Coach Yeast resigned.

Who should be on the short list?

I can’t help but wonder if Tommy Lee, William Harris or Dwight Sutton might be interested.   

42 minutes ago, PurplePride92 said:

I can’t help but wonder if Tommy Lee, William Harris or Dwight Sutton might be interested.   

Tommy Lee Craig. 

7 hours ago, PurplePride92 said:

I can’t help but wonder if Tommy Lee, William Harris or Dwight Sutton might be interested.   

Doubtful on Harris. He just got Taylor Co. 

8 hours ago, PurplePride92 said:

Tommy Lee Craig. 

Interesting. Are you thinking package deal, bring his dad with him to coach the O line?

There's a school 9 miles down the road that has been pretty successful who might have some good candidates. Tyler Ray is someone I'd call. He's a real go getter.

Mercer should try to mimic Danville's hire from last season.  May be too late in the game, but bring in an energy/culture builder and try to schedule down in the next cycle to have some success.  And, keep their kids in county line.

I say They May go interim route  with Craig.  Harris has zero interest.  They Still may not fill a Varsity Team.  At this point not a lot of options. They do have some others that would be excellent hires. Drew Davis has been under Brandon Smith for a few years learning,  Not sure he would be interested.   At this point, I’m not sure it’s as much about who’s the coach.  But can they get kids back out.  With 18 kids need several to come back out.  I know the young kids/parents don’t want their kids at the varsity level not ready. Do you go JV only a year?  Mercer hasn’t had. JV team in 3 years.   It’s a mess. 

If this had opened in January, it would have been a very sought after job. I'm not saying it won't be now, but with all considered circumstances and the timing, the applicant pool I imagine is small. The job is posted on the Mercer schools page as of this morning. 

I don't think Coach Harris will have any interest in walking into a worse situation. I don't expect any established Coach to do that right as it stands. I expect Mercer to hire an interim coach for 2026 and see what happens in 2027-2028. 

3 hours ago, DearToday said:

Doubtful on Harris. He just got Taylor Co. 

Never know.  I once watched Chuck Smith declare how happy he was to be at Madison Central only to end up at Boyle County less than two weeks later.  

45 minutes ago, Hoopguru said:

I say They May go interim route  with Craig.  Harris has zero interest.  They Still may not fill a Varsity Team.  At this point not a lot of options. They do have some others that would be excellent hires. Drew Davis has been under Brandon Smith for a few years learning,  Not sure he would be interested.   At this point, I’m not sure it’s as much about who’s the coach.  But can they get kids back out.  With 18 kids need several to come back out.  I know the young kids/parents don’t want their kids at the varsity level not ready. Do you go JV only a year?  Mercer hasn’t had. JV team in 3 years.   It’s a mess. 

Why just interim with Craig?  Wouldn’t he be a viable permanent option?  

29 minutes ago, PurplePride92 said:

Why just interim with Craig?  Wouldn’t he be a viable permanent option?  

No previous HC experience would likely be why not permanent right off the bat. I can see an interim hire to see how he handles it, does he bring numbers back out, etc. He already works in the school system in Mercer Co doesn’t he?

33 minutes ago, Old606Guy said:

No previous HC experience would likely be why not permanent right off the bat. I can see an interim hire to see how he handles it, does he bring numbers back out, etc. He already works in the school system in Mercer Co doesn’t he?

I’m honestly not sure.  I think he was at East Jessamine recently but I am going off memory and my memory is jacked these days.  ?
 

Edit:  yes, he is at Mercer.  He’s teaching at the middle school and was hired to be an assistant this year if I am not mistaken.  Hearing his Dad has been helping with the line so I imagine both will still be there at some capacity whether it is interim or not.   

7 minutes ago, PurplePride92 said:

I’m honestly not sure.  I think he was at East Jessamine recently but I am going off memory and my memory is jacked these days.  ?
 

Edit:  yes, he is at Mercer.  He’s teaching at the middle school and was hired to be an assistant this year if I am not mistaken.  Hearing his Dad has been helping with the line so I imagine both will still be there at some capacity whether it is interim or not.   

He was former DC at East Jessamine and his dad was formerly O line coach there at the same time. Package deal seems to be a theme. 

Yeast destroyed that program. Kids were either transferring out or quitting football all together. I hope Mercer can rebound and get back to their winning ways.