NEW CASTLE — For Kyle Hall, decisions don’t come lightly. Instead, conclusions tend to require consideration and more significantly, timing.

Three years ago, timing was the motivating factor behind his application as the new head football coach at Shenandoah High School.

Last month, timing once again came to the forefront as Hall’s official resignation as the Raiders’ head coach was approved by the Shenandoah School Corp.

“I felt I was treading water, not really being able to build a program,” Hall remarked on his decision to step down after three seasons. “When you can’t see your kids on a daily basis, it’s difficult. It’s more important to me to make an impact on the kids off the field, then on.”

Since 2005, Hall patiently bided his time awaiting a potential teaching position to open in the Shenandoah school system. While serving as a “lay” coach in Middletown, Hall worked as a seventh-grade social studies teacher at New Castle Middle School the past seven years.

Shortly following the 2007 football season, Hall inquired about the possibility of obtaining a teaching position at Shenandoah. And once again, the prospects appeared bleak, which consequently led to his decision.

“I couldn’t check their grades very easily, and I couldn’t get in contact with them readily,” Hall said. “It was wearing me out. Once I had that meeting, I realized it wasn’t a priority for them to get me over there.

“It came down to me basically saying, ‘this is the way it’s going to be for a couple more years.’ And I wasn’t going to do it.”

Through three seasons, Hall compiled a 19-14 coaching record. The Raiders’ best mark under Hall’s watch occurred in 2006 when the team finished 8-3.

In Hall’s first season, the squad posted a 5-5 record, and pushed through to the Class 1A sectional championship for the program’s fifth title game appearance in seven years.

In 2006, the Raiders won the White River Athletic Conference, which was the team’s fifth in six years.

Prior to being named the successor to former head football coach Alix Engle, who left Shenandoah after three seasons on similar terms, Hall served as an assistant coach for the Raiders and was the defensive coordinator at New Castle one year.

Engle accepted a full-time teaching position and head football coaching job at Western High School in 2005.

“They couldn’t figure out a way to hire me,” said Hall, a 1997 Shenandoah High School graduate. “I talked to Alix Engle about it, too, before I did it. Originally, he said that’s why he started looking for another position.”

Hall’s resignation will signify the end of an era in Shenandoah football dating back to 1986. Through the last 22 years, the Hall family has been associated with the football program as either players or coaches.

“It ended on good terms. I don’t have a problem with anybody at Shenandoah. I hated to leave because I thought we were beginning to do some good things,” Hall said. “There are good kids over there, and I love the kids and the parents. I wish things could have worked out, especially because it’s my home school. I still live there. I’m on the fire department EMS there. I thought it was a good fit, but I understand.”

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