Two weeks have passed since Troy Mott resigned as Napa High football coach.
In case you’ve been vacationing at the North Pole or the Bahamas, Mott resigned due to a power struggle with the Napa High administration and Napa Valley Unified School District after an alleged hazing incident. The administration and the district mandated wanting approval to rehire assistant coaches whereas Mott wanted the autonomy to do so himself, which is common practice for high school football coaches.
For further details about the alleged incident and resignation, refer to my previous column shortly after the news broke:
I’m not going to rehash the details other than coaching staff members have been cleared of any wrongdoing in how they handled the alleged incident.
This topic coupled with the district wanting to change the school’s mascot name of “Indians” have been enormous hot buttons on both traditional and social media. Call me a conspiracy theorist but I can’t help but notice both occurrences happening at the same time. It’s a Donald Trump like smokescreen that has only risen people’s ire rather than diffused it. The flames are so scorching that parents have started “No confidence” petitions for both NVUSD superintendent Patrick Sweeney and Napa High principal Annie Petrie. I’m not one to celebrate the demise of people and nor am I here to call for Sweeney or Petrie’s ouster. That’s not my role but these petitions do not happen without reason.
The narratives are that either a) some of Mott’s assistants might reapply but only some will get rehired, which sounds to me like the district has a predetermined idea on who they will or will not rehire -- if they reapply or b) many, if not all, of said assistants have decided not to reapply regardless. Adam Croney, who was one of Mott’s assistants for the past five years, wrote a letter to the editor published in the Napa Valley Register, which was later shared on Facebook stating that he is not going to reapply. Many more assistants will likely follow suit.
Mott’s job as football coach is advertised on edjoin.com. Finding a head coach might be the semi-easy part. Except, it won’t be easy and it goes beyond Mott’s resume which includes a 94-35 record, a CIF Sac Joaquin section Div. I title in 2007 and five Monticello Empire League titles. The deadline to apply, according to edjoin.com is March 31.
Parents continue to be vocal in pressuring the school board and administration to rehire Mott and his assistants. By no means am I suggesting NVUSD will relent but that pressure is not likely to shift out of fifth gear. The next NVUSD school board meeting is April 6.
The question I have is, what coach, especially a proven one, in his right mind will want this job? It’s not just a head coach you have to hire, it’s the 25 or so assistants for all three levels (freshmen, JV and varsity) that mind you are doing it as volunteers. Good luck. Even if in a best case scenario Mott and staff return because they can’t find anyone, there’s going to be a ton of damage control. Ian MacMillan is one assistant that on the surface would make sense to hire. MacMillan teaches at Napa High, is on staff now and has head coaching experience (three years at St. Helena and four at American Canyon). However, given his friendship with Mott, that chance appears remote. Knowing MacMillan as I do, he would likely want the same autonomy that drove Mott out in the first place.
Napa (population of about 75,000) is not a metropolis, so you’re not going to find a deep pool of talented candidates. Sure, you might find a short term solution but that would be like treating a shotgun wound with a Band Aid.
Even if you want to make a power play for someone locally, good luck. Dylan Leach, who was Mott’s defensive coordinator from 2010-2015, isn’t leaving Vintage. Larry Singer is not leaving American Canyon. Brandon Farrell is not leaving St. Helena. By no means am I saying these guys are the second coming of Vince Lombardi but their names carry some credibility locally and regionally.
On the surface, the Napa High football job is attractive. You’ve got a winning tradition. You’ve got very good facilities. You’ve got a stadium that would be the envy for many programs. When it comes to high school football interest in the Napa Valley, and this is no slight to anyone, Napa High has always been Ticket No. 1.
Right now, it is Ticket No. 1 for the wrong reasons. To put it charitably, it is a hot mess.
Since the real estate market is on the uptick in these parts, you are going to be hard-pressed to draw an outsider. Plus, Napa Valley is a landlocked area that is tough to enter and exit.
I’m going to give a real estate analogy. Napa High football was like a turn key home. Not any more. Imagine you are driving by a house and you see a For Sale sign on the front lawn. The front yard is immaculately landscaped. The stucco and the paint job look flawless. Throw in some double paned windows and you’ve got a house with great curb appeal. That would describe Napa High football.
Unfortunately what also describes the Napa High football job is, walk inside the house and you see cabinets and countertops that are warped, distorted and falling over. Walk into the bathroom and you’ve got dry-rotted floor damage along with leaking sinks. Look in the backyard and you’ve got scattered engine parts all over the unlandscaped lawn from that 1981 Toyota Celica.
All of the sudden the house that has great curb appeal says “buyer beware.”
No comments:
Post a Comment