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Gillis, the athletic director and head football coach at El Campo, took over as the association’s president Thursday following the resignation of Steve Halpin.
Halpin, who is retiring as the head football coach at Mesquite, stepped down after the Dallas Morning News reported that Mesquite police found that he pawned 270 items dating to last year, and began a case when $2,075 in cameras and a projector went missing from the school in May.
The report said Halpin, who made $92,631 a year and led Mesquite to the Class 5A, Di vision I state championship in 2001, had bought the pawned items back and Mesquite school district administrators asked police not to pursue the matter.
Gillis was elected president-elect of the association at coaching school in Fort Worth last summer and was scheduled to take over as president after this year’s coaching school in San Antonio in July.
“I was kind of looking forward to coaching school so I could watch what goes on before I started, but I guess I don’t get to do that,” Gillis said. “We’ll be fine. It’s just unfortunate for Steve.”
Gillis said he will get together with D.W. Rutledge, the executive director of the coaches association, next week and has been in contact wtih Smithson Valley’s Larry Hill, the past president, about his duties.
“We’ll meet and go over things that need to be done,” Gillis said. “We’ll kind of learn as we go.”
Gillis said he was surprised by Halpin’s resignation and spoke with him on Thursday morning.
“He told me he’s getting counseling and he’s got a problem,” Gillis said. “He knows he did wrong. We’re going to try and make the best of a bad thing.
“It’s going to be a little different,” he added. “I’m not excited because of what happened to Steve. But the association will go on.”
The Associated Press contributed to this report. Mike Forman is a sports writer for the Victoria Advocate. Contact him at 361-580-6588, or by e-mail at mforman@vicad.com.