Angel Resigns Post, Leaves For Palestine

After four years as the head football coach and athletic director for the Canton Eagles, Lance Angel has resigned to take the same position at Palestine High School. The move became official on Thursday, and Angel began his duties in Palestine on Friday.

"The further we got into the conversation with the administration in Palestine, the more it seemed we needed to be there," Angel said of his decision to make the move.

"Obviously, there are great kids in Canton, and I have loved coaching them and watching them grow up. My wife will definitely miss the kids and being a part of the community, but this was an opportunity to get closer to home."

Angel grew up and played his high school football in Fairfield, which is 30 miles from Palestine and will be an opponent in District 20-3A.

"It is closer to my family, and that was one of the thoughts going into this when we decided to look into the job," Angel said. "I still know a lot of people in the area, and so a number of things played into our decision."

In four years at Canton, Angel’s teams built a 26-20 record as they won one district title, two bi-district titles and one Area championship.

Wesley Rhoten has been named the interim athletic director. Rhoten has served as the co-offensive coordinator for three years on Angel’s staff, and has 14 years of coaching experience, including four years as an assistant at 5A Flower Mound Marcus where he was part of a state championship in 1997.

"I’m taking the approach as the interim as if I’m going to be leading this program long term," Rhoten said. "But that is what an interim should do.

"My initial goal was just to keep the program glued together. The kids have really been thriving in the off-season program since Christmas, and we didn’t want anything to interrupt that."

I think it’s been good," Rhoten said of the first week of workouts after the announcement. "The kids have responded well, and have been making strides since the beginning of the year, and we didn’t want to let something like this get in the way of where they’re heading."

Rhoten’s first week has been a hectic one, as the UIL realignment has coincided with the beginning of spring sports.

"We had a couple of holes to fill in the schedule, and we’ve had district meetings," Rhoten said during an interview on Tuesday. "At the same time, we’ve got baseball, softball, track, powerlifting and tennis getting started. We’re working to make sure the transition into spring sports is a smooth one, and that all of the coaches are on the same page."

Canton superintendent Dr. Jerome Stewart has also set a smooth transition as a high priority.

"Coach Angel came to us at a time when we needed someone to provide stability and leadership in character development," Dr. Stewart said. "That was one of his great strengths and we want to see that continue.

"Another trait he had that we greatly appreciated was his attention to all of the sports. He attended events at all levels, both boys and girls, not because it was his job, but because he wanted to be with our kids."

Dr. Stewart and the school board have set a swift timetable to name a replacement, and expect a new athletic director to be announced by February 18.

"We will accept applications from now until February 15," Stewart explained. "We will have a school board meeting on the 15th, and the board will share with me their expectations for the next athletic director."

Dr. Stewart went on to explain that interviews would take place on February 17-18. He added that the job search will be open to all applicants, but expressed a preference to hire within.

"We always want to reward our employees, and look within our teachers and administrators for advancement opportunities," he said.

"We don’t know what kind of resumes we will get, so we will not eliminate anyone, but we also have a strong preference to hire someone with experience within the Canton ISD."