Since being fired as the Missouri softball coach in January, Ehren Earleywine said he received plenty of interest from schools to coach. But nothing really stood out as the perfect landing spot.
Location was one reason. He said he preferred to stay close to his family in Columbia, meaning continuing his coaching career might not be in the cards.
Then a message he received led to the start of a new career.
"We think that we have everything strategically planned and we know our next step," Earleywine said Tuesday, when he was named the Director of Athletics for Jefferson City effective July 1. "Then all of a sudden you get a text one night saying, 'Hey, would you be interesting in being the Jeff City AD?' And then all that changes. Super fortunate. Didn't think that there would be something to come along that would allow me to be passionate about it and kind of fulfill the sporting part of my career."
The 1989 graduate of Jefferson City decided it was time for a career shift. And what better place than Jefferson City?
"I have had schools reach out to me with interest, but my desire right now at this point in my life is to be closer to my kids," Earleywine said. "To be able to spend more time with them in these critical teen years that they're going through right now.
"Coaching, really, is not an option for me anymore. Looking back on my life someday, I don't want to have to look back and say the only thing that I ever did career-wise was coach. I think it's desirable to be able to look back and say you did multiple things and you tried multiple things."
Earleywine has coached softball for more than 20 years at four colleges and compiled the best winning percentage, regardless of sport, in Missouri history.
Earleywine admits there will be a learning curve when he starts his new job. He listed winning, competing, building a team and forming a strategy as the aspects of coaching he'll miss. But he still views being an AD as a way to fill the need to compete.
"Once I figure it out, I'm looking forward to really competing and getting our school back to the prominence that it was used to years ago," Earleywine said.
One of his first duties on the job will be hiring coaches for Capital City High School, since he'll serve as the athletic director for the district and oversee ADs at Capital City and Jefferson City.
Jefferson City filled a vacancy two months ago by hiring former Blair Oaks coach Terry Walker to lead the football program.
"I think they got one of the big pieces on the board moved into the right spot in hiring coach Walker for the football spot," Earleywine said. "I'm sure equal diligence and success will need to be made for the new high school."
Now it's Earleywine's turn to contribute to a hiring decision. And he said that's the area that should come the easiest in his transition.
"I think the best ADs that I worked for and the best associate ADs that I worked for were people that at one point played and coached at a high level," Earleywine said. "Many of the administrators that I worked under had never coached and may have played a sport, but at a very low level. To me, if you're going to identify great coaches and hire and fire coaches and be successful in that role, you have to have done it at a high level yourself. I think the thing that's going to probably come most natural to me is hiring head coaches."
However, the second high school also brings a challenge for Earleywine. The teams will be split into two and most sports will only drop from Class 5 to Class 4.
"It's going to be a tremendous challenge for both high schools, but like I said, I like to compete," Earleywine said. "This is just another opportunity for me to challenge myself and my staff and our entire team of coaches and administrators to find a way to do this as well or better than anybody else as ever done."