REUNITED?—Ponchatoula coach Mike Baiamonte, left, and West Jefferson coach Hank Tierney chat during a break in the two teams’ recent spring scrimmage. Tierney resigned at West Jeff Tuesday amid speculation that he would take an assistant job under Baiamonte at PHS. John Lenz/Daily Star

PONCHATOULA — West Jefferson head football coach Hank Tierney's name has been linked to several vacant coaching positions on the north shore in recent years.

And in the wake of the resignation from West Jefferson High Tierney officially tendered Tuesday, now his name is being linked again to Ponchatoula High — not as head coach but as an assistant.

PHS head football coach Mike Baiamonte coached with Tierney for nine of his 11 years as a coach and considers Tierney a friend and mentor.

But Baiamonte said Wednesday that some assumptions are being made, including published reports that said Tierney was angling for an assistant coaching job at PHS, that may not be appropriate.

"I think I've been thrown into this mix because, me being one of his (former) assistants, I think people have tried to put two and two together, but it ain't equaling four," Baiamonte said. "I think they're using me because of the position I'm in and the history Hank and I have had together.

"Everybody's going to make their assumptions, and I understand the assumptions."

Baiamonte did confirm that Tierney, who had been mentioned as a candidate at both Hammond High and Ponchatoula when those positions came open in the past two years, has applied for a job here.

"The only thing I know about the situation is that he has applied for a teaching position in Tangipahoa Parish," Baiamonte said, noting that that could include any school in the parish system, not just PHS. "The school board approval is what they're waiting for, and that's all I know on my end."

But that approval could be complicated by the ongoing desegregation court case ruling involving the Amite High coaching position.

In that case, a federal judge has ordered Amite High to replace second-year head football coach Mark Vining with former St. Helena Central and Istrouma High head coach Alden Foster, an African-American.

That order is being appealed, but the judge has remained adamant that Foster, a former Amite Warrior football star himself, be given the job.

The relation to the Tierney situation is the status of the objective criteria the Tangipahoa Parish School Board used when it named Vining the head coach over Foster when both applied for the job in 2007.

If those criteria are set aside by the judge, it would likely complicate the hiring of any new parish teacher applicant, not just Tierney.

Another complicating factor includes whether there is a teaching position available at Ponchatoula High for Tierney.

Still, Baiamonte admits that Tierney would be a valuable coaching addition. Tierney, 56, coached at Archbishop Shaw and nearby West Jefferson for 25 years, posting a 221-75 record (a .747 winning percentage).

His 221 wins are 28th on the state's list of all-time coaching victories, and he won a state title at Shaw in 1987 and had three other state runner-up finishes.

Tierney later departed Shaw in 2002 under controversial circumstances concerning alleged violations of LHSAA financial aid regulations. He was later exonerated of any wrongdoing.

Tierney's ability as a football coach, however, is above question.

"He would be a useful hand for anybody in this parish — any football program in the state," Baiamonte said. "If given the opportunity, I would certainly like to hire him, but I don't know if I will get that opportunity.

"I would certainly like a chance. But I'm not sure who's going to get that opportunity."