Barring a show of resistance by the school board Monday night, the next football coach at Norman High has already been determined.

Nonetheless, it appears the only people with knowledge of that candidate’s identity are the six members of the search committee charged with recommending Butch Peters’ successor to the board and none were talking Friday.

The committee includes district superintendent Dr. Joseph Siano, assistant superintendent Pat Nolen, district athletic director Frank Thompson, NHS athletic coordinator Lucious Selmon, NHS principal Dr. Lynne Chesley and director of secondary education Roger Brown.

Wednesday, asked if a hire could come as soon as Monday, Thompson not only said “we’re still a little ways away” but also that the application process had not yet closed.

Despite that, The Transcript learned Friday the name to be given the board at Monday night’s regular meeting has already been determined. The Transcript also learned the identities, as told by several sources who were part of the interview process or very familiar with it, of six different coaches to have been interviewed.

The sources who confirmed the candidates’ identities believe they are the only six to have been interviewed.

Two include B.W. Trenary and Kevin Ball, both of whom were assistants on Peters’ staff. Trenary coached the offensive backfield and maintained the title of offensive coordinator, while Ball coached defensive backs and maintained the defensive coordinator title.

The four other interviewees include recently resigned Skiatook coach Scott Kempenich, a former offensive lineman at Oklahoma; three-year Chickasha coach Steve Chard; Chad Davis, a one-time Gary Gibbs quarterback recruit at OU and one-time Plainview coach, who spent last season as offensive coordinator at Central Oklahoma; and Greg Nation, an assistant at Sapulpa last season.

It’s very doubtful the coach to be recommended has been alerted to his good fortune. Friday night, Ball, Trenary and Chard were reached by The Transcript, each still hoping he would receive good news soon.

“They told us they would name that individual Monday at the board meeting and that somebody on the committee would call us and let us know,” Trenary said.

The board’s attorney, Buddy Pendarvis, said Friday he didn’t think even the board members would be told of the recommendation in advance of the meeting. Instead, it would be communicated in executive session Monday night, with the vote to follow, perhaps quite late.

Few head coaches

On the face of it, very interesting is the fact that none of those interviewed were head coaches in Class 6A last season, only two were head coaches at all — Kempenich and Chard — and only one — Chard — is slated to run the same program he ran last season should he not be hired by NHS.

That could have something to do with the compensation package available to anybody who might step into Peters’ shoes, as well as the schedule that person will be expected to fulfill.