Bulldog football coach sacked

Okanogan High School football coach Dale Linklater has been relieved of his coaching duties, with school officials citing poor decision making and a desire for new leadership as reasons.

The Okanogan School Board of Directors decided in May not to renew Linklater's coaching contract. He wil continue as high school counselor.

In response, the Okanogan Education Association (OEA) and its president Gordon Pitts, filed a grievance alleging the school board has to renew Linklater's contract since he had favorable evaluations the last two years.

An arbitrator is expected to rule in the matter after school opens this fall. too late for Linklater, to retain his position should he receive a favorable ruling.

The school, which has been advertising the position since late May, had received four applications as of July 24, said district superintendent Richard Johnson.

Three applicants were from the Omak-Okanogan area and have prior football playing experience and assistant coaching experience, said Johnson.

The fourth applicant for the post which does not include a teaching position, is a retired teacher from Spokane with varsity coaching experience.

OEA's grievance, filed on Linklater's behalf, centers around a coaching evaluation process added to teachers' contracts during contract negotiations two years ago.

"There are several issues," said Linklater, who received positive evaluations the past two years from athletic director Jim Strom and outgoing principal Bob Spiering.

"The OEA needs to find out if there's any validity in extra-curricular evaluations," said Linklater. "If there is, why the dismissal or non-renewal of my contract?

"Basically, there is no just cause for it to take place," said Linklater, who said the school board requested the evaluation process. "I feel our program has been very successful and very positive."

Builds winning record

Linklater came to Okanogan from Grandview, Idaho, in 1978, the same year he began as head football coach.

Linklater-coached teams compiled a 58-44 overall record in 11 seasons, reaching the playoffs (0-3) three times, the last in 1982. They were Caribou Trail League co-champions with Omak and Cashmere in 1981.

The board "asked me to resign in early May," said Linklater, who refused the request.

"I then appealed the decision of non-renewal of the contract but Richard Johnson denied the appeal," said Linklater. "The next thing is to go to an arbitrator."

An arbitrator, who has yet to be named, will have the final say on the issue sometime during football season.

"I was surprised by the grievance being filed," said Johnson, who said Spokane lawyer Bob Winston will represent the school district. "I didn't anticipate that at all."

"We didn't offer him a contract for football this year because the board and I felt like we wanted to change the program," Johnson. "To do this we felt we needed to change the head coach."

"It's just a general change, and I emphasize the word general," said Johnson, who said Linklater's record didn't factor into the decision.

"There's nothing really specific; we just wanted a new person in there bringing in some fresh ideas," said Johnson. "The board felt it was time for a change. It's certainly not a disciplinary action against the coach."

A new coach probably won't be selected for "at least" another week, said Johnson, who said he expects the board to name the new coach at an August 2nd school board meeting.

"We want somebody who can build self esteem in the kids and get them excited in what is going on on the field," said Johnson. "We want a coach who will be fair and consistent and able to make tough decisions."

The teachers' contract stipulates the arbitrator will have the final say and both sides have to agree with the decision, said Johnson.

"I'm assuming if we lost the grievance that Dale would not become head football coach until the following year because we'd be halfway through the season," said Johnson.

"We're not going to switch the head football coach in the middle of the season," said Johnson. "If we start with one person we will stick with that person."

"That's news to me," said Linklater when told if he wins his grievance he won't immediately be reinstated as coach. "I'd have to talk to my legal advisor."

Linklater says he has some decisions to make.

"Do I sit out the season or go find a football job somewhere else?" asked Linklater, who was paid $2,563 last year to coach. "I've got some feelers out but holy cow, it's late in the year."

He adds, "For now, I'm still the high school counselor. But if somebody is going to be terminated it would be nice to know early."

More Counseling Needed

"One reason for pulling Dale from coaching is that we really need a full-time counselor," said school board chairwoman Bonnie Hill.

Hill, who was part of the unanimous school board decision not to renew Linklater's contract, said she felt Linklater spent too much time coaching and not enough giving his attention to students.

Several people have asked, 'Why worry about a football coach when you need a new counselor?'" said Hill. "We going to see if, given the time to be a full-time counselor, if he will turn it around."

But Spiering, who announced his own resignation July 20, said he "would have like to have seen Dale told where the major concerns were and seen if he could improve upon them.

"In the scheme of things at school, Dale was my right-hand man as counselor," said Spiering, who took over as principal in 1981 from Clyde O. Pock.

"In the area of coaching, I thought he's been extremely successful with the number of kids he's had to work with," said Spiering.

Last year Okanogan was the ninth smallest school with 220 students in the 10-member Caribou Trail League. Tonasket had the smallest student body.

"When you consider the number of kids you have to work with and we're in possibly the most competitive football conference in the state, he's done extremely well," said Spiering.

Also at issue is whether a coach can have a contract canceled after receiving positive evaluations.

"Apparently all the coaches in our school were led to believe if they coached for five or three years that they, like teachers, would have tenure," said Hill. "Our understanding of the policy is that coaches don't have tenure. Coaches don't have automatic contracts. It's a new contract every year."

Fight weakens position

Hill said Linklater's hold on the coaching position weakened last fall in the aftermath of a fight between two players. The altercation occurred off the school grounds.

"I think Dale made a poor decision in disciplining" one of the students involved," said Hill, who said Linklater suspended the player for one game after discussing what to do with his players.

The other student was injured and was unable to play.

But Pitts defends Linklater's actions. "Dale followed policy with the kids set by the superintendent," said Pitts, an assistant football coach for four years.

"The situation was so new we didn't quite know what to do," said Pitts. "Johnson told him he couldn't take any action because it was off the school grounds. (Dale) only did what the school board and Dr. Johnson said to do."

Hill remains firm in backing the board's decision to terminate Linklater as coach.

"He's been football coach for several years," she said. "I felt maybe it was time to draw other people into the sport and get new ideas.

"As a school board member your decisions often don't please people," she said. "I always use one guideline, and that's to make a decision that does the best job for the most children."

"We feel we have a process that needs to be used, an evaluation process," said Pitts. "The last two years under the current contract all evaluations of Dale were positive and he was still non-renewed as football coach."

In a letter to Linklater notifying him of the coaching termination, the school board gave the reason as being "to improve school-community relationships," said Pitts.

"It doesn't sound like a very legitimate reason for removing a very successful football coach," said Pitts.

"I think Dale has worked hard with the kids and put in a lot of time," said Pitts, who said practices have always been open. "We have had some successful seasons when it didn't look like we would. He relates well with the kids.