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Interview process still a couple weeks away for Peabody football job

Tuesday, March, 18 By Matt Jenkins
Staff writer

Time is of the essence in naming the next Peabody High football coach. But it's not not as important as conducting a thorough and complete search to find the right person.

"That really is the emphasis: let's do it right and take the time to make sure that we dot our I's and cross our T's," Peabody High Athletic Director Phil Sheridan said. "I don't want to do this all over again."

Sheridan estimated that between 15 to 20 candidates submitted their resumes before the March 7 deadline.

The position became open when Dick Woodbury stepped down in early February after just one season as the team's head coach. The Tanners struggled through their second straight 1-9 season in Woodbury's only campaign.

Woodbury, who resigned for health reasons, took over for Paul Uva, who resigned after two seasons at the helm. Uva compiled a 5-15 record in 2005-06.

According to Sheridan, the football selection committee will not even get together until next week. Interviews will follow sometime after that, but no official dates have been set.

The Peabody approach to hiring a football coach will be a little different this time around, because the juniors and seniors-to-be will be working with their third coach in three years.

It's important for Peabody to choose a coach who intends to stay, said Sheridan.

"The main thing is to get someone in here for the long haul," Sheridan said. "We want to get someone in place and let them go to work."

At least two former Division 1 college football players have confirmed that they have applied for the position.

Ken Farrar, once a standout lineman for the Tanners, played and eventually coached at the University of Richmond. His coaching career advanced from Richmond to the University of Charleston (W.V.), and he spent last year as the quarterbacks coach at Assumption College.

Former Salem High and Marshall University standout Germaine Satterwhite is a repeat applicant for the Tanners' post as well.

Satterwhite was a graduate assistant at Marshall after his playing career ended. He then moved on to Kean (N.J.) University as an assistant coach, and spent a year under the tutelage of Paul Boudreau as an offensive coordinator intern with the Carolina Panthers through the Minority Coaching Fellowship Program.

He also spent time coaching at Glenville State in West Virginia before returning to Massachusetts. Last year he helped rebuild the North Shore Generals, a semipro team that plays locally.

Last year, Satterwhite was not granted an interview at Peabody High.

"I wouldn't mind having my own program at the high school level and be able to build something," Satterwhite, 34, said. "I came across some different high school coaches when I was doing college recruiting, and they've got their ducks in a row. They were doing a lot of good things and extra stuff for the kids. You can really bring a community together."

Satterwhite, a middle school teacher in Lynn, has applied for some other recent high school openings. He applied at Lynn English this year, but wasn't granted an interview there. He also applied at Salem before Scott Connolly was hired in 2004, and he put his hat in the ring when the Beverly High job was open a few years ago.

Satterwhite hopes to get an interview at Peabody High this time around because he feels he would be a great asset to a high school program.

"I'm a guy that has played and coached for championship teams. Every place that I've been since I left my first coaching job has seen a big turnaround," Satterwhite said.

"I know what it takes to win. I won't sell myself short, I won't sell my players short, and I won't sell the community short."