KFDM COOP Posted February 16, 2006 Report Posted February 16, 2006 www.panews.com PAISD set to name new coach Ronnie Thompson and Marvin Sedberry, former head coaches in Port Arthur and Beaumont, respectively, continued to appear the top two candidates for the job of Memorial High head football coach and athletic director Wednesday, a day before the Port Arthur school board was expected to make the hire. School trustees called a special meeting for 5 p.m. at the Stilwell Center, 4801 Ninth Ave. to consider staffing guidelines, hiring a loss consultant and naming a new high school principal, among other things. No. 5 on a six-item list is "consider, and, if appropriate, accept recommendation from interim superintendent for hiring of head football coach/athletic director." Three of the five finalists for the coach-AD job -- interim AD Michael "Shane" Sinegal, Diboll coach Finis Vanover and Pflugerville Connally assistant Doug Wood -- said Wednesday night they had not been contacted by representatives of interim superintendent Jim Weeks to begin discussing a contract. That is a fairly standard procedure once a final candidate for the job has been selected. Although the school board members must approve the recommended job candidate, most districts won't take a vote until they're sure they can reach contract terms with their selection. Thompson wouldn't answer directly when asked if he'd been told he was the pick of a selection committee that included interim Memorial principal Raymond Polk, district personnel chief Jimmy Wyble and Larry Redmond, who was temporary superintendent before Weeks was hired Monday. "If I said anything to you right now, it would be premature and incidental," said Thompson, who coached Thomas Jefferson to the 1980 state championship game and owns an 83-72-3 record in 16 years as a high school head coach. "The board has not met and they have not made a decision. The truth of it is I don't know how it's going to come out." Sedberry, the current Bryan High head coach, was 30-13 in four years at Beaumont Central from 1988 to 1991 and his teams posted an overall record of 134-89-2 for 20 seasons. He could not be reached for comment Wednesday night. Sinegal, the Memorial High ninth-grade coach the past four years who was named interim AD after Dean Colbert's Jan. 6 resignation, said he has met with Weeks since he was hired by the board members Monday night. "It was an informal interview, I guess you'd call it," Sinegal said. "He just said he wanted to meet me. He met everybody, I'm sure. "I told Dr. Weeks I'm going to be here regardless of what happens." Then-superintendent Willis Mackey asked for and received Colbert's resignation after a hurricane-interrupted 2-5 2005 football season gave the coach a four-year record of 22-18 that included two playoff appearances and just one losing season. Mackey posted the job Jan. 18. Then he resigned under pressure Feb. 2 and Redmond was named temporary superintendent that night. The next day Redmond instructed Wyble and Polk to sort through applications and choose five finalists, which were announced Feb. 5. Four of them interviewed with Polk, Wyble and Redmond Feb. 7 and Vanover sat down with the school officials Feb. 8. Later that day, it was revealed that Texas Education Agency conservator Stephanie Cravens had informed Redmond he lacked the authority to make hiring recommendations. Agenda items to vote on Redmond's recommendations for principal and coach-AD were pulled from the Feb. 9 meeting agenda. Vanover and Wood said Wednesday they hadn't heard from Port Arthur schools officials since their interview early last week. "That tells me they're looking at somebody else," Wood said. Vanover, who is 78-60 in 13 years at Diboll and 115-105 overall in 21 years, said, "I broke down (Wednesday) afternoon and called Raymond Polk. I said 'Can somebody tell me something. If I'm out, I'm out. I've got to tell these (Diboll) folks something. I can't string them out.' " Vanover said he had to leave that message on Polk's voice mail. Polk returned the call when Vanover was out of his office, but offered no answers, the coach said, just a promise to call this morning. "It was a great interview," Vanover said of his visit in Port Arthur last Wednesday, "but it wasn't a finalist interview, which I've been through before. I considered when I left that I was just an emergency valve guy if something doesn't come through for Ronnie Thompson or Marvin." Assistant head coach on Beaumont French's 1984 state co-champions, Vanover said he got the impression that PAISD officials were prepared to ignore a salary range of $50,818 to $72,455 that Mackey included in his help-wanted ad. "That salary range really caught me by surprise, because I'm already in that range," Vanover said. "I've got the highest salary in this region in 3A. I told them 'I hope you don't think I'm here so you can bargain with me. " 'I know what you're going to have to pay to get Marvin Sedberry here. I hope we're not in a Wal-Mart shopping deal, because I'm not going to move to Port Arthur, Texas, and roll the dice for the same thing I'm making now in Diboll.' "That concern was answered great. The interview went wonderful." Sedberry earns a reported $92,000 a year in Bryan, where he has a two-year record of 10-11 that includes taking the Vikings to the playoffs in 2004 for the first time in four seasons. Before Bryan, Sedberry coached for 11 years in Greenville, where his record was 71-53-1 with two trips to the state quarterfinals. He also coached two years at Wilmer-Hutchins and one at Dallas Carter. Thompson's first head coaching job was a year in Eagle Pass, yielding a 6-4 record in 1972. After a stint as assistant coach for the World Football League's San Antonio Toros, he coached two winning seasons at Vidor, which was 0-and-42 prior to his arrival. After a 1-9 start at TJ in 1978, the Yellow Jackets improved to 6-4 in year two, then went 14-1 and 10-0-1 in his final two seasons. Thompson coached four seasons as an assistant at the University of Texas and one at Texas A&M. He was offensive coordinator for South Garland teams that went 9-3 in 1990 and 9-2 in 1991 before taking over as head coach in 1993. His record as head coach there was 41-50-1, including two playoff runs. He retired from coaching after the 2001 season to return to Port Arthur and his ailing mother, who has since passed away. Since returning to his hometown, Thompson has joined Sinegal as a member of the city council.
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