RISON - Superintendent Craig Dupuy said the Cleveland County School District will begin its search for a new football coach in earnest once the Christmas break is over. He said he hopes to have the position filled by February, if possible.
Clay Totty, who served as head football coach at Rison High School since 1998, officially resigned as football coach, athletic director, boys track coach and high school teacher on Wednesday, Dec. 21, to become head football coach at Wynne High School. (See story elsewhere in this issue.)
Once news about Totty's departure broke on social media last Thursday night after the Cleveland County School Board accepted his resignation and released him from his contract for the Spring 2023 semester, Dupuy said received some phone calls from people interested in the opening. However, Dupuy said the district will not formally begin accepting applications for the job until January after the Christmas break.
"I want to make sure we take a fresh breath and make sure we know what we want in a football coach," Dupuy said about the search and the timeline for hiring a new coach. "I don 't want us to get in a big hurry." (continued from page 1) At the same time, however, he said he would like to have someone hired by sometime in February in order to allow the new coach an opportunity to meet the players, organize spring training and set up the summer off-season program.
Dupuy said he has assigned Coach Josh Smeltzer, who served as defensive coordinator for the Wildcats this past season, to oversee the off-season program for the football team.
Dupuy said he plans to meet with his on-campus staff as well as the school board to get an idea of what they would like to see in the new football coach. In addition, he said he also wants to use the opportunity to look at possibly restructuring the athletic department as well.
Totty served as both the varsity football coach and athletic director a...
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