Shawn French, who teaches physical education at Oxbow High, coaches golf and baseball, and previously served as co-athletic director in the early 2000s, has been tabbed as the school’s interim athletic director.
Orange East Supervisory Union Superintendent Heather Lawler, citing the start of the basketball season, described the move as an “emergency fill-in” at a recent OESU board meeting.
Earlier this month, Bill Hopkins resigned effective Jan. 4 due to health reasons.
Hopkins had been hired just in August to replace Heidi Wright, the high school’s former athletic director, who left the role in the summer.
French said in a phone interview on Tuesday that he recognized the athletic department was in a crisis.
“We, as in the school, were going to be caught in a situation where there was nobody for an extended period of time, and they were going to have to have principals and whoever they could basically, covering things. It was going to be a bad situation for all of the coaches, the student athletes, and everybody,” he said. “This would be kind of the best case scenario to at least get us through without too many complications,” he added.
French said he was not interested in taking on the role further than the interim basis.
Lawler wrote to the Valley News on Tuesday: “We are deeply grateful to Shawn French, Oxbow PE teacher and baseball coach, for taking on this temporary position. Winter sports would not have been possible without him.”
There are eight applicants for the permanent position, though Lawler said at the board meeting that interviews might not begin until February, due to the holidays and scheduling conflict.
Lawler said at the meeting that the plan is for French to remain in the interim role through the spring, or until a permanent replacement is hired.
“If the selected candidate by the board is able to start sooner, that would be fine. But the current MOU that I have signed for Shawn is for the rest of the year,” Lawler said.
CORRECTION: An earlier version of this story included an incorrect file photograph. It showed Oxbow assistant coach Brad DeGoosh at a baseball game in May 2024.