Athletic director search put on hold

It's a rather curious and somewhat surprising decision that the Amarillo ISD announced in Wednesday's Globe-News the search for a new athletic director has been postponed until the end of the year.

Athletic director Tex Nolan, who has been in the position for the last 13 years, announced his retirement last month effective June 30. Now he will remain through the end of the year as interim athletic director.

"The timing isn't right," AISD superintendent Rod Schroder told the G-N sports department. "...We don't want to rush into this decision."

Schroder said many internal and external candidates are currently in athletic administration or holding coaching jobs and filling a position this late would likely create holes in many other programs.

It would seem like the month of June would be the best time to hire a new AD. It's summer, and the start of 2009-2010 school year is still two months away. Is the end of the year, in the middle of the school year, somehow better? Won't these candidates still be holding the same jobs? Wouldn't making a hire at that point also create holes in programs?

Reading the tea leaves on this, several things could be speculated. One is that Alan Hunnicutt, assistant athletic director, is obviously not an automatic successor to the post. AISD has had five athletic directors in its history, and the last four have all been promoted within the department.

It could be the district wants some fresh ideas, or just wants to take its time. But delaying this for several more months just seems unusual.