How do you replace a two-time state championship football coach, a basketball coach with more than 450 wins and a baseball coach with a Major League pedigree?

Slow and steady.

That is the approach Tanner is taking in its quest to replace its longtime football coach Laron White, girls basketball coach Larry Greene, and baseball coach Gary Redus, who left just before the season started for a job in Major League Baseball.

All three coaches announced their retirement or decision to leave for another job in January or February.

“We would like to hire a football coach before spring practice begins,” said Tanner athletic director Russ Cleveland. “We’ve already had a lot of solid candidates apply for the position.”

The Tanner football coaching vacancy should be a desirable spot for coaches around the state. The program has become one of the most successful small-school football teams in the state over the past decade.

In 14 seasons at Tanner, White compiled a 148-30 record and won nine region championships and two state 2A championships. In February, White accepted the head coaching position at Sparkman, a Class 7A school in Harvest.

White turned Tanner into a small-school powerhouse, winning at least seven games every year and guiding the team to three straight state championship appearances from 2011-13. Tanner currently has the state’s longest region winning streak at 54 games.

Greene finished his Tanner career with 452 wins, including the 2011 state championship. A majority of those (427) have come during his 20 years as head coach at Tanner while another 115 came when he was the girls coach at Austin High School for six years.

In June, Tanner hired former professional baseball player Gary Redus as its head baseball coach. Redus previously served on the Calhoun Community College baseball team’s staff until 2005 when he returned to the pros as the outfield/base-running instructor for several minor league organizations.

The Tanner alum returned to his hometown and prepared to coach the team for six months before leaving in early February for a job with the Tampa Bay Rays.

Tanner assistant baseball coach Jarrod Harrison and other assistants filled in on short notice to coach the team this spring. Cleveland said the job is still Redus’ if he decides to return to his alma mater.

The girls basketball and boys baseball positions will most likely be filled over the summer, Cleveland said.