Stevens steps up as Louise athletic director
By KRIS BAGLEY sports@leader-news.com

L-N Photo by Kris Bagley The Head Hornet Mark Stevens makes the transition from defensive coordinator to head coach of Louise's football team as athletic director.

Louise welcomed the newest head Hornet Wednesday.

A district press release Wednesday announced Mark Stevens is the new athletic director and head football coach, effective immediately.

Stevens came to Louise as defensive coordinator in 2005 when Rodney Dowell came on to lead Louise's athletic department.

After Dowell resigned from the position Feb. 19, Superintendent Andy Peters made clear his preference to hire from within the athletic department. After Stevens applied, there was little deliberation and Peters got his man.

"My wife (Michelle) and I are so comfortable being here and love the community so much and our kids are so involved," Stevens said. "We felt - and this was before anything ever happened with Rodney - that this was the place we wanted to raise our kids. We had no plans of ever going anywhere. When Rodney resigned, they gave a deadline of March 1 for anyone on the current staff to apply and as far as I know, I was the only one to apply. I applied on Friday and on Tuesday, I had my formal interview with the superintendent and principals."

During the meeting, Stevens talked about where he hoped to take the athletic program. Those expecting great change with Louise's new hire may be disappointed, or more likely, considering the department's recent successes, pleased to know Stevens' desire is to stay the course.

"We feel like we are definitely going in the right direction," Stevens said. "I think that was one positive for me applying for the job. A whole lot of change isn't necessary right now. The direction the program is going in, one of my big things is that I want to keep it going in the same direction."

Part of Stevens' hope of continuity is to keep all of Louise's current coaches. Coach Craig Jackson accepted an athletic director position at Booker and Coach Lisa Koenig resigned for a family move. Stevens hopes everyone else will remain at Louise.

"I want to make sure that the coaches that are currently on staff are taken care of so they feel like they're wanted and want to stay," Stevens said. "We're hoping that all the coaches that are currently on staff are going to stay. I haven't met individually with them yet. I've met them with as a group. We're going to be evaluating each coach, but it's my hope that we maintain our current coaching staff as much as possible."

Maintaining a strong family-like atmosphere, Stevens said, is important for his coaching staff. His goal is to mirror his former boss in that area.

"Good athletic directors take care of the people that are coaching for them and Rodney has always taken care of us," Stevens said. "We've always been like a family. He wanted what was best, not just for me, but for the kids. He felt like, and I felt like too, what was best for our kids in this situation was for me to take over.

"It was best for our kids so that a lot of changes didn't take place and it was best for the coaches on staff. We have a good, strong coaching staff. With me taking over, it gave some stability in our program."

Dowell was unavailable for comment, but made it clear earlier that he felt Stevens was the right hire for Louise.

"Coach Dowell gets all the credit for the turnaround of our program and the direction that it's in," Stevens said. "He did a tremendous job and I learned a lot from him. I know that wherever he goes, he's going to go to another Louise somewhere else, turn another program around and keep impacting kids in a positive way. He's going to go off to bigger and exciting things and I think it's going to be a win-win for everybody."

Even as head football coach, Stevens does not plan to change much for the Hornets. The team will run similar schemes in the Fall whether he coaches offense or stays as defensive coordinator.

The first interviews for the vacant coordinator position start next week. Stevens said he will decide his own coaching spot based on his new hire's strength.

"I do have some guys that are going to be coming in and interviewing and I'm going to be looking for a right-hand man for a coordinator," Stevens said. "I'm comfortable coaching both sides of the football. I've been an offensive coordinator before and I've been a defensive coordinator, so it's whatever is best for the program.

"I've got a guy coming in next week who is awesome and he's a defensive coordinator. If I can convince him to take the job, than I'll go over to the offensive side. If that doesn't work out and there's a good offensive coordinator, then I'll stay with the defense. That's not a big deal to me. The big deal is that I get somebody in here who is very knowledgeable."

Stevens met with the football team during Thursday's athletic period to officially inform them of the shift in leadership. The players met the announcement with applause and excitement for their coach.

Louise's potential for the 2008 season makes Stevens enthusiastic about coaching football. After an 8-4 season and first-round playoff win in 2007, Stevens said the Hornets have a goal of even greater success.

"What has me the most excited about next year is that we have such a great (incoming) senior class and the work they put in," the new head coach said. "We have the opportunity to better what we did last year. We had what we felt like was a very magical season last year, especially with some of the injuries we had, to go as far as we did and have some of the success we had.

"We feel like, going into this year, our expectations are to surpass what we did last year. We're looking for it to be very fun and exciting. We've got the kids that can do it, without a doubt."