MINERVA When Minerva High School started looking for a new head football coach last month, they had specific criteria in place for the ideal candidate.
The Lions think they found everything they wanted in a veteran assistant coach with successful head coaching experience, too.
Mike Hall was approved at a special board of education meeting at 7:15 this morning to take over Minerva’s program. Hall has spent the last seven years as Perry High School’s offensive coordinator, but prior to that, Hall was the head coach at Wickliffe High School.
“We reached out to a phenomenal candidate,” Minerva Superintendent Joe Chaddock said. “The search criteria was No. 1, he had to be an outstanding classroom educator. He needed to have tremendous leadership, character and be an experienced program builder. He, obviously, had to have the X’s and O’s part. And that’s probably the order we looked for. ... Where we’re located in Stark County, our district also goes into Columbiana and Carroll counties and we wanted someone who was the right fit.
“Mike exemplified all the characteristics we were looking for.”
Chaddock is familiar with Hall as a teacher, too. Chaddock was an administrator at Perry when Hall was hired there. Hall is a math teacher and former department head.
Hall coached five teams to the playoffs at Wickliffe, and was the head coach for four of those. He guided Wickliffe to one regional championship game.
Overall, he coached at Wickliffe from 1992 through 2004, spending the last of those five years as the head coach. Hall, a 1987 Warren Harding High School graduate, also was a head baseball coach for six seasons and an assistant wrestling coach.
Minerva does not have a teaching position for Hall, but Chaddock said he will look at retirements within the district for next school year and Hall can apply for a teaching position.
Minerva athletic director Don Spinell had said the district would accept résumés for the position, but also target search as well. Hall was a target-search candidate.
Hall replaces Dale Soles, who resigned after two seasons as Minerva’s head coach.
