BENTONVILLE -- An offensive mind or a stickler for defense? Promote from within, or reach out to another head coach?
Those are some of the questions Bentonville athletic director Scott Passmore and a search committee he has assembled will try to answer in the next few days in order to recommend somebody for the school's head football coaching vacancy.
Current Bentonville defensive coordinator Jody Grant and McAlester, Okla., coach Bryan Pratt have emerged as the finalists for the position, which came open when Barry Lunney announced his retirement Jan. 26 after winning the Class 7A state championship in December.
The eight-member committee conducted 10 interviews from the 33 people who applied for the job. In addition to Grant and Pratt, those interviewed were current Bentonville assistants Aaron Danenhauer, Tony Cherico and David Pollard, Bentonville Black Junior High head coach Chris Hutchens, Illinois assistant Alex Golesh, Flossmore, Ill., assistant Jeromy Flowers and current head coaches Tim Harper of Mena and Van Paschal of Barton.
"It's been an extremely difficult process," Passmore said Tuesday afternoon. "We had some outstanding interviews and several individuals that really impressed the committee. We have narrowed it down to two, and I feel like the two we have left are the two best fits for Bentonville."
Grant, who came to Bentonville in 2004 after stints at Clinton and Vilonia, was at Lincoln Junior High before he joined the Tigers' coaching staff in 2006. He spent time working with the outside linebackers and the secondary before he was promoted to defensive coordinator prior to the 2013 season. The Tigers had the 7A-West Conference's top passing defense last season and finished second to Fort Smith Southside in total defense and scoring defense, allowing an average of 13.7 points and 262.1 yards per game.
Pratt, who became McAlester's head coach in 2006 after a stint as an assistant at South Grand Prairie (Texas), has compiled an 85-27 record over his nine-year tenure there, including an 11-2 mark last season with both losses being by one point. The Buffaloes finished as the Oklahoma Class 5A runner-up in 2013 and reached the state semifinals last season, where they averaged 48.9 points and 428.9 yards total offense per game.
Both of them were brought back Tuesday before the committee for their second interviews, and if everything goes as planned, one will be recommended for hiring during the Bentonville school board meeting Monday.
Henry Apple can be reached by email at [email protected] or on Twitter @NWAHenry
Sports on 03/12/2015