High school athletic directors have to be creative in filling vacancies while schools are closed.
Now was not the time for Jim Buonocore to need to find a new football coach at Ledyard High School.
Buonocore has been looking for stability at that job ever since he retired following the 2015 season to become an assistant principal, in addition to already being the athletic director. Like it or not, football is a big part of the American high school experience, especially at places such as Ledyard, and schools take pride in hanging championship banners.
Clay Killingsworth recently resigned as the Colonels' head coach after two seasons to take an assistant coaching position at Nichols College in Dudley, Mass., forcing Buonocore to find someone new to lead the program. The COVID-19 pandemic presents a challenge to any athletic director who needs to make a new hire.
“It's a little frustrating to have this vacancy once again, and then the timing couldn't have been worse with everything that's going on,” Buonocore said. “We're certainly going to maneuver our way through it the best we can to get the process going. We'll do our best to have somebody in place so that when summertime hits, our kids can get rolling and get ready for the fall.”
Ledyard is hardly the only place in the state looking for new high school coaches. New London has one of the Connecticut's biggest vacancies because it needs a new girls' basketball coach. David Kohn resigned earlier this month after one season.
Sustained success
The Whalers have enjoyed unprecedented success ever since the 2013-14 season. They won their first state title that season in their second-year under former coach Kerrianne Dugan. It was also the school's first CIAC girls' title since the outdoor track and field team won a state championship in 1979.
Holly Misto kept the program rolling when she took over in 2014. The Whalers went 12312 over her five seasons, won three straight Eastern Connecticut Conference tournament titles, played in three state finals, and, in
“We'll do our best to have somebody in place so that when summertime hits, our kids can get rolling and get ready for the fall.” JIM BUONOCORE, LEDYARD A.D, ON FILLING HIS FOOTBALL VACANCY
2017, won the Class LL title and finished as the No. 1 team in the GameTimeCT/New Haven Register state poll. The job is kind of a big deal. “We've had multiple applicants,” said Phil Orbe, who started his first official day as New London's new athletic director on March 14 after doing that job for five years at Montville. “The situation we're in, obviously you can't do any interviews, but we've had a couple of people reach out to me for some information regarding the position.
"I told them we're taking a waitand-see approach, that it's going to take a little bit of time. I'm going to want input from the community and girls on the team. We're not going to do it too fast. There's a lot of stakeholders in this decision.”
Whoever gets that job won't be Orbe's first hire.
“I was able to get a lot of done the first week here,” Orbe said. “We hired six-to-seven spots for the spring. Those have all been passed. We're just holding on to them (for) human resources . ... I got to sit down with Kasi Fletcher (New London's former interim athletic director) to kind of get a lay of the land.”
Orbe has also been part of a rotation of administrators that goes to New London High once every three days.
Killingly athletic director Kevin Marcoux had a vacancy for boys' outdoor track and posted it on the CIAC's website, ciacsports.com, on March 11.
Marcoux was able to fill the job in no time, hiring Matt DeMarco. DeMarco had been working as an assistant cross country and track and field coach at Eastern Connecticut State University.
“It's funny because that job had been open essentially the entire year and I didn't get one person to apply,” Marcoux said.
“I reposted it on the CIAC website and, lo-and-behold, it was after (winter) sports ended (March 10) . ... (and) I got a call from Matt.
“I did a phone interview with him on Tuesday (March 17). He comes in with experience and great credentials. … It's the first time I ever did an interview over the phone. I'm holding out hope that there's some version of a spring sports season. Obviously, if we do, I have my coaches in place.”
Whoever takes over the Ledyard football team will be its fifth coach in six seasons after it had been one of the state's most stable programs for decades.
The late Bill Mignault was the Colonels' first head coach and had a legendary 42-year career. He retired following the 2007 season after Ledyard won the Class M title, its fourth under him, and was then the state's all-time wins leader (321).
Buonocore took over the Colonels in 2008 and enjoyed a successful run that featured three trips to a state final.
“The applications are coming in as we speak,” Buonocore said. “Now it's just how things play out and how we proceed. I'm already thinking of ways. If we're at the end of the month and still in limbo and we're not in school and not able to get a group of people together, do I have the first round or two of interviews teleconferencing with the selected candidates and my selection committee?
“If we can do that, then at least that gets us rolling. And, if things get rolling and things move forward, hopefully we're able to get in front of that.”
For the time being, Ledyard doesn't have a head coach making sure his players are in the weight room and staying conditioned.
“There's certainly a lot of ways kids can be creative to work out individually within their homes and keeping safe from others and keeping social distancing,” Buonocore said. “You have to be self-sufficient and self-motivated. … I've seen some pretty unique workouts already scrolling through different social media feeds.
“It's going to be a very exciting fall for us with a brand-new athletic facility. I think anybody looking to lead their own high school football program, this is one you check off on the list of sign-me-up between our facility and our tradition, I think.” n.griffen@theday.com