Fort Sumner undergoing staff changes

FORT SUMNER — Fort Sumner High School has named assistant coach Matt Moyer its new football coach after the recent resignation of longtime coach Dexter McDaniel.

Athletic co-ordinator Cris Dimitroff has also resigned her administrative position. Both will continue to teach in the district, Superintendent Patricia Miller said Monday.

Moyer, a Fort Sumner graduate, has been the Foxes’ defensive coordinator for McDaniel’s four seasons at the helm. McDaniel, who had led Fort Sumner to three consecutive Class 1A state titles, served as an assistant in the program for 13 years before replacing Mario Martinez in 2005.

McDaniel was also the Foxes’ head track coach, a position which has not yet been filled, Miller said.

Moyer will also become the Fort Sumner girls head basketball coach. He served as the girls assistant for two seasons under Joel Wood, but those two have flip-flopped their roles for 2008-09, Miller said.

Miller said she expects McDaniel and Dimitroff to retain their teaching positions. “Right now, my expectation is that they’ll be teaching,” she said.

Because of a lack of teaching openings, though, Miller said the football program currently has just three assistant coaches instead of four.

“I’ve got a possible in-system solution,” she said. “We’d like to have four (assistant coaches), and Matt’s trying to do some ‘recruiting’ right now.”

Dimitroff coached junior high girls basketball and served as co-head coach of Vixens track with Lisa McMath, who will now assume those duties by herself. McMath is also the school’s longtime volleyball coach.

She said Vincent “Binto” Stallard, Fort Sumner’s assistant volleyball coach, has now assumed athletic coordinator duties.

“We’re in pretty good shape,” Miller said of the coaching situation. “We’re really committed to having the same high-quality opportunities for our kids that we’ve always had.”