Coming Home
El Dorado's athletic program features homegrown coaches
If home is truly where the heart is, the El Dorado athletic department's heart is beating stronger than ever. Sixteen current coaches in the system are former Wildcats and Lady Wildcats.
El Dorado athletic director Phillip Lansdell said that's not a coincidence.
“We're always gonna try to hire the people that come back home for us. They'll have a tie to the community. It means a lot when somebody leaves us and wants to come back home and coach or teach,” said Lansdell.
“This is their roots. This is where they're from. They want to represent us well. They want us to do well because they're from here. It is tough for them to come back home right off the bat because everybody knows them. They know everything about them. They've got a little bit higher expectation to live up to than someone who is not from El Dorado.”
Local hometown hires aren't new to El Dorado.
In fact, it's sort of a tradition. El Dorado graduates Stephen Harshaw (girls' basketball), Billy Blackburn (golf) and Tim Zylks (golf) coached teams at their alma mater to state championships in the past.
Currently, three senior varsity head coaches are El Dorado graduates in Courtney Canady (swimming), Cannon Lester (baseball) and Stephanie Thomas (tennis). Other former Cats and Lady Cats include Kanedria Andrews (eighth grade girls' basketball), Kris Borosvskis (assistant football and track), Ken Cunningham (assistant track), Orie Davis (assistant girls' soccer), Derek Easter (seventh grade girls' basketball), Jimmy Johnson (assistant football), Robert Kersh (assistant football), Luke Lansdell (assistant football), Cori Martinez (eighth grade cheer), Andrew McDaniel (assistant basketball) Matthew Nash (freshman football), Scot Perry (eighth grade