The Harrison County Board of Education voted this evening to officially name long-time Bridgeport High School Assistant Coach John Cole as the interim coach for the Indians football program for the rest of the 2017 season. The vote came during the BOE’s sprecial retreat today at the Stonewall Jackson Resort.

 

It was part of a meeting that lasted eight hours. The move means Cole is the 18th coach in BHS history.

 

The move comes after Cole was named interim for the start of the season by Superintendent Dr. Mark Manchin. Manchin was able to make the move on the recommendation of BHS Principal Mark DeFazio until the elected BOE could act on it as an official agenda item.

 

What that means is Cole will fill in for Josh Nicewarner, whose end as the coach of BHS and a teacher at Liberty came this morning. The BOE approved Nicewarner's resignation letter for all school-related employment this morning in a special meeting at the BOE's main office in Clarskburg.

 

Nicewarner was arrested by the Harrison County Sheriff’s Department in July and faces two felony charges for attempting to seduce a minor by way of a computer and distributing obscene material to a minor. The arrest occurred after law enforcement executed a search warrant at the BHS field house and at Liberty High School where Nicewarner is a teacher.

 

Cole is not only no stranger to the program, but there’s no one on the staff that’s been around longer. He’s served as an assistant to Nicewarner as well as Wayne Jamison and Bruce Carey. But, his connection goes back further than that.

 

The highly respected Cole started his time with the Tribe in 1982 and was a senior lineman on a team that went 9-3 and lost to Grafton in what many still consider a controversial playoff game. The Tribe lost that game 7-6 and with the end of the contest came the end of Cole’s playing days.

 

Eventually, though, he found his way back onto the field. His first taste of the coaching action was with long-time and highly successful Bridgeport junior high/middle school coach Tom Fogg. Although his time with Fogg was just a few short years, he left in time to serve in an understudy role to the legendary Jamison. Cole coached the Bridgeport freshmen during the end of Jamison’s near three-decades as head coach.

 

From there, he served under Carey as an assistant starting in 1997. He worked with Carey from 1997 to 2009 before serving in a similar capacity since that time to Nicewarner. Cole never applied for the head coaching position when Jamison and Carey left the program.