Brought to you by WBIW News and Network Indiana
Last updated on Tuesday, December 18, 2012
(SALEM) - Salem High School will soon be on the hunt for a new athletic director.
Chad Fleetwood of the Leader-Democrat reports that Superintendent Lynn Reed informed school board members that Myron Moriarity, who stepped down as head football coach at the conclusion of last season, plans to return to Bloomington South High School at the end of the academic year.
Moriarity has accepted an offer to return as the Panthers' head football coach and will also serve as an assistant athletic director at Bloomington South.
Moriarity says the move will take him closer to family that live in Martinsville and Bloomington had been his home for more than 19 years.
Moriarity, better known as Coach Mo, spent 15 years as the Panthers' head coach, leading South to two state championships and one state runners-up title before departing to take a job as an assistant coach on the Indiana University football staff from 2002-04. That opportunity ended when IU made a head coaching change, and Moriarity took over as head coach at Carmel High School for five years.
Moriarity led that program to the state finals each of his final four seasons at the helm, and won his third championship in 2007. In 2010, former IU Head Coach Bill Lynch tapped Moriarity to be the Hoosiers' offensive line coach, but that gig ended when Lynch was fired at the conclusion of that season. Coach Mo then was lured to take over the SHS program by the late Randy Johnson.
Coach Mo says Johnson was the reason he came to Salem. Then he learned of his top assistants and offensive coordinator Blair Thompson had cancer.
"Those were things we didn't have any control over, but we had to navigate through them the best we could," he added.
Coach Mo says another factor that swayed his decision to return to Bloomington South was that he'd be working with some familiar faces and he will not having to teach them his offense and defense. But there is still a lot of work to restore the Panthers' program to its former glory.
Steve Motsinger says the school board's focus will be on finding the right candidates for the long run. The position will be posted for about a month, then the administration will go through the applications and start interviews. They will narrow the field to three final candidates for the boards review.
Having to fill the two positions that will ultimately be vacated upon Moriarity's departure may also have an impact on the board's search for the Lions' next head coach.
1340 AM WBIW welcomes comments and suggestions by calling 812.277.1340 during normal business hours or by email at comments@wbiw.com
© Ad-Venture Media, Inc. All Rights Reserved.