The search for a new head football coach at Meridian High School will hopefully conclude by the end of the month, according to Meridian athletic director Chuck Butler.

Meridian has been without a head coach since Calvin Hampton stepped down in November following the 2018 season. Butler said the school has finished taken applications and has narrowed the field down to eight to 10 candidates. It will begin interviews this week and finish the interview process by the beginning of next week.

“It is our hope that we can have someone named by the end of the month,” Butler said. 

Prior to become head coach, Hampton had been an assistant coach for his entire career, and Butler said the school is focused on candidates with previous, successful head coaching experience this time around.

“We’re after someone with a little more experience and a proven track record,” Butler explained. “We had over 40 applicants, and we’re primarily looking at guys who have head coaching experience. We’ve had people from different states inquire and that we have talked to, and we have quite an array of guys from within our state, some of whom have won championships and some of whom have been successful to lesser extents. Basically, everyone we’re talking to has had success at the high school level.”

While there are no guarantees regardless of who you hire, Butler said the focal point of the search is to find a coach who will both care for his players and give them the best chance to win.

“There’s still a lot of time to gather information,” Butler said. “The more info you have, the more informed decisions you can make. We’re looking for a good fit for Meridian. There is no list of requirements per se, we just want a good fit for our kids who will get the kids to buy in and play hard, and hopefully, the success will follow that.”

In terms of the salary being offered with the position, Butler said the decision-makers want to be as competitive as possible with other 6A schools, but that decision will ultimately come from the superintendent and the school board. Still, Butler said he realizes how much salary is a factor in luring someone to a school.

“To get and keep a coach, we have to be competitive,” Butler said. “Does that mean we’re going to offer the highest salary in 6A? No, but we are aware of what others pay at our level, and we will try to make our expectations of a coach be parallel to the package they’re offered.”

Butler said the school’s message to its fans is that he and other decision-makers realize how important this hire is to the future of Meridian football and that no shortcuts are being taken.

“We’re working extremely hard,” Butler said. “This is not getting sold short whatsoever. We’ve spent countless hours talking to people and gathering info. Our district was already the toughest in the state, and losing Jim Hill and adding Northwest Rankin makes it that much tougher. This is a hire that is critical to our district, and we’re treating it that way. We’ve kept everything under wraps for the most part so we can do our job, and that job is to put a coach in place that has the best chance to be successful.”