Sherman
tempted by job offers
Pirate
head coach expects decision by week's end
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by Kim
Fickett
Landmark reporter
For the past 18 years, Chip Sherman has walked the sidelines
as head football coach of the Platte County Pirates.
During that time, Sherman has won 171 games and lost 34
with a winning percentage of better than 83%.
In 2000, his teams began a 52 game win streak that produced
three state titles.
Now after all that success, the Pirates’ gridiron
leader is considering offers from at least two other Kansas
City metropolitan schools.
While rumors have circulated in previous years questioning
Sherman’s return to the Pirates, this year’s
rumors were confirmed when he interviewed with a Kansas
school, Shawnee Mission Northwest, in mid-December.
In an interview with The Landmark on Monday afternoon,
Sherman confirmed that he is considering offers from Shawnee
Mission Northwest and Kearney. As reported on plattecountylandmark.com
last week, on Wednesday of this week he is returning to
Kearney to speak with district officials in a second interview.
According to Sherman, Kearney has become a point of interest
because of their “good community base.”
“If you look at football records, obviously Platte
County has a lot more wins than Kearney,” said Sherman.
“It’s just one of those things that you’ve
just got a feeling.”
Sherman stated that while both offerings come from schools
coming off of less-than-winning seasons, 2-7 this year
for Northwest and 5-5 for Kearney, these offers are something
he has to consider for his family.
“None of the programs are like Platte County, where
we’ve never had a losing season (in his time at the
school),” stated Sherman.
“I owe it to my family. All of my kids are out of
school and now I have the opportunity to explore some
things.”
If Sherman determines now is the best time for him to
step away from those Platte County sidelines, timing will
be the center of his decision.
“You could be somewhere for a long time like I have
been here and sometimes change is good and it can breathe
new life into you. It’s just a matter of the timing
being right,” stated Sherman.
According to the Pirate head coach, he also sees the
move as a challenge.
“Professionally, I’m looking forward to another
challenge of having to rebuild. That part could be fun.”
On the other hand, Sherman is struggling with years of
family ties to R-3.
“There’s so much loyalty there. I see my children’s
names up on walls from state championships in football,
wrestling and cross country; one daughter was a prom queen
and the other a courtwarming queen,” he stated. “There’s
a lot of history there for the Shermans. There are six
lives that went through there for a long, long time. That’s
their home.”
Sherman became a top candidate at Shawnee Mission Northwest
this year after the district chose not to retain Scott
Diebold for 2006. Kearney Bulldog coach Mark Thomas announced
in December he was leaving to become an assistant at Jefferson
City.
While Northwest officials had initially indicated they
wanted a decision from Sherman by this Wednesday, Sherman
told The Landmark that the district has now extended the
deadline.
No firm date has been established, according to Sherman,
but said he plans on making a final decision concerning
both job offers by the end of the week.
“I should have all the abc’s and everything
in line (by this weekend),” said Sherman.
Once his decision has been made, Sherman said the first
item of business will be to notify the kids at Platte
County.
“It’s going to be tough looking at those kids,”
he said. “You couldn’t have better kids than
there are at Platte County. It’s one of the reasons
I stayed at Platte County is because of the great kids
and great families.”
For Sherman, an advantage to remaining with the Pirates
or accepting the position in Kearney is that he is two
years short of reaching 25 in Missouri, which is a critical
level for his pension.
“Professionally this is the hardest decision I’ve
ever had to make by far,” Sherman stated. “When
I left Grandview before I came here it was hard because
of the great kids, but I didn’t have the memories
I had walking down the halls I have here.”
Both job offers with the different programs would pay
Sherman more than he is currently receiving at Platte
County.
As Platte County High School's driver’s education
teacher, Sherman earns $55,541 annually, plus the annual
salary of $5,580 as the school's head football coach.
The district also pays him an hourly fee as the weight
room supervisor.
“I’m not really motivated by money. Every one
of the jobs pays more than I get now but I wouldn’t
ask for it (raise) and I wouldn’t expect it,”
said Sherman.
If Sherman does decide it’s his time to move on,
he said he hopes the district won’t look far for
a successor.
“I hope it would be someone on the current staff.
If they would ask me I would hope someone of the current
staff would get it,” stated Sherman.
Sherman took over at Platte County for the 1988 season,
replacing Doug Hedrick, who had guided a previously downtrodden
program to the playoffs twice in his six years at the
helm.
Sherman eventually took the program to new heights and
accomplishments.
According to Sherman, the achievement on the Pirates’
gridiron should be attributed to many people.
“There’s a lot of other people that deserve
it with me—other coaches, players, and a lot of other
people that deserve it besides me,” he stated.
“Platte County’s success goes beyond wins and
loses. Platte County football is a lot bigger than just
Chip Sherman. They’ll be successful if I go and successful
if I stay. It is built on pretty solid ground and when
it’s built on solid ground like that, it will survive
whether I’m here or not.”
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