- Times Leader
First Posted:
The Dallas School District has narrowed its candidates for head high school football coach to four candidates over the weekend.
Superintendent Frank Galicki, though, wouldn’t say who the four are or whether Ted Jackson, who has held the job the past 27 years, is among them.
“It’s a personnel issue and we haven’t gotten into divulging any names at this point,” Galicki said.
Jackson, though, confirmed he is among the four finalists.
“I had a second interview,” Jackson said, “but honestly I haven’t heard anything. I thought I did very well, I thought in both interviews I did very well. But whether it will matter is a whole different story.”
Eight of the 14 applicants were interviewed on Thursday and Saturday. Four were brought in for second interviews on Monday night. Jackson said he didn’t know who the other three were for sure, but has heard some names. He declined to mention any of them.
Sources have said at least three of the original 14 applicants, including Jackson, have head coach experience at the varsity level. Two others have been head coaches, but not for a varsity high school team.
“We need to make sure we take our time on this,” Galicki said. “We interviewed until late (Monday) night. It wasn’t until 11 o’clock when we were finished. We didn’t reach any conclusions and we’re going to be getting back together for the next step.”
The school board voted to open the position at its Dec. 12 meeting by an 8-1 vote, with Dr. Bruce Goeringer the only member voting against the motion.
Galicki had said previously that there was a possibility a coach could be hired on an interim basis and then approved by the school board at the next meeting. However, it appears more likely that a coach will be appointed at the school board’s regular meeting on Feb. 13.
Jackson has a 227-83-3 record at Dallas. His team finished its third consecutive 10-win season as he earned Wyoming Valley Conference Big School Coach of the Year honors from his peers.
However, Dallas has spent the past four years on probation by the District 2 Athletic Committee, the local extension of the PIAA. The first two were for a bench-clearing fight in the 2008 season opener against Williamsport. The probation was extended for 2010 and 2011 for an incident in a 2010 game at Tunkhannock where some Dallas players urinated on tennis courts at halftime.
Jackson was suspended by the athletic committee for the entire 2010 season for the Tunkhannock incident, a penalty later reduced to four weeks during an appeal hearing in front of the PIAA Board of Directors
