University of Jamestown athletic director Sean Johnson plans to hire a new football coach this month.
"Before Christmas I think we'll have a new coach in place," Johnson said. "We had a large pool of candidates, and a quality pool of candidates. The biggest thing we struggled with was narrowing the list down."
Around 90 applications were received for the job, which came open when Shawn Frank and the school parted ways on Oct. 12. Johnson said they narrowed the list down to 20 and went from there. Johnson did not want to reveal names of the coaches involved.
The school did employ a hiring committee of current coaches on staff, faculty members and select community members, but the final decision rests with Johnson.
"We're getting there to the final interviews and we want to protect the integrity of the people involved so I want to keep a bit of a lid on it," Johnson said. "We're going to get a really good coach to lead our football program. I'm very confident in that based on the quality of candidates we're dealing with."
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Johnson said he did have a list of names going into the search, and that current members of the coaching staff were able to apply. Travis Titus was named interim coach on Oct. 12 and led the Jimmies to a 3-1 record in their final four games.
Johnson said that previous head coaching experience was not essential.
"At some point, every coach has been an assistant," he said. "We didn't want to restrict our search in any way. We went into it with an open mind."
Finding the right fit can often come down to a single factor.
"The biggest thing sometimes is timing," Johnson said. "Where a coach is in their career? Their family situation is? All these kinds of things can play into it.
"This is an attractive job. We're in a conference where we can be competitive and we have high expectations. Those types of things appeal to a lot of people."
