Staff report

The offseason football coaching changes for area high schools are starting to take shape.

Last week, Liberty High named Brian Jones to replace long-time coach Jeff Whittaker to lead its football team. Whittaker coached Liberty for 17 seasons and had a 99-78 career record. The Leopards had their greatest success in school history under his direction.

Jones, a 2005 graduate of Liberty, was a former quarterback for the Leopards.

Today, Ursuline has scheduled a news conference to introduce its new coach.

All indications — and some media reports — have centered the speculation on Ursuline’s highly-respected defensive assistant, Larry Kempe.

Kempe, who has also coached at Niles and other schools, would take over for Dan Reardon, who led the Fighting Irish for eight seasons and led them to three state championships in Division V from 2008-10. Reardon fashioned a 72-29 record with Ursuline.

At Niles, a new coach is expected to be named this week as well.

Internet and some media speculation has centered on former Mathews coach Jim Parry to replace Brad Yeager, who stepped down last month after going 16-24 in four seasons at his alma mater. The Red Dragons had their best success under Yeager this season, winning five of 10 games.

Struthers school officials are reportedly set to interviewing seven candidates for the head coaching position which came open when Mark Asher resigned after his only season with the Wildcats. Struthers started the season 4-1 but injuries took their toll and the Wildcats finished 5-5.

The only official coaching change so far this offseason came at Warren Harding, where Steve Arnold was selected last month to replace Rick Rios after the Raiders finished the season with a 2-8 record.

Rios was with Harding for just one season after being named to replace D.J. Dota following the 2010 season.