Conway High School starting over in its search for an athletic director to replace Chuck Jordan

The search for a new athletics director has not gone as smoothly as Conway High School hoped.

All three finalists for the position are no longer immediate candidates, Principal Steven Fitch said Wednesday. He also said the school’s search committee will convene again and possibly need to re-post the position.

Conway will look at other options, as well.

“We’re in a position where we may appoint an interim,” Fitch said. “We’re going to look at some point getting the committee back together again. … Going back to where the committee and the administration are at this time, we’re not looking to make a recommendation at this time.”

On March 4, Horry County Schools released the names of the three finalists: Summerville basketball coach Greg Elliott, LaSalle-Peru (Ill.) Athletics Director D’Wayne Bates and Rock Hill basketball coach and Assistant Athletics Director Eric Rollings. Fitch would not elaborate as to why none of those three will get the job, or if it had been offered to anyone.

However, Rollings told The Sun News he withdrew his name from consideration last Monday. When reached Wednesday, Elliott said he had been informed earlier today that he would not be getting the job. Bates has not responded to multiple requests seeking comment.

It was the school’s goal to announce one of those three men as soon as Thursday, the day of the district’s final board meeting prior to spring break. That won’t happen, and Fitch said he is unsure of an updated timeline moving forward.

Chuck Jordan, also the school’s football coach, announced his resignation from the athletics director position on Dec. 17. The job was posted two days later, with applications accepted until Jan. 19.

The original applicant pool included 64 people, seven of which were current district employees.

Those 64 were trimmed to Elliott, Bates and Rollings. The latter two were also finalists for the same opening at Carolina Forest that went to Tripp Satterwhite from South View (N.C.) in late February.

Fitch said he wouldn’t rule out any of his three finalists coming back into the picture.

“They were certainly our finalists at that point in time,” he said. “We had to close that. When you re-open it, it depends on who applies. I guess anything’s possible.”

In the meantime, Fitch reiterated that the position is not sitting idle.

Jordan is under contract through the end of the school year and has continued to serve in his administrative capacity. Jordan took over the football and athletics director positions in 1983, and he has accepted an assistant principal position in addition to his football duties for 2015-2016. He was recently honored as the Class AAAA Athletic Director of the Year by the South Carolina Association for Athletic Administrators.

“He’s in charge,” Fitch said. “There’s nothing wrong with the way he’s running things.”

If the school does go the interim route, it wouldn’t be an unheard-of practice. Carolina Forest used Marion Shaw and Roger Dixon, two long-time district employees, in its top sports job while Boe Rainbow was on medical leave.

This is also not the first time a local school making major sports hire has had to call an audible after announcing finalists. Last spring, the three finalists for the St. James football job withdrew from that search, prompting the school to name Robby Brown its interim coach.

Brown was given the job full-time in December.

This story was originally published March 25, 2015 at 3:18 PM with the headline "Conway High School starting over in its search for an athletic director to replace Chuck Jordan."