North Putnam AD resigns, coaches out too

Sunday, March 22, 2015
John Danaher has been the North Putnam AD for three years. (Courtesy Photo)

ROACHDALE--North Putnam will be looking for a new athletic director and two new basketball coaches.

Cougar AD John Danaher's resignation was publicly announced at the North Putnam School Board meeting on Wednesday.

The North Putnam administration has its work cut out as it will also be looking to replace head girls' basketball coach Jim Spencer and head boys' basketball coach Collin McCartt.

The school board voted not to renew the basketball coaches' contracts at the March meeting.

"It occurred to me that it's probably time to move on," John Danaher said. "My wife and I decided that we would look for something else. I want to stay in athletic administration. I love doing it. It's been a part of my life for a long time."

Danaher was hired in October of 2012 and while he has no immediate plans he is optimistic about the future. He has more than 10 years of teaching experience and 10 years of AD experience having previously worked as a teacher and AD of the Niles school district in Niles, Mich.

"We're actively looking right now and we'll let the chips fall where they may," Danaher said. "I can always go back to the classroom but again I'd like to stay in athletic administration."

Danaher will finish the spring semester and that will give the North Putnam administration time to look for a replacement. North Putnam Superintendent Dan Noel was unavailable for comment.

In his one-year stint at North Putnam, McCartt went 3-19 on the season.

Spencer went 5-17 in this stint as girls' coach.

In his first stint between 2000 and 2003 he went 66-8 with three sectional and two regional titles.

Comments
View 5 comments
Note: The nature of the Internet makes it impractical for our staff to review every comment. Please note that those who post comments on this website may do so using a screen name, which may or may not reflect a website user's actual name. Readers should be careful not to assign comments to real people who may have names similar to screen names. Refrain from obscenity in your comments, and to keep discussions civil, don't say anything in a way your grandmother would be ashamed to read.
  • Glad to see him go. The entire NP Athletic program is at an all time low and much of the blame can be placed on the AD [and School Board]. Our Coaching Staff is an embarrassment to the Community and that falls on the AD. In fairness to McCort and Spencer they both had no talent to work with. NPHS sports could be struggling for years to come!

    -- Posted by nphs92 on Mon, Mar 23, 2015, at 7:10 AM
  • So if there was no talent to work with, why blame the coaches? Jim Spencer was the girls coach several years ago and did a great job. How did you expect him to teach these girls everything in one year? You should have kept him at least one more year. I am sorry to say but I wish we could get rid of some of the board members the same way!

    -- Posted by interested party on Mon, Mar 23, 2015, at 6:18 PM
  • So the success of a sports program is solely determined by wins and losses? Or is it the life lessons passed along to the student athletes? Some of the previous comments are misguided. Gosh, if we have a losing season we say "Off with their heads!" I just don't think these are the values we want our children to take away from high school.

    "When the going gets tough, quit or get fired". Yep!

    -- Posted by BGTeach on Fri, Mar 27, 2015, at 9:35 PM
  • Aside from a few players, most high school teams have similar undeveloped talent. Coaches inspire, direct, and focus that talent into a team. If a coach isn't deveoLoping those players and the team in a positive direction, then he/she should step back and re-evaluate their role.

    How can NP have consecutive years of football dominance and then that turns away?

    -- Posted by conffool on Mon, Mar 30, 2015, at 3:32 AM
  • Why are we so worried about sports out here? I see NP graduates posting on Facebook and other social media and it's obvious that we need more focus on education. Sports has its place; I won't deny that. I understand that some kids are in school and stay in school because of sports. But I hate the amount of money we spend on sports and I hate the high level of focus placed on sports.

    -- Posted by sendmailthere on Tue, Mar 31, 2015, at 11:05 AM
Respond to this story

Posting a comment requires free registration: