PARKERSBURG - Parkersburg High School officials say they have received a number of inquiries regarding the vacant head football coaching position, which was posted on Friday.

In a Friday interview with The Parkersburg News and Sentinel, PHS Principal Ralph Board and Athletics Director Richard Lance said in addition to inquiries from West Virginia and Ohio, they also have been contacted -either by telephone or e-mail -by coaches from Florida, South Carolina, Texas, North Carolina, Virginia, New York, Indiana and Michigan.

However, school officials are skeptical that all those inquiring about the job actually will apply.

"I don't think people understand how football coaches here are paid,'' Board said. "In some states such as Texas, coaching football is the only thing the individual does. The salary for being the football coach at Parkersburg High School is $4,347, and there is no teaching job associated with the position. Unless this is someone's lifetime ambition, I don't see them applying.''

PHS officials explained in detail how the process for selecting the next coach of the Big Reds will work.

Once the job was posted on Friday at the Wood County Schools Web site, it must remain there for five working days. Since school won't be in session during the Christmas and New Year's holidays, the final day of the posting will be Jan. 5, 2010.

Board said once the posting has closed, the names of those who apply will be made available to the public.

It will then be up to a four-member committee to sort through the applications and resumes and determine who among those applying meet the requirements to be a coach in West Virginia.

That committee will consist of Principal Board and the last three men to serve as athletics director at PHS - Lance, the current AD; Jim Hamric, who retired and was succeeded by Lance; and Mike Hayden, who held the position before leaving to become executive director of the West Virginia Secondary School Activities Commission and being succeeded by Hamric.

The goal of committee members is to finalize the selection of the coach by late January in the hopes of submitting their recommendation to the Wood County Board of Education at its Jan. 26 meeting.

Board said the committee's goal will be to hire the best quality coach among the applications.

"There is a lot that encompasses that,'' he said. "We will review the resumes and go through the interview process.''

Ever since the resignation of Bernie Buttrey, PHS officials have been receiving feedback about the position.

"No matter what decision is made, we are going to make someone angry,'' Board said. "There are strong feelings about certain individuals. There will be a faction that will be upset, but we will all have to come together.''

Given the longevity of most PHS football coaches, Board and Lance said committee members understand it is likely they are choosing the leader of the PHS football program for the next five to 10 years.

Board, who expects even more public feedback once the names of those who apply have been made public, emphasized no one has been promised the position or told they will be the next coach, which would go against established procedures.

Both Board and Lance praised the performance of Buttrey, who won back-to-back state titles during his eight-year tenure. They noted his emphasis on offseason weight training has turned the position into a 12-month job, expanding even further the duties of the head football coach.

Administrators are aware of the high visibility both of the Big Red football program in general and the PHS head football coach in particular.

"The most visible positions at Parkersburg High School are the football coach, the boys basketball coach, the choir director, the band director and the principal,'' Board said.

Board understands and supports the emphasis placed on athletics in Parkersburg, which was the runner-up in ESPN's TitleTown USA competition in 2008. But he wishes the public took as much interest in teaching positions as it does coaching vacancies.

"I never get a phone call about who to hire for a chemistry position,'' he said.

Contact Dave Poe at dpoe@newsandsentinel.com