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Hamilton officials took time with pick

District officials say they made their target date in hiring new football coach.

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By Jay Morrison, Staff Writer 12:23 AM Thursday, March 11, 2010

HAMILTON — New Hamilton High School football coach Bob Jacoby was hired 25 days after his first interview and 19 days after anyone else interviewed, but Athletic Director Mike Dellapina said the long stretch of inactivity had nothing to do with any doubts about whether Jacoby was right for the job.

“His reputation in Central Ohio is outstanding, and I don’t think you can find a better guy in the state,” Dellapina said. “But if you really want to be thorough and make sure you’re getting the best fit, it takes some time.

“The analogy I use is that I didn’t get to know my wife in two dates,” Dellapina said. “This is really about building a relationship with someone who is then going to build relationships with your students and your community.”

Former coach Jim Place resigned Jan. 4, and applications were accepted until Jan. 29. Internal candidates Chris Wells, Joel Lauer and Bradley Watkins were the first to interview, followed by Jacoby, who interviewed on Feb. 11 and again on Feb. 13.

Whetstone coach Jim Worden came to town to talk to the hiring committee Feb. 17, but he was the last person to interview prior to Jacoby officially being named coached at Tuesday night’s school board meeting.

While some fans and message board posters grew frustrated with the delay, district officials said they met their target date.

“Our goal all along was to have a coach in place by the second week of March, and we have done that,” said Kathy Leist, Hamilton City School District assistant superintendent for human resources.

Jacoby actually had been scheduled to be announced as the new coach at a special afternoon board meeting on Feb. 25. Those plans were scrapped that morning because Jacoby had taken a personal day from his job as dean of students at Hamilton Township High School, and there was a question whether a personal day could be used for employment purposes.

“We didn’t want to do anything that could put him in a bad situation or create any kind of issue for him with his home district,” Dellapina said.

Tuesday night after the board meeting, Jacoby said he had nothing but praise for the way the whole process was handled.

“This whole interview process has been great,” he said. “Everybody is very interested in doing what’s best for the school district and the kids here, and that’s what has drawn me to this school district.”

ontact this reporter at (513) 820-2193 or jmorrison@coxohio.com.

Bob Jacoby

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