Santa Fe High's revolving door

I'll give Santa Fe Public Schools athletic director Skip Hemperley credit for acknowledging the problem that exists with the Santa Fe High football program. He recognizes that the instability with head coaches only leads to instability within the program.
But what qualities does the school have that makes it attractive to a prospective coach?
It had a coach who maintained that Santa Fe High was the only job he wanted - Mike Ulibarri - then he left when the school was about to force him to move from the physical education department to special education.
The weight room is small and cramped for a group of 40 or 50 players to work out.
Ivan Head Stadium certainly has some charm, but it's a relic still stuck in the 1970s. Heck, it took the school district until this year to replace the school's original scoreboard!
The school has gone through four principals in the last six years and nine athletic directors or managers since 2000. One year (2004) saw three ADs come and go.
There also is a leadership gap, meaning athletic manager Ron Shirley. That was punctuated when two boys basketball coaches approach a newspaper to find out where their teams were placed in the Capital City Invitational bracket.
But the program does have one caveat: The coach who turns this program around will be carted around the city as a hailing hero. And that would happen simply by producing a winning season, which Santa Fe High has done once since 1986. A bronze statue might be erected of him if the Demons get into the playoffs for the first time since ... 1986.
But any kind of success there will open avenues for other jobs, probably with better and more stable programs, because coaches know how disfunctional the program has been.
Let's face it, even if (and it's still an if) the school moves to AAAA ,which is scheduled for the 2010 season, it will still have to compete against a steady and much healthier Capital program and a clearly superior Los Alamos team. The Demons also will have to deal with the perception that District 2AAAA is one of the worst in AAAA (only District 3AAAA with Santa Teresa, Deming, Silver and Chaparral is worse from top to bottom).
If there is a coach in the state who truly relishes a challenge, this is the job for you.

Let's talk about two of my favorite things ...

Basketball and the weather.
As if you needed me to tell you, basketball courts will be silent in Northern N.M. because of all the schools closings. Those games will be made up later in the season at various times. Hopefully, we can report those to you.
Now ...
As for the weather, the National Weather Service indicates that Santa Fe has a 40 percent chance of precipitation tonight, but the second wave of snow will hit the area by Wednesday night and continue into Thursday. At least 18 inches of white stuff (and that's not the stuff you put in an envelope and mail to the Capital) is expected in the second wave. So that would put the start of many tournaments in jeopardy, especially Capital's Al Armendariz Classic and the Ben Lujan tourney.
I will try to keep you abreast of any changes.