Continuously serving Kosciusko County since 1854
AKRON - Tippecanoe Valley's varsity baseball team has had seven winning seasons since the program began in 1975.
Valley's last winning season occurred in 1994.
When Valley hired its last baseball coach, Pat O'Connell, before the 1997 season, O'Connell was the only applicant. O'Connell resigned after the 1999 season to pursue business interests.
With only two sectional championships, Valley can lay no claim to any sort of baseball tradition. Baseball at most Indiana high schools is an afterthought; basketball and football draw the crowds.
Based on the past, coaching Valley baseball could not be viewed as a plum position. Then why has it taken five months for Valley to hire a baseball coach?
Here's why: Valley's school board hired a coach in August. Then the school board later said he wasn't hired because the job wasn't posted properly. The job was posted again. Two people applied in September. One was the same candidate as before. The two candidates went before a school committee. The committee went to the board and recommended the applicant originally chosen in August. The school board tabled the topic at the November board meeting.
At the December board meeting, the board rejected the committee's suggestion to hire the same candidate and asked that the job be posted again.
Whew.
"We should have a baseball coach in place," Tippecanoe Valley Athletic Director Duane Burkhart said. "It doesn't take this long to hire teachers. We hired two basketball coaches quicker than this. It's not fair to the kids. They're held in limbo. We have players who would like to be in open gym. Colleges will be hosting hitting and pitching camps over the break."
Burkhart has been trapped in the middle of the whole process as he is the baseball coach who has been chosen twice and rejected twice. He acknowledges a slip-up that occurred during the summer only aggravated the search.
Knowing the school's baseball history and not sensing interest in the job, Burkhart went to the school's interview committee to see if he could take the job. The interview committee, comprising assistant superintendent Dan Kramer, principal Charlie Mills and assistant athletic director Scott Bibler, said yes.
Burkhart had coached Valley's varsity baseball team before and was the winningest coach in the school's history. He coached from 1986 through 1991. Of the school's seven winning years, Burkhart coached four of them, from 1988 through 1991. The Vikings won the 1987 sectional under him and won two tournaments.
He thought he was more than qualified, and this is why he asked in July to take the job. The committee, which accepted him as the candidate, presented him to the school board, which accepted him as coach in August.
But Burkhart never officially posted the job opening, and someone else was interested, Tippecanoe Valley Middle School teacher Scott Backus. Backus played baseball for Valley, has coached middle school football the past two years and coached pony league teams. Backus was offered the junior varsity baseball coaching job last year and turned it down.
The school's union, headed by teacher Wayne Landis, challenged and said Burkhart should not be accepted because the opening never was posted properly and kept Backus from getting a shot.
Burkhart's hire as baseball coach was overturned with instruction that he properly post the job.
"It was not posted because I was informed by the upper administration it didn't need to be because I had coached previous," he explained. "I went through the chain of command, went to my superiors.
"If you want to call it an honest mistake, fine. I'm not perfect, and I don't claim to be perfect."
Said Mills: "I accept blame as well for it not getting posted. The job had been open awhile. It had not been officially posted as far as in the community, but at the school, it was understood by the teachers and coaches we had an opening. No one was coming forward to say they wanted the opportunity."
On the same August night the school board named Burkhart baseball coach, it also hired a band director. Burkhart claims the position of band director never was posted, yet the union never challenged this hiring.
"And that's a curriculum position," Burkhart said, "not a $3,000 baseball coaching position."
The job was posted. Two people applied, Backus and Burkhart. Each interviewed in late September. The interview committee recommended to the board that Burkhart be hired as the varsity coach and Backus as the junior varsity coach.
The board tabled the matter at the November board meeting, citing reservations over Burkhart as coach.
At the December board meeting, the school board rejected Burkhart as varsity coach. Because Burkhart was rejected, the school again is looking for a varsity baseball coach. The deadline to apply is Wednesday.
So far, one person has applied: Backus. Burkhart has no plans to apply a third time.
"I do not consider myself a candidate right now," he said.
By its actions, the school board has made it clear it does not want Burkhart as coach. Four months ago the board accepted him as coach; now he has posted the job, applied for it and gotten rejected. He does not know what could have changed in a few months.
"The last five months, I've been torn from one end of the spectrum to the other, that everything was OK to the union having concerns about me as coach," he said.
He says no board member has come out and said why it refuses to accept him as coach.
"Nothing's ever been to communicated to me," he said. "One board member told me, 'Duane, if you talk to 10 people about you, five are for you and five are against you.' I said, 'I like 5 out of 10. I'll take that any day.'"
He has proof of support, as he showed seven letters written on his behalf, most letters from ex-Valley athletes or parents of athletes.
At the December board meeting, Tim Schwenk, a parent of a Tippecanoe Valley baseball player, said Burkhart should not be hired as coach because he already serves as athletic director. This is the closest thing to explanation Burkhart has received from the board.
"I met with the board (Dec. 13)," he said. "Nothing was pinpointed concerning coaching ability. They said some patrons were concerned about me being an athletic director and being a coach.
"How about Mark Miller at Rochester? He is the athletic director at Rochester, and they have a successful football program. Bill Sharpe at Jimtown. He's the football coach there. Tom Finicle is the athletic director at Southwood. His volleyball teams are always outstanding. Bill Nixon is the athletic director at Plymouth. He coached baseball for 30-some years."
But Burkhart says Tippecanoe Valley superintendent Karen Boling asked the school board about the dual roles in July.
"She asked if they had a problem with me being coach and athletic director," he said. "In July, the feedback was no. At least that's what I was told. If they would have originally said to me there were concerns, I never would have applied."
Other reasons given to not choose name Burkhart include the mistake he made in July of not advertising the job and that because people knew he wanted it, they were too intimidated to come forward and apply.
"I can't be too intimidating," Burkhart said. "A teacher here at the school applied."
Mills claims he has not been told why the board turned Burkhart down.
"No one has expressed any concerns whatsoever about Duane as athletic director or teacher," Mills said. "He has done an excellent job. The only letters I have received are letters that support Duane.
"This is my ninth year at Tippecanoe Valley. I cannot think of a teacher, custodian or coach recommended by the committee who had been turned down by the school board up until this point."
What Burkhart claims he wants to be is up front with everything that has happened. At least three times Burkhart said "there is no rift."
"With the articles that have come out, I don't want people reading between the lines, thinking the worst," he said. "I've had a lot of calls asking what is going on. Just because the board did not accept the recommendation of the committee, I don't want people thinking there is a rift between me and the board. I don't have problems personally or professionally with the board or the administration. There has been no personal turmoil for me, no sour grapes on my behalf. I want all of our sports teams to have the best available to them.
"I want to have everything in the open, all the cards on the table so people aren't thinking the worst about the school or myself.
"This is not a push by me to be coach. I've lost interest in it now. I hope we have a large pool of candidates."
