Warren Central has a new football coach.

Players, fans and even the people he’ll work with will have to wait a while longer to find out who it is, though.

Vicksburg Warren School District superintendent Dr. James Price said he was ready to make his recommendation for the hire to the school board at its next meeting, on March 25. Price refused, however, to release the name of the candidate ahead of the board’s vote since several candidates had asked him not to out of fear it could damage their standing in their current jobs.

His secrecy has gone as far as the WC football fieldhouse. Several WC assistant coaches said they had not been told by Price or anyone else who their next boss would be.

The March 25 board meeting will begin at 5:30 p.m. at the district offices on Mission 66. The meeting is open to the public.

“This is such a highly charged position. I’m going to submit a name and it’s up to the board to vote on it,” Price said. “As far as I know, the selection process is completed.”

Nine people interviewed for the job, which became vacant when Curtis Brewer retired in December. Price said five of the nine candidates had connections to the program, while four were from outside the area.

The nine candidates were interviewed by an eight-member search committee on March 5. Each committee member scored the candidates on a series of criteria, and Price said his recommendation was based on the highest total score.

“We had 10 people scheduled to interview and nine showed up. We had a good group of interviews,” Price said.

This will be the fourth head football coach at Warren Central since 1971. Lum Wright Sr. coached there from 1971-84, followed by Robert Morgan from 1985-2003 and Brewer from 2003-09.