Time is of the essence for Charles Henderson, and the search committee in charge of hiring a new football coach and athletic director is not wasting a second.

The advertisement period for the vacant position at Charles Henderson ended Wednesday, and school officials have plans to interview five applicants today.

“We received over 65 applicants from across the state of Alabama, and some from Georgia and ever had interest from a coach in North Carolina,” said Dr. Lee Hicks, Troy City School superintendent. “We feel strongly about the five selections for interviews, and are looking for someone who is the right fit for Troy City Schools and Charles Henderson High School.”

The search for a new coach is the second in the last six months for Hicks and company.

Jamey Dubose was hired to replace Mike Dean in January, but Dubose bolted for Central-Phenix City two weeks ago.

With less than 80 days to the kickoff of the 2014 season, Hicks said he plans on making a nomination to the TCS Board at a special called meeting Thursday morning.

“It was hard to whittle the list down to the five we have,” Hicks said. “Each of these five coaches has championship experience. I feel we will find someone who is capable of continuing what we want to do here at Charles Henderson, but if we don’t feel that way after the meetings on Wednesday, we will go in another direction.”

Hicks said the reason the special board meeting has been called is due to a legal requirement to advertise it for at least 24 hours.

“I have been around a lot of successful coaches in my career,” Hicks said. “I have hired some and worked alongside some. We are looking for a person that puts the students first and has their interests ahead of his own. We haven’t missed a beat yet, and I don’t think we will in the future.”

If the search committee selects a person for nomination to the board, the meeting is set to begin at 7:15 a.m. Thursday at the Troy City Board of Education office.