Cardinal Gibbons has hired Todd Schuler - athletics director at Panther Creek - to the same position. Schuler (pictured left) had been at Panther Creek since the school opened in 2006 and the athletics director since 2008.
Gibbons had been searching for a replacement since January, when Dean Monroe left the school after 22 years as athletics director to become the AD at St. Mary's.
"I've known Dean for a number of years," Schuler said. "He made a remark a couple of years ago - it was sort of an out-of-left-field comment - that 'hey if I ever move on or retire, would this be something you would be interested in?' I wasn't at the time, but I told him to give me to call if it would ever happen and it'd be something I would think about."
Schuler said the decision to leave Panther Creek, where he was the school's first boys and girls varsity soccer coach, was tough - but Cardinal Gibbons was the only local school that he would leave for. A big reason, said Schuler, was his own background.
Schuler graduated from New Hampshire's Bishop Guertin, which like Gibbons is a parochial school.
"I had such a positive experience and enjoyed the culture there so much, that there are about only two phone calls that I would take and that would be Bishop Guertin or Cardinal Gibbons," Schuler said. "I spent some time over there and it reaffirmed my beliefs about what their school culture is about - the importance of faith, service and leadership to their mission and athletic program. It's going to be a very good cultural fit for me and my family."
He's the second PC staff member to become an AD in the past year, as Wayne Bragg went from being a football coach at Panther Creek to Green Hope. Schuler said he will stay at Panther Creek till the end of the school year, and hopes to help his replacement transition into the role.
"I love Panther Creek. I'll always be a Catamount. (Principal Rodney) Nelson has been very good to me," Schuler said. "Being a part of that from day one is definitely hard to leave."
For his plans at Gibbons, Schuler said he hopes to bring over some of the things started at Panther Creek - like the online streaming of games and a strong social media outreach. Panther Creek even had a weekly coaches show during basketball season, which also brought in coaches and players from other sports.
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