Every year, the coaching carousel in turns in high school sports and this year Oblong was affected the most of any of the area schools.

Nearly every sport Oblong hosts at the high school level will have a new coach for the 2022-23 school year due to resignations, taking new positions or a combination thereof.

In late May, Oblong-Palestine-Hutsonville football coach Nick Straka announced his resignation and it was accepted by the Oblong school board a few days later, as was the resignation of OHS softball coach Shawna May.

Both coaches cited personal reasons for their departures.

“It is with great reluctancy and sadness to inform you all that I have stepped down as head coach of OPH football effective immediately,” Straka said in a Facebook post on the team page. “The past few years have been nothing short of memorable for me and I would not change any of it. Thank you to the players, parents, and fans that have been supportive of my family and I, it has helped us in many ways. Please know this decision was not easy but it was the right decision.”

Straka elaborated by saying a new position at his job and a desire to spend more time with his young family played factors in the decision. He also noted he plans to coach again in the future.

“This was not an easy decision but the best decision for my family and I at the time,” Straka told the Daily News. “I do plan to coach again, but I am going to take the year off and get acclimated in my new role at work. I also have a boy that just started sports and I would like to attend those and help my wife with the little guy.”

May issued a similar sentiment, as she decided to take a step back from some of her positions, while also desiring more time with family.

“I coach non-stop year round, as I have five travel softball teams in the (Tri-County) Mayhem organization and I work at three different hospitals,” May said. “I also have two grandchildren that I want to spend time with. I have loved my time at Oblong and was so thankful for the opportunity, but it is time for me to spend more time with my spouse and my grandchildren. I appreciate the school and the village of Oblong for all of their support and wish the program great success.”

Both positions were just recently filled, with recently-hired assistant coach Jacob Fuller being promoted to head coach for OPH football and Brittney Murray hired as new OHS softball coach.

Fuller, 39, is a lifelong Palestine resident and has experienced success on the football field, as he was a member of the 1999 Palestine team that finished 8-3 and advanced to the second round of the IHSA Class 1A Playoffs. Fuller, a 2001 PHS grad, hopes to use his past experience to help instill confidence in his players that that level of success can be achieved again.

“My goal is to inspire these kids that success is possible and that they are worthy of it,” Fuller said. “My first two years of high school football we won a total of three games, then the last two we won 13, which included a trip to the Sweet 16 of the IHSA playoffs losing to the eventual state champions. I can still remember the buzz around town and neighboring communities and that’s something this group is capable of if we can put the puzzle together because all the pieces are available.”

Fuller has two children – Michaela (junior) and Justin (freshman) – that attend PHS and he has been involved in the OPH football program at both the youth and high school levels for the past few seasons.

“I came onto the OPH high school team the last two games of last season and did the offensive play calling and was signed on to be the offensive coordinator this year,” Fuller said. “I was  OPH head coach for the seventh/eighth grade the last two years and coached the fourth/fifth/sixth grade Pal-Hut defense the year prior.

I’ve been excited about this season since the last two games OPH was on the field last year. I was asked by the previous head coach if I would be his offensive coordinator for the 2022 season and gladly accepted. I’ve been working since November putting an offense together that fits our personnel and can’t wait to see it all unfold live and not just on paper.”

Fuller is excited about the future of the program and can’t wait for the season to start.

“The previous coaching staff has done an excellent job of building a strong foundation and my intentions are to start framing the house they began to build,” Fuller said. “I’m very confident with the assistant coaches that have boarded this train with me, amongst all of us we have all aspects of the game covered and I’m ready to see where this season goes.”

Murray, a third grade teacher at OES for the past seven years, will be taking over the softball program and this will be her first high school coaching job.

“I am very excited to start this new journey as the head softball coach at Oblong,” Murray said. “The love for the game started when I was a little girl. I played pigtails, summer ball, travel ball and school softball.  Along with playing softball, I have coached summer softball for the past several years.”

Murray, 34, is an OHS graduate (2006) and also graduated from Lincoln Trail College (2008) and Eastern Illinois University (2010). She and her husband, Calvin, have two children – Brylee (12) and Bryden (9). Murray believes her love of teaching and sports is a good combination to help her lead the Lady Panthers.

“I have a love and passion for teaching and sports, so therefore, I am looking to the opportunities of working with high school girls and bringing new ideas to help build the program,” Murray said. “My number one goal is to instill team unity and pride in the program. I also believe that with teamwork and dedication we can continue to build a strong softball program.”

Meanwhile, two other positions came open earlier this spring, but were filled rather quickly.

Chris Jobe resigned as OPH golf coach and was later named the new golf coach at Robinson.

“I am very excited to be the new head coach for the golf program at RHS,” Jobe said. “I enjoyed my time at Oblong and wouldn’t change it for anything. What they were able to accomplish while I was there and the experiences I shared with my players will last forever. As of right now at Robinson, I have seven returning players along with six new golfers starting in the fall. I have taught in the district for 26 years and know many of the kids and their families. Some of the players are former students of mine and I am looking forward to coaching them and the others. I am eager to get the season started and hoping that we have a successful year.”

Jobe’s replacement was quickly found, as Phil Blank has been tabbed to take over the program.

“I am extremely excited to be the OPH golf coach and cannot wait to get out on the course,” Blank said. “My main goals for this program are to be competitive and to learn the game of golf in the correct manner. I want us to fully understand all rules and know what to do in certain situations. I also want us to be respectful on the course and want us to fully understand that how we act represents each of our schools at OPH. I want us to improve our golf game each and every day and to be competitive to win matches and to get the chance at postseason success. I want us to work hard and be successful, but also enjoy the game of golf at the same time.”

Blank, who is the brother of Palestine Athletic Director and OPH girls basketball coach Travis Blank, is a 2013 Newton High School graduate. He played four years of golf at Newton, then played at Lincoln Trail College for two years. He currently works at Flying S in Palestine, while he and his wife, Kayla, live in Palestine along with their 18-month old daughter, Emma.

“This is my first coaching position and am extremely excited for this opportunity,” Blank said.

Also, Tyler Woods resigned earlier this spring as OPH head baseball coach, effective at the end of the season, as he took a new job as pitching coach at Brescia University in Owensboro, Ky.

Woods, an OHS grad, spent the last year as coach of the junior high baseball team at Oblong and the new OPH high school co-op team. However, he decided to leave his post for the opportunity to coach at Brescia, his alma mater. 

“I’m very excited and honored to be a college pitching coach,” Woods said. “I’m primarily excited because I love the hard work aspects of the game of baseball and love seeing guys want to get better. I love helping guys get better, whether that be weight room, on the field, throwing programs, developing velocity and everything inside and out of the game that involves getting bigger faster and stronger and competing at the highest level possible.”

Woods said his new gig came about due to his continued connections at Brescia.

“My position as a pitching coach for Brescia came about from my old head coach and I being in contact about some of my players from this previous season with OPH,” Woods said. “Prior to the start of the (high school) season, my girlfriend  and I discussed the idea of us moving to Owensboro (which is where Brescia is located). From there, my conversation with my old head coach kind of stemmed towards me talking with him about my move down here, the different jobs I was looking into and also him talking with me about him needing help with the pitching staff and needing a pitching coach. Since then, it’s been a timeline of events from me accepting a new job and starting this past May down here in Owensboro with a company in a corporate position. Luckily this new career path is willing to work with me and allowed me to do something I’m passionate about in coaching.”

Woods added he really didn’t see himself as a high school or a college coach, but is happy he got back involved in the game he loves.

“Originally after I walked off the mound for the very last time in college I had it set in my mind that I wasn’t going to touch a baseball or be around the game of baseball until I had a son of my own that wanted to play baseball,” Woods said. “However, after a year of being away from the game of baseball and a year of working in a career I strongly disliked, I felt it was time to re-evaluate everything going on. So I came back home to Oblong to figure it all out from there. After coming back home, a constant quote from the movie Moneyball kept replaying in my head. The quote is “We’re all told at some point in time that we can no longer play the children’s game, we just don’t know when that’s going to be. Some of us are told at 18, some of us are told at 40, but we’re all told. And from this quote it took me to the thoughts of here I am at 22 years old, no longer able to play the game of baseball. Opportunities arose for me to coach junior high baseball and within that one year it gave me the same feelings for the game I had as a player once again and I’m thankful for everyday I get to be around the game.”

Woods’ replacement was named earlier this spring, as former Martinsville teacher/coach Brandon Sparks will take over both the junior high program at Oblong and the OPH high school team.

“I’m very excited to be at Oblong to both teach and coach,” Sparks said. “I have heard nothing but good things about it and cant wait to get started.”

Sparks, 28, is a 2012 graduate of Armstrong High School, where he was a standout baseball player and translated that into a scholarship to play at Danville Area Community College. After his first year at Danville, Sparks underwent shoulder surgery, then he transferred to Parkland College before finishing up at Eastern Illinois University. During his time at Parkland, Sparks served as the JV baseball coach and varsity assistant at Champaign St. Thomas More, then Sparks student taught at Teutopolis while finishing up his schooling at EIU and was a volunteer assistant for the Wooden Shoes program.

Upon graduation, Sparks was hired at Martinsville and spent four season as the varsity boys’ basketball coach before accepting the job at Oblong this past spring.

Sparks believes that being involved in both the junior high and high school programs will help him be able to build the program as a whole in the right manner.

“My goals for the program are to build it from the ground up and compete in both the regular season and postseason,” Sparks said. “Being both the junior high and high school coach gives me a very opportunity to do just that.”