Hilton Head High getting close to naming new football coach

Athletics director Mark Karen said Thursday finalists were being interviewed this week and that he would be ready as early as next week to make an offer. Karen said the offer would first require district approval.

He said members of the football program met Wednesday to discuss the state of the team and program.

Hilton Head High has been without a head coach since Nov. 22, when the school fired Tim Singleton after nine seasons. Singleton came under fire during a 4-7 campaign in which he allowed nine transfer students to participate in scrimmages before they became eligible and for his participation as president of the nonprofit mentoring group Strive to Excel.

Karen said this month he wanted the Seahawks' next head coach to work in the school building on a day-to-day basis. Singleton was not a certified teacher or a full-time school employee.

"I want my head coaches to be in the building, because they have a stronger pulse of the students they keep up with, not just athletically but academically," Karen said. "When the kids are aware that the head football coach is in the building, you cut down on the number of discipline problems that you might have."