About to wrap up his second year as principal of Fox High School, Ryan Sherp faces an unenviable task – and one he didn’t see coming.
Sherp has to replace a valued member of his administration, with activities director and assistant principal Nick Gianino leaving at the end of the school year to become athletic director at Ladue Horton Watkins High.
After playing high school football at Eureka and excelling on the college gridiron at McKendree University, Gianino cut his coaching teeth at Fox. Right out of college, Gianino started as an assistant to his former high school coach, Art Mueller, at Fox. Gianino took over as the Warriors’ head coach in 2006 and held that job until 2010.
In his five years running the program, Gianino went 27-27 and guided the Warriors to three Mississippi Area Football Conference championships, two sectional titles and a berth in the 2008 Class 6 semifinals. In 2011, he hung up his coach’s whistle to move into administration, succeeding Joe Salsman as Fox’s activities director.
“This is my first big loss, and it will be our first big hire,” Sherp said last week. “‘G’ and I have had a great working relationship, and he will be a huge loss, not only to me, but to the entire high school. The guy has been a phenomenal AD and Ladue is extremely lucky to be getting him.
“I didn’t necessarily see this coming, but to pursue what could potentially be an opportunity where he will have his own assistant, and to focus solely on athletics, I totally understand why he’s doing it.”
Gianino said the 14 years he’s spent at Fox have been incredibly important to his professional growth.
“It has never been about changing jobs, and the Ladue school district is the only one I’ve ever applied to,” he said. “But because of the opportunity they offered, it’s one that I’m certainly excited to take on. It is just time for a personal and professional change.”
Sherp said Gianino set a leadership example through his character and work ethic.
“I told the Ladue principal this is one of the biggest slam-dunk hires you’ll ever have,” Sherp said. “For us now, we will go through a particular (hiring) process we have in place, with a large committee, and a three-level interviewing process. That’s what organizations do, and I’m confident in the end we’ll have the best candidate. We hope to know who that person will be in the next three weeks, but whoever takes the job couldn’t be set up more to succeed, because of his excellence on the job.”
Gianino said he’s well aware of the legacy he leaves behind, but that’s not all he’s thinking about as he tackles a new beginning.
“The wins and losses, at the end of the day, aren’t that important to me,” he said. “It was the relationships with those kids, my coaching staffs, and the community that I’ll miss the most. It’s bittersweet, because of the time I spent here, but at the same time I’m extremely excited about the new challenge.”
He added that the Fox C-6 School District will always be special to him.
“I’m very proud of the years and, more importantly, proud of the relationships that have been created during these 14 years,” he said. “My time here saw me grow personally and professionally. I got married while I was at Fox, saw the birth of my (two) kids, and some of the best moments I got to spend with my (late) father (Ralph Sr.) were here.”