[EKUAlum05]

Going to look at this a couple different ways: I am also going to cheat and make this Eastern Kentucky and not just the Mountains. Names may surprise people.. bear with me.

Path A we will call the Wolfe County approach. School has never had football, doesn't have a feeder program, it is a true ground up.
1. Tim Champlin- East Carter
2. Chris Larkey- Rockcastle County
3. Charles Matthews- Letcher Central
4. Alan Short- Lawrence County
5. Kyle Moore- Breathitt County

I am prioritizing a couple things here. This is going to be a long process. I need someone still with some youth but I also need someone with the patience to do this for the long haul. I also need someone to build a culture. I want my community to grow old with this coach. I am prioritizing someone who has either successfully pulled off a major rebuild or someone who has taken a school not used to success and grew them to a sustained level of success.

Why I choose these specific guys:
Champlin- I love what this guy stands for. I love what he has done at East Carter... and I love that he does it under the radar but takes pride in the incremental growth and improvement needed.
Larkey- He has rebuilt twice already and you know you are getting a culture of punching the timeclock and just getting to work.
Matthews- Letcher Central is not an easy place to show marked improvement. He has done that and he also plays a fun style of Offense that will get kids excited.
Short- Short was handed the keys to a program who ahs known high levels of succcess, but when he took it over it was as low as it had been in decades. He has won the community over and he has built a powerful feeder program.
Moore- People forget how low Breathitt was... not just on the field.. but the entire school district was in deep mud. For as handicapped as he was he got Breathitt back to competing and winning.



Path B- We will call this the Harlan County path. This is a consolidated or newly formed school in an area where at least the kids have learned to put their pads on.

1. Chris McNamee- Pikeville
2. Mark Dixon- Hazard
3. Michael Salmons- Raceland
4. Clay Clevenger- Somerset
5. Dudley Hilton- Bell County

The priority here changes a little. This is about instant stability, instant results, but long term steady progress, with a goal of a title at the end of the rainbow. I want a coach who gets people excited in the community and a coach who talent wants to come in and play for. I want a coach who can be a CEO. I also want some long term potential here.

Why I chose these specific guys:
McNamee- He still has good years ahead, but he checks every box I prioritize. He will market, draw talent, win games, win big games, instantly gel your feeder program, and get boosters ready to write checks.
Dixon- As steady as they come. He knows how to run a program and knows how to level up a program. He still has plenty of hunt left in him.
Salmons- Raceland. Still early in his coaching tenure but a massive forward trajectory. He has Raceland all in as a community and is doing just fine at fundraising and having talent want to play for him. Has proven he can get you to Thanksgiving or later.
Clevenger- Everyone forgets about him and the Danville situation was odd and sad. We saw what he meant to Danville and he got a ring there. I think he will be just fine in Bunny land.
Hilton- 10 years ago he is #1. There isn't anythign Dudley hasn't done already. He still has some tricks up his sleeve... but you don't know how much longer he can sustain it for. We also see that when Dudley leaves it hurts... I want a coach building something that can be passed on.

Surprising Omissions:
Hines- Nothing against him and he is still a monster on the sidelines. My critique is he has hinted about retirmenet and I get the impression he is a little prickly to work with. I need a coach who is bought in side by side.

Salmons (Corbin)- Still in wait and see mode. He has proven he can do very good things but he has needed to be set up in the perfect situation. His tenure at Lawrence County worries me if we are talking about starting something fresh. His last two jobs have been a stocked Corbin job and the largest school in WV. Even then he had some big misses at Cabell Midland around some big success.

French- Great coach... but he is discount Dudley. You get all the age but without quite the same success.