After 15 seasons as the head coach, Michael Banning is making the move to administration at Clarksville.
Banning spent the past 21 seasons as a coach but accepted the position today, leaving a void at head coach for the Panthers football team. Banning won 73 games as head coach.
“The school was in need of an athletics director or an activities director which is what I really call it,” Banning said. “We just had a need for it. We had several administrators doing that but you look around 5A and a lot of schools already have one. We just felt like the school was in need and I was able to step in.”
Clarksville has bounced back-and-forth from 4A and 5A in recent history. The Panthers are currently in the 5A-West but the conference has seen many changes over the past few seasons. Siloam Springs, Greenwood and Alma were staples in the league but all three will be gone after this season. Siloam Springs and Greenwood moved to 6A last season while the Airedales move up following the spring seasons.
Banning said the search for a new football coach has already begun.
“We’re looking for someone with a lot of passion,” Banning said. “We’d definitely like someone who is successful on the field as well as off the field. The job opened up today and have steadily take some interest. Throughout the rest of the week I’m sure we’ll have a lot of coaches reach out to find out what Clarksville is all about.”
