Stings poised to name AD/football coach

TEXAS CITY — The Texas City Stingarees could have a new athletic director and head football coach by the end of the day.

The Texas City ISD Board of Trustees will hold a special board meeting at 6:30 p.m. today at the Simpson Education Support Center, and one of the key information items listed on the agenda is to “Review Recommendation for Athletic Director/Head Football Coach.”

Columbia head coach Leland Surovik, Deer Park head coach Chris Massey, Fort Bend Hightower head coach Barry Abercrombie, Wimberley head coach Weldon Nelms and North Shore defensive coordinator John Kay are the five finalists, Texas City ISD Director of Communications Melissa Tortorici confirmed last week.

Each finalist was interviewed and toured Texas City’s facilities last week, and the committee is expected to recommend its finalist to the board at tonight’s meeting.

Surovik has coached at Class 3A Columbia since 1998, serving as defensive and special teams coordinators until becoming head coach in 2007. Since then, Columbia has enjoyed much success, including back-to-back trips to the state semifinals in 2010 and 2011. He was a secondary/special teams coach at La Marque from 1996 to 1998. He graduated from Southwest Texas State in 1996.

Massey has served as head coach at Class 5A Deer Park since 2003, compiling a 60-27 record, reaching the playoffs in six of the last seven seasons. He previously coached at Katy from 1996 to 2003 as offensive line coach and offensive coordinator. He was a defensive coordinator at Conroe from 1989 to 1996. He graduated from Texas A&M in 1979 and received his master’s degree in 1988.

Abercrombie was 22-6 in two seasons as the head coach at Hightower, including a trip to the Class 5A Division I state championship game in December. He was offensive coordinator and assistant coach from 2005 to 2009 and previously coached at Klein Forest from 1999 to 2005. He was a junior high coach from 1996 to 1999 after graduating from Southwest Texas State in 1995.

In 28 years as a head coach, Nelms has led his teams to 22 playoff appearances, including state championships at Class 3A Wimberley in 2005 and 2011. He has enjoyed success at Class 3A and 2A programs but has never headed a Class 4A program. He graduated from Western New Mexico University in 1980.

Although Kay doesn’t have experience as a head coach, he has enjoyed about as much success as a coordinator can have at North Shore. He has served as defensive coordinator since 2004 and previously served as freshman coach and recruiting coordinator at North Shore, where he helped the program win a state championship in 2003 and go 131-18 in the past 12 years. He graduated from Concordia-Chicago in 1996 and earned his master’s degree from the University of Houston-Clear Lake in 2008.

Despite Texas City’s subpar 4-6 2011 football season, the job is widely regarded as one of the top football coach openings in the state of Texas. The annual salary will likely top $100,000, the school has new facilities, and Texas City has a wealth of upcoming talent in the underclassmen ranks.