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Nagel hopes to name new grid coach by April 18 By Joe Zavala Ashland Daily Tidings Ashland High School Athletic Director Jim Nagel and the rest of a six-member committee will select the next Grizzly football coach out of a pool of "about eight" applicants, with the new coach to be named in about two weeks, Nagel said Thursday. The school stopped accepting applications for the job Tuesday, and Nagel, who coached Ashland for 20 years before resigning in December, said the response was strong. "I'm real pleased," he said in a phone interview. "I'm probably more pleased with the quality that I've talked to. Some (applicants) have got considerable head coaching experience and there's just some people with some good backgrounds. I get a good feeling from a couple that I've talked to on the phone." Nagel declined to name any applicants because he said they don't want their current employers to know they're job hunting. But, Nagel said five of the applicants are Oregonians, the rest are from California and none hail from the Rogue Valley. The committee, which consists of Nagel, AHS principal Jeff Schlecht, community member Vance Littleton, Grizzly football player David Morris, assistant football coach Dave Kitchell and AHS physical education teacher Stephanie Santos, today will begin the process of reviewing the applications and deciding which should be considered finalists. Eventually, the committee will recommend "a couple" finalists to Ashland School District Superintendent Juli Di Chiro, who will make the final decision. Nagel said he hopes a new coach will be chosen by April 18, but said that's only a soft deadline. "I feel like I want to have flexibility," Nagel said. "We're not in that big of a hurry." Nagel added that whoever does become the new coach will also be offered by the district a job as an Ashland High physical education teacher, a position open because longtime P.E. teacher Tim Brown is retiring. "That's huge," Nagel said. "It's critical. Those teaching positions don't come around that often, particularly in these times." LINKS: DAILY TIDINGS: Main | News | Sports | Business | Obituaries | Opinion | Columnists | AP News | Subscribe | Archives | Weather | Classifieds | Contact Us | Privacy REVELS: Main | Calendar | Dining | Movies | T.V. OTHER: Road Cams Copyright 2003 Ashland Daily Tidings 541.482.3456. 1661 Siskiyou Blvd., Ashland, OR 97520. Ottaway Newspapers, Inc. - Advertisers -