Other than the HS Principal, what hire by a Superintendent is most critical to the success of a school system?

Football coach first and basketball coach second. A coach who establishes a disciplined, winning program can impact the culture of the entire school. How the players on the teams handle themselves and interact with other students is HUGE. That is also why I believe it is critical that the head coach is also a teacher in the building.

I will add, success in these sports programs brings the community to the school like nothing else. That can generate school support from parts of the community that normally don't pay a lot of attention to what's happening at the school.

I would say football coach first. There are more members  on the vast majority of football programs than any other sport. So if their positive behavior from being coached well translates to the school hallways it should encourage a positive environment in school. Second would be Principal who is willing to accept, acknowledge and encourage the positive vibes throughout the building(s). 
 

For the far smaller schools it would be a basketball coach.

Since when do Superintendents hire coaches? Pretty sure principals have ultimate hiring/firing authority in the schools they are responsible for ... at least in Kentucky.

If supers are involved in the hiring process of coaches ... something isn't working right. 

Any principal and/or coach who lives in a world where coaches are hired by super's are probably already looking for new jobs.

15 minutes ago, gbballfan21 said:

Since when do Superintendents hire coaches? Pretty sure principals have ultimate hiring/firing authority in the schools they are responsible for ... at least in Kentucky.

If supers are involved in the hiring process of coaches ... something isn't working right. 

Any principal and/or coach who lives in a world where coaches are hired by super's are probably already looking for new jobs.

When I worked in public education the Superintendent ALWAYS made the recommendation to the board of education when hiring all personnel. Principals were involved with all hires but ultimately the superintendent made the decision. I guess you worked in a different setting and I have been retired for quite some time.

Other.

A financial advisor / fundraiser.

Principals make the recommendation to the superintendent. Not very often will a superintendent push back on a hire for a school but I’ve seen it happen. I was on SBDM for 6-8 years or so. There is the way it is supposed to work legally and the way it actually works. 
 

As to the question AD is probably the next important hire/person. I don’t care how good of a coach you are or what sport. If you don’t have a good principal and AD start looking for another job. The AD can make your life much easier or much much more difficult. 

18 hours ago, 9068 said:

When I worked in public education the Superintendent ALWAYS made the recommendation to the board of education when hiring all personnel. Principals were involved with all hires but ultimately the superintendent made the decision. I guess you worked in a different setting and I have been retired for quite some time.

I've experienced both.  In one case I didn't meet the Principal until after I'd been hired by the Superintendent.  In another case I don't think I ever did meet the Superintendent, I was hired as a long term sub first and then moved to full time by the Principal.

I will add that I had my life made miserable in my first teaching/coaching job by a school board member who was a parent of one of my players.  A quick suggestion to all of you young people going into coaching, do your homework and think very carefully if you have parents of your players in positions of power.  They may be sane and it might work out just fine, just be careful.

MS Principal in my opinion would be second. Middle school is where children learn to become students. It's where students first really start to get rebellious and push the limits of what they can get away with. A good middle school Principal can set the tone as to what is expected as students and citizens in the school system. Disciplined classrooms start early, if your middle school is out of control your high school is going to struggle as well.

Athletics are very important, but they don't touch every student.

On 4/5/2025 at 7:23 PM, gbballfan21 said:

Since when do Superintendents hire coaches? Pretty sure principals have ultimate hiring/firing authority in the schools they are responsible for ... at least in Kentucky.

If supers are involved in the hiring process of coaches ... something isn't working right. 

Any principal and/or coach who lives in a world where coaches are hired by super's are probably already looking for new jobs.

I guess I am speaking from years gone by, but I would suspect that most principals (at least at small/medium size schools) recognize the importance of these hires and seek the concurrence of the Supt. before the hire is finalized.  Too critical to be on that limb alone.

A coach will never be the most important person hired in a school system. The superintendent and Principal are far more important than any coach will ever be. The people providing support or lack of support for a coach or athletics will always be the most important. Most athletic directors are glorified game supervisors. They have no power to hire/fire.