Almost three weeks after Jim Kuhn stepped down as Whitman football’s head coach, the school has decided to promote JV head coach Dave Fyock to the position.

Fyock, known widely as Coach Slick, was selected out of five final candidates on Wednesday by a committee made up of principal Alan Goodwin, Athletic Director Andrew Wetzel and a few other administrators and advisors.

Slick, a Whitman alum of ‘84, had coached the JV squad for the last 10 years and provided an in-house coaching option that created familiarity and continuity.

“Coach Slick was already in the program as a JV head coach. I’m sure that weighed positively for him. He’s a known commodity,” assistant coach John Floyd said. “Coach Wetzel’s worked with him, and he’s talked to Dr. Goodwin. They all have a pretty good relationship opposed to someone coming from outside the program.”

Because Slick has been around the program, he knows many of the athletes personally, an advantage that he thinks will be key to the transition.

“The relationship I have with the players is very important,” Slick said. “I’ve coached them, I know them well, their parents know me well, so the change won’t seem as difficult.”

Slick also expressed his desire to promote the previous culture around the team.

“Coach Kuhn established such a positive environment for the program,” Slick said. “I just want to try and continue that throughout my time.”

In addition to coaching JV, Slick was involved with the popular Maplewood football association as a coach for 22 years. His experience and personality are what many players appreciate the most, junior linebacker Cal Cibel said.

“He knows the entire team and every player very well,” Cibel said. “And he has a ton of experience from Maplewood and also the two years working with us on JV.”

His players praise him highly, and his peers are no different. Floyd has observed Slick through helping out JV and strongly believes in his ability to lead Whitman football for years to come.

“He has a great relationship with the teenagers that play football. He coached youth football forever before coming here to Whitman to coach high school.” Floyd said. “He has all the Xs and Os you ever could want, He’s football knowledgeable. But his ability to create relationships with student-athletes, to bring the best out of 15 to 18 year old young men is what will help him out the most and allow him to be an outstanding coach.”