — and could accept — one of the offers he has received from larger high schools and small colleges. Some of the opportunities are athletic department positions. Some are football program positions. Some are both.
Griffith said he isn’t issuing “a threat or an ultimatum.”
“But at any point in time,” he said, “I am going to look at all of the options available.
“I have told my players — and I have been very up front with them and met with them on two occasions until this point — that this is choice one and it will remain choice one unless it doesn’t present the opportunities that I am after.
“I always wanted to be the football coach at Scott High School first, but there has always been the ambition of being a college coach. I have always wanted to be the athletic director at Scott High School first, but there has always been the ambition of moving on to the next level (in that role) as well.
“I guess we will have to wait and see if the timeline prevents or affords me the steppingstones I would like to take.”
Contact Jacob Messer at HYPERLINK "mailto:jacobmesser@coalvalleynews.com" jacobmesser@coalvalleynews.com and 369-1165 or 785-8951.
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