James Polk will trade Tiger stripes for Leopard spots.
Less than 48 hours after taking to Facebook to shoot down speculation about the impending move, Polk, head coach of the Snyder Tigers and the school district’s athletic director for the last two seasons, was hired to a similar position at Gainesville Monday night.
The Gainesville ISD board of trustees unanimously approved Polk’s hiring.
Gainesville, which will play in District 4-4A Division 1 against Argyle, Burkburnett, Decatur, Sanger and Wichita Falls Hirschi, was 1-9 last season.
“It’s a blessing to be here,” Polk told the Gainesville Daily Register. “I’m very excited about the opportunity and can’t wait to get started.”
Polk was in a meeting at the Snyder ISD administration building this morning and unavailable to comment on his new position to the Snyder Daily News.
Snyder ISD Superintendent Jim Kirkland said he plans to meet with district administrators and determine a plan of action. He will name the interim head coach based on when Polk leaves his position at Snyder High School.
Kirkland also said early Tuesday he had not received resignations from Polk or his wife, Brittenie, who is the principal at Snyder High School.
Polk was an assistant during the 2012 and 2013 seasons under Aubrey Sims. He worked with quarterbacks in 2012 and served as defensive coordinator in 2013.
In March 2014, Polk was named interim coach when Sims left for the head coaching position at Iowa Park. Polk was named head coach one month later.
The Tigers were 2-8 in 2014 and improved to 5-6 in 2015. Snyder finished third in District 3-4A Division 1 last season with victories over Big Spring and Stephenville. The Tigers lost to Mineral Wells in the bi-district round of the Class 4A Division I playoffs.
Polk criticized social media and “ballpark talk” about his rumored new position in a Facebook post, that was later deleted.
In his message he wrote, “To all my athletes, staff and friends, I apologize for everything you have heard you deserve to find out things from my mouth no one else.”