Charles Rich
Resumes are stacked on desks like pancakes on a plate.
There's fire in the eyes of high school principals and athletic
directors, each of whom must comb through the information in search
of making the proper coaching hires. It's not considered the easiest
part of the job, since the choices are sure to draw praise or
criticism from the media, alumni and other outlets.
It's a painstaking and timely process in which careful navigation
on a windy road must pass through lengthy interviews and background
checks. A comfort level must result in a perfect match between the
school's administration and pending coach.
Should an on-campus instructor be brought into the coaching
equation, or will a walk-on be sufficient?
It depends on who is doing the hiring. Hands are sure to be tied
in some cases.
Hoover High Co-Principal Kevin Welsh said he'd prefer to hire an
on-campus coach, but opted to look elsewhere for a boys' basketball
coach after Kirt Kohlmeier stepped down June 3 following 24 seasons.
Welsh chose Vigen Jilizian, a 1988 Hoover graduate who had
previously served as an assistant coach at Alhambra High and Glendale
Community College. Jilizian will continue to teach world history
full-time at Alhambra, and make the journey to coach at Hoover.
TIME TO TALK
Three candidates applied for the Hoover job, which, by school
district policy, must be posted for two weeks. Once the extensive
background checks were completed, the interview process began.
The interviews were conducted by Welsh, Lena Kortoshian, who is
the assistant principal in charge of athletics, and Athletic Director
Jack Van Patten. Eye contact was made with the candidates while
asking questions on topics pertaining to organizational skills,
education and teaching styles employed in the classrooms.
"There isn't a lot of [coaching] turnover in the boys' basketball
program," said Welsh, who hired Jilizian on June 27. "Vigen asked
good questions that pertained to things like what are the
expectations from the administration to the support levels brought to
the program. You have to make sure you give them a level of support.
"We hope to offer Vigen a teaching position in the future. We
didn't have the right combination in terms of finding a world history
teaching job at Hoover for him right now, but we felt he'd be the
best candidate for the coaching job."
Jilizian, a La Crescenta resident, has ties to Hoover. The
33-year-old played two seasons under Kohlmeier under the surname of
