Rutherford narrowing football coaching search pool

SPRINGFIELD — If all goes as planned, Rutherford Athletic Director Kirk Harrell will have a new football coach in place by the end of March.

The search for a new coach began in February, when Greg Rivers announced he would retire at the end of the school year. The new coach will inherit a program that has posted two straight winning seasons, including six victories in 2009.

Harrell said he received nearly 120 applications for the position. Of those, about 50 were cleared by the Bay District Schools application process for consideration.

Harrell said a seven-person committee is narrowing the resumes for a round of interviews he hopes to begin next week. He said the committee, which includes himself and members of athletic and academic departments, have decided not to publicize the names of the finalists.

“We’d like to get to 10 or less, but there really isn’t a magic number,” Harrell said. “We’ve seen a good mixture in the applicants. Some have college experience, some high school.

“We’ve had some with head coaching experience and several have been assistants and want to take that next step.”

Harrell was uncertain if all the interviews could be completed by next week. He said the Rams’ recent boys basketball trip to the Final Four took some of the attention away from the committee, but the members were ready to focus again as soon as they can convene.

The committee’s selected candidate will be forwarded to Principal Mike Kennedy for final approval.