WINDSOR – The competition has begun even though the search hasn’t.

Bertie High School is in the process of preparing to officially advertise their Head Football Coach vacancy, but already BHS Principal G. Fisher Mitchell has begun to receive applications for the post. The Falcons are looking for a new coach after Tony Hoggard resigned last month to accept an administrative post.

“We are in the midst of finishing the first semester right now and our focus is on testing,” Mitchell said. “We’re working on the football post, but right now our main focus all day and all night is testing.”

The principal said an official posting of the job would happen in the next two weeks and at that time, he would begin work on filling the vacancy. Even so, he has already received two applications for the post, both of whom have head coaching experience.

While the principal has not begun the coaching search in earnest, Mitchell has made decisions about how he will proceed with filling the post.

“We’re going to put together a committee that will have representation from the school and the community,” Mitchell said. “We want to have a wide array of input as we move forward.”

The principal said he was currently starting to decide the makeup of the committee and would be contacting prospective members in the near future. The first charge of that group will be to decide what kind of person and coach the school will be looking for.

“We need to sit down and decide what characteristics are important in our next football coach,” Mitchell said. “After that, we will develop a vacancy announcement tailored to what we have decided is in the best interest of our student-athletes.”

While candidates can apply now if they wish, Mitchell said it could pose some issues.

“A candidate can certainly apply now, but they may not know exactly what we’re looking for since the committee hasn’t determined that,” he said. “If they do, they could provide add-ons later once we have made a public vacancy notice.”

Mitchell said he did feel the Bertie High job would receive a lot of interest because of the history of success. The Falcons won state titles in 1995 and 2000 and recently dedicated the Roy L. Bond Jr. Football Stadium in honor of their late coach.

“I think anyone who applies for a job would be wise to look at the history,” Mitchell said. “I’m certainly proud of our success on the football field, especially in 1995 since I was principal of the school that year.”

Mitchell said selecting a new coach would be the next step in his bid to recreate 1995 at Bertie High School. He said that year was one of the most successful at Bertie in many ways.

“Everything we touched turned to gold that year,” he said. “We had great success athletically, including that state football championship, our SAT scores went up and our parental involvement was at an all-time high. We had the community behind us. Well, not behind us, but beside us because they were here and involved in what was going on.

“My dream is to see that again with academics, athletics and the arts all at the top of their game,” he said. “We want an all-around school.

With a laugh he added, “That’s my dream, but we have to do it quickly because I’m an old man now.”

The next piece of that puzzle will be putting the right Head Football Coach in place and that process will begin in the next few weeks.