Bo Black wanted to make sure everyone knew he wasn’t out looking for a job. But when one came his way, he found it too good an opportunity to pass on.
After just one season as the head football coach at Hays High School, Black accepted the same position at Class 6A Shawnee Mission Northwest High School. He will remain on to coach track and field at HHS this spring before leaving.
“I was contacted by some people I knew in the Shawnee Mission district. Basically, kind of moved forward from there,” Black said. “I’ve been very content and happy in Hays and told them I’ve only been here a year and was in no position to leave but they had a job available for my wife and that caught my interest enough to go up and talk to them and everything happened pretty fast. But it just seems like a good situation and a big challenge ahead and a lot of great opportunities there from a football standpoint.”
Black first received a call shortly after the job came open following the fall football season. He made the decision to accept the position shortly after Christmas.
Black spent one season at Hays High, where he led the Indians to a 7-2 record, including a 4-0 mark in the Western Athletic Conference. In its first season in Class 4A Division I, HHS was 1-2 in district play and missed out on the playoffs.
Prior to coming to Hays, Black spent 13 years as the head football and track and field coach at Great Bend High School, going 83-47 as the football coach. He now will take over a Cougar football program coming off a 2-7 season as part of the Sunflower League.
“There are a lot of jobs coming open and you know a lot of people. I guess the biggest thing I’m trying to convey is I wasn’t out looking for another job,” Black said. “We really like it here. My family really likes it here. But obviously the idea of playing in a 6A district where you have 2,000 kids in your school and four more assistant coaches and practice on turf fields.”
Black’s wife, Stefanie, also is a physical education teacher and will have a job awaiting her in the school district, a significant factor in their decision to move.
As of now, Black, who led the Great Bend girls’ track and field team to the 2007 Class 5A state title, won’t be coaching the sport at Shawnee Mission Northwest, but expressed interest in doing so should the opportunity arise.
“Just a lot of things that make it an intriguing job including the fact that it’s going to be a big rebuilding effort,” Black said. “It seems like a great area for our kids to finish their education and grow up in.”
Hays High will be looking for its third coach in three years after Ryan Cornelsen left for Hutchinson High School following the 2013-14 school year.