KFDM COOP Posted December 13, 2008 Report Posted December 13, 2008 Riley named interim Ganders boss By Dave Rogers Published December 13, 2008 Friday was transition day at the Robert E. Lee football fieldhouse. Longtime assistant coach Clint Riley was officially named interim head coach early in the morning and spent the afternoon watching departing coach Dick Olin pack up the keepsakes in his office. “It’s been the same as any other day,†said Riley, the only member of Olin’s original coaching staff from 1992 still remaining with the Lee football team. “We got the kids over here to lift (weights).†“And Coach Olin sits at his desk and pretends to coach,†Olin interjected, poking fun at himself. Explained Riley: “That’s pretty much the way it’s been for 17 years.†Olin, who surprised most everyone in Baytown by deciding to leave the Gander program for the head coaching job at Lewisville High School, will be at Lee through next week. Besides packing away the many plaques, photos and newspaper clippings that covered nearly every inch of his office walls, the second-winningest high school football coach in Baytown history spent much of the day answering calls from well-wishers. “We’ll do nothing different until the (permanent) head coach is announced,†Riley said, indicating the Gander football players have already begun their off-season football work as part of their in-school activity classes. “Off-season starts the first week after you lose your last game,†he said. “When we finish this cycle (of weightlifting), we start adding agility drills, then running as we get closer to spring ball.†A graduate of Blanco High School, Riley played football at Texas-El Paso, then spent one year there as a graduate assistant coach and two in the same capacity at the University of Missouri before one year as an assistant at Texas City. He agreed to join Olin’s staff at Lee even before Olin got the job. With the Ganders, he has coached the offensive line before taking over as offensive coordinator and assistant head coach. In announcing Riley’s temporary promotion, Lee High School principal Bruce Davis explained the process by which the school district will choose Olin’s permanent successor. “We’ll take applications until Jan. 9,†he said, “and we hope to interview finalists in the following weeks. We’d like to name a coach in late January and have him on board by early February.†Davis said Friday that makeup of an interview committee has not been determined, but it’s a safe bet that Davis, athletic director Tom Ed Gooden and district personnel chief Toby York will all have a say in the selection process. Riley has said he is an applicant and Olin is backing him for the permanent job.
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