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Nagel: Coldiron is leading candidate By Joe Zavala Ashland Daily Tidings Former El Monte High coach David Coldiron is the leading candidate to succeed Jim Nagel as Ashland High varsity football coach, but nothing will be finalized until after Coldiron's final visit to Ashland this weekend. Nagel, who's also the AHS athletic director, confirmed this morning that he notified Coldiron of the school's decision today and said he hopes to name a new coach this weekend. Coldiron, 40, who's currently teaching at Oxnard (Calif.) High, was described last week by Nagel as a coach who has "spent a lot of time with USC and their coaching staff learning, and has just spent a lot of time in the Los Angeles area going to clinics, meeting with people, learning the passing game." Coldiron was one of eight people who applied for the job. That list included the other finalist, Shea Little, a 30-year-old former NFL offensive lineman who turned around the Baker High program and is currently the defensive coordinator, athletic director and varsity baseball coach at Culver High. Leary of naming Coldiron the coach before the final visit, Nagel said there's still work to be done. "He's our leading candidate and we're going to have more talks," Nagel said. "I think you could say an offer has been extended, and (Coldiron) is going to take a second visit to Ashland and is going to meet with the superintendent (Juli Di Chiro) and make a decision probably this weekend." Nagel and Ashland High principal Jeff Schlecht interviewed colleagues of both Coldiron and Little over the weekend and on Tuesday, and were pleased with the results of those interviews. "Both confirmed everything we thought about the candidate's positive abilities, so we feel right now that we've got two excellent choices," Nagel said. "Yeah, I think we've got a primary and a secondary choice at this time and we feel good about both. � I think it went very, very well. I'm very pleased. As I initially indicated, the number of candidates was not large, but we felt we had several quality candidates and through further interviews we've confirmed that they are indeed quality people." During the final visit to Ashland, Coldiron will also meet Di Chiro for the first time and go over the particulars. "(Di Chiro) will meet with him and talk a little bit of money - contract - then we want them to make sure Ashland is a fit for him and will be for a number of years." 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 -