Crosby chooses Flanigan as coach/AD

CROSBY – In an unexpected turn of events, the Crosby ISD chose Orangfield ISD Athletic Director Kevin Flanigan over presumed front-runner Alan Waddell as their next athletic director and head football coach.

The Crosby school board met in executive session for 40 minutes last Friday night before returning to open session, where trustee Earl Boykin made a motion to hire Flanigan for a two-year contract.

The motion passed 4-2, with trustees Joann Crawford and John Victor casting the dissenting votes. Trustee Carla Winfont was out of town and could not attend the meeting. Crawford and Victor said that they were voting against the motion not because of the candidate, but against the selection process.

Crosby utilized a five-person committee made up of a representative from the administration, a girlsÕ sports coach and three members of the community. Hendrix said the committee unanimously recommended Flanigan for the post. Crawford said that she would have preferred if board members would have been part of the interview process and that she didnÕt like voting for a man she had never met.

It was this decision that Crawford said was wrong. Crawford said that the board should have been given the opportunity to meet with each candidate before making a decision. Dr. Don Hendrix, superintendent of the district, reminded Crawford that in his 18 years of service to the district, the board has never hired a person that was not recommended by the administration and that it was not usual for them to bypass the administration by reviewing candidates before voting on their employment.

ÒI came into this blindfolded,Ó Crawford said.
Trustee Dan Kasprzak defended the committee process. ÒAs far as I know, the process was fair.Ó

ÒIf we cannot trust that committee,” added Trustee John Lindsey, Òhow can they trust us?Ó

Hendrix said that he was impressed with Waddell and his credentials, ÒI was bowled over by him both as a coach and a person.Ó However, when parents spoke out at a June 21 school meeting and asked that the district find an AD who would care about all sports, not just football, Hendrix said that the decision to form the committee was made. ÒWe had to have public confidence in the process.Ó

Hendrix said that Flanigan has assured him that female sports would receive the same attention as male sports, an area which some parents had expressed both publicly and in e-mails to him.

Flanigan has served as Orangefield AD and head football coach since 2000. During that time he has been to the 3A state playoffs once (2000), twice been named Orange County Coach of the Year (2002 and 2003) and this past season coached the Bobcats to an 8-4 record and Bi-District championship.

Before coming to Orangfield, he was head coach and AD for the Troup ISD, where they advanced to the state 2A semi-finals (1998) and was District 19-2A runner-up in 1999. He has also served as defensive coordinator and head strength and conditioning coach at Caldwell High School, where his students set three state powerlifting records and in 1997 were Regional Champs.

Going into the meeting, it was believed that Waddell, a former LaMarque Head Coach and Texas A&M University assistant coach, would be the choice. Hendrix said that the committee felt that Flanigan better suited their profile of an AD and coach as someone who was willing to put down roots in the community and who was willing to give equal time to all sports, both boys and girls.

In an ironic twist, Flanigan served as a wide receivers coach under former Crosby Coach Larry Haynes at Clear Lake, He was also considered a front-runner during a recent search for a replacement at Sterling High School.