The local rumor mill buzzed Tuesday with the expectation that the Andalusia Board of Education would hire a new head football coach Tuesday night.

The local rumor mill was wrong.

“We are not sitting on our hands,” Superintendent Ted Watson told board members at Tuesday’s meeting. “We have good applicants, and we’d like to get it done sooner than later.”

The board set its next meeting for Jan. 20, but Watson said he might ask the board to hold a special meeting to hire a coach before them, if he is ready.

“We have nothing right now to report,” he said.

AHS principal Dr. Daniel Shakespeare was not at the board meeting. However, when asked about the hiring process at the school’s basketball game Tuesday night, he said no decision has been made, but he expects a decision to be forthcoming soon.

—Michele Gerlach