Search for RHS coach narrows
School officials are getting closer to naming Russellville’s next head football coach.
A search committee interviewed three candidates Monday that include a former Russellville player and coach, a former SEC assistant and Division II head coach and one of the most successful coaches in Mississippi in recent years.
Former RHS coach Doug Goodwin announced in January that he was leaving to accept the head coaching position at Homewood High School after four successful seasons in Russellville.
The search committee reviewed 30 applications and decided to interview Russellville graduate and current Buckhorn head coach Michael Jackson, former Auburn assistant and current Etowah head coach Sam McCorkle and West Point, Miss., head coach Chris Chambless.
Jackson graduated from Russellville in 1987 and returned as an assistant coach in 1992 following his playing days at the University of North Alabama. He took over a struggling Buckhorn program in 2002 and led them to a 5A state title game appearance in 2005. Buckhorn has since moved to 6A, where they remain one of the smallest schools in that classification.
McCorkle has spent the past two seasons as the head coach at Etowah High School, but he has spent the majority of his coaching career in the collegiate ranks with stops as an assistant at Auburn, Kentucky, Vanderbilt, and Ole Miss in addition to serving as the head coach at Tennessee-Martin and West Alabama.
Chambless, a graduate of Haleyville, has spent his entire coaching career in Mississippi. He has been the head coach at West Point, Miss., High School since 2006. During those five seasons, the Green Wave have asserted themselves as one of Mississippi’s top 5A programs, including capturing the past two state titles.
A fourth candidate who could be interviewed before a new coach is named is Mike Newsome, who was named the 2009 MaxPreps National Coach of the Year as coach of Butler High School in Charlotte, NC. His program is regarded as one of the best in the nation year in and year out.
He submitted a resume for the Russellville job, but it is not clear whether or not he is a serious candidate at this time.
A decision could be made sometime this week or next.
