Mike Holland
Oglethorpe County High School will welcome new faces on the sideline next year.
The school is nearing the completion of three coaching hires and will ease the load on soccer coach Erich Forschler next year.
OCHS received over 20 serious inquiries to fill the vacant boys basketball head coaching position. That field has since been narrowed after a “handful” of interviews were completed, said co-athletic director Mike Holland.
OCHS must replace basketball coach Larry Brown, who resigned after three years. After leading the school to its first winning season since 2005, Brown is taking a step back to move closer to family in Atlanta.
Holland said the goal is to confirm a hire this week, in order to ensure that summer basketball practice can begin the first week in June.
“We’re getting really close to finalizing that,” he said. “We’re spending most of our energy trying to get that position in place.”
New leadership for the girls track program is also in store.
Long-time coach Tim Stoudenmire is retiring from coaching after a prolific 29-year career, which included stints at three different schools.
OCHS girls track claimed its third state championship in four years earlier this month.
“It’s always really hard to follow someone like coach Stoudenmire,” Holland said. “Not seeing him involved in athletics is definitely going to be a different vibe for the whole school.”
Multiple Oglethorpe County coaches are being considered as the next girls track coach, Holland said.
Stoudenmire has also stepped down as head wrestling coach, with assistant coach Steve Mason already named as his successor.
A plan to make Forschler the exclusive coach of girls soccer is in motion. Forschler spent this past year as the school’s soccer director, leading both the girls and boys teams.
Returning to a more traditional model with two separate coaches will be more sustainable, Holland said.
A boys soccer coach for next spring has not been named.
The athletic department has also identified a probable candidate to replace Melissa McGarity as the cross country coach, pending an official announcement.
When seeking new coaching hires, a candidate’s ability to mentor young athletes is only part of the equation for Holland and co-athletic director Brianna Dickens.
The athletic department’s search for coaches must often align with the school’s prioritized academic interests. This poses a challenge to the administration.
“Trying to get (coaching hires) to work with the available teaching positions is a puzzle that’s hard to fit sometimes,” Holland said. “Ideally, you have a teaching spot available, and a person who wants to fill that teaching spot and coach their sport, but unfortunately, that doesn’t always happen.”