Before you start reading, I have a favor to ask, and I want to lay it out here right from the beginning. When you finish reading this, I really want to hear from you. I’d love to hear your opinion in the comments area or on Twitter. I spoke with a couple colleagues about this topic the other day, and it has already been interesting to hear some different perspectives. That being said, let me get started by telling you a few stories.

A number of years back, I interviewed for a coordinator position at a small school in Texas, and I really thought I nailed it. Seriously. I crushed it. I have interviewed for a lot of jobs, and I have never felt as good about an interview as I felt about that one. I met with the head football coach and the building principal, and after about 3 or 4 hours, I walked out extremely confident that I would be getting a call from the head coach with a job offer. Two days later I got the call… “Coach, we’re going in a different direction.”

A few years later, I had the opportunity to talk to him about it. “Your interview was great. Very impressive. You were very driven. The problem was that you were going to jump at the opportunity to be a head football coach, and you probably weren’t going to be around very long.”

Here’s another story. One time I was at football clinic, and I was listening to an athletic director as he sat around in the lobby telling stories. There was a crowd of us younger coaches listening to him, and one of his stories stuck with me. He told us about a hiring committee that he was once a part of and the head football coach that they had hired.  The committee interviewed a lot of candidates, and they narrowed it down to their two finalists. One was a small town head coach with a very average record. The other was also a small town head coach that had won a couple state championships in recent years. They ended up going with the “average record” guy. I have had the opportunity to meet the guy they hired. He’s a good man, and he’s a fine coach. Judging by the success that he has had in all of the years since he was hired, I am sure that district is very happy with their hire.

What of the other guy? The other guy went on to win a few more state championships, and he ended up becoming a head coach at the NCAA Divison I level. I asked the A.D. what the difference was when they made that hire. “We knew he wouldn’t stick around very long. That was a big factor in the decision-making process.” I wanted to follow up by asking if, knowing the success of the other coach, he regretted the decision, but I did not know him that well, and I did not feel like it was my place to ask that type of a question.

Here’s another story. I spoke with a campus principal a while back. I was getting some advice as I was considering making a move into administration. He talked about “fit” and “timing” and how important those were in the hiring process. He spoke of a hire that he needed to make at the time. He was in need of a department chair for his English department. He said he had a very qualified woman in that department already, but he had a concern. “She would do a great job, but I am concerned that it would just be a stepping stone because I know she wants to be an administrator. We need someone that will stay here and grow with us and help us move our department forward.” I never asked him what he ended up doing, but I’d like to know.

One last story. Almost two years ago, I interviewed for the head wrestling position at a great high school in an incredible district where I really wanted to work. My family and I had been struggling with the decision to step away from coaching football, and this was an opportunity that would allow me to keep coaching kids, move back to an area where we really wanted to raise our family, work in an awesome school district, and decide if pursuing administration was something I really wanted to do. I met with the principal, and she had one concern. “I know that you’ve been pursuing administrative positions. If I hire you, are you going to leave us next spring for an AP position?” I thought it was a fair question. She had just experienced the unexpected loss of a really well-liked wrestling coach due to some family matters that required him to move, and she didn’t want to have to hire three coaches in as many years. I totally got it. It was a great opportunity for me and my family, so I guaranteed her that I would not apply for an administrative position until I had her blessing. She gave me the job.

A year later, she hired me to be an assistant principal on the same campus.

I know there are a lot of things that go into making great hires, and I am not questioning or judging any of the hires (or non-hires) that I have presented here. I am only presenting them as conversation starters. Each of the leaders I’ve talked about is well-respected, and they have great track records of success in excellent school districts. I wrote this blog because I am genuinely curious about best practices in hiring. I’ve only had to make one hire, and that was the assistant wrestling coach that ended up replacing me when I took my current position. In my new role as an administrator, hiring is going to be part of the gig. Obviously, I have my campus principal and the rest of our admin team to lean on as I go through that process in the future, but I’d love to learn more.

This is where you come in.

What are your thoughts? How important is timing? How important is a person’s willingness to stay long-term even if they’re a “rock star?” What makes someone the “best candidate?” Is it a “bad” thing if you keep hiring people, and they keep leaving for promotions/better jobs? Does this look different in the “business” world?

I can’t wait to hear your thoughts. Thank you so much for taking the time to read and share this post!