By SCOTT NOVAK

Dowagiac Daily News

Dowagiac has a new athletic director as superintendent Peg Stowers announced the hiring of current Notre Dame interim baseball coach Scott Lawler Wednesday morning.

Stowers said she will make the recommendation to the Dowagiac Board of Education either at a special meeting or at the regular July meeting.

“He is a really fine young man,” Stowers said of the hire. “He has a nice history of baseball organization, recruiting and fundraising.”

A total of 39 candidates applied for the position of replacing Greg Younger, who was named the Lakeshore athletic director earlier this month.

Stowers said that the committee interviewed six candidates and then gave three individuals a second interview.

“All three were excellent candidates,” she said.

Stowers added that after the second interview, the job was offered to Lawler. She also said it was important to the district to get the position filled by the end of June.

Lawler will have to hit the ground running as Dowagiac is just a little more than a month away from beginning the 2010-11 sports year.

Among one of his first jobs will be to hire a trio of coaches for the Chieftain staff.

Dowagiac is currently without a varsity volleyball, girls’ basketball and baseball coach.

Lawler said that he learned of the Dowagiac opening from a friend, Lake Michigan Catholic baseball coach Fred Bournay.

“He told me great things about the district and the town and asked me if I was interested?” Lawler said. “My dad was in high school athletics and I thought I might like to do that. I wanted a change in my life because of my three young children.”

Lawler is a native of Naperville, Ill. He is a 2000 graduate of Simpson College, where he earned a bachelor’s degree in sports administration.

He earned his master’s degree in public service administration from Evansville in 2005.

He is married to wife Kim and has three children – two sons, Lucas and Tucker, and a daughter, Alexa.

Lawler came to Notre Dame after spending the 2006 season as the associate head coach and recruiting coordinator at Arkansas-Little Rock.

At Notre Dame, his coaching responsibilities included instruction of the hitters and infielders. He was the Irish’s top assistant coach the past four years. He was the associate head coach the last two seasons.

He was named interim Notre Dame baseball coach earlier this month after Dave Schrage was not rehired by the Fighting Irish.

Lawler has a rich baseball background.

His late father Phil has coached 34 years in the Chicago area and won the 2006 Illinois state championship at Naperville Central High School and was inducted into the Illinois High School Hall of Fame.

His uncle Jim Lawler has spent 22 seasons on the staff at Texas A&M and was named the national assistant coach of the year in 2003.

Lawler, a three-sport athlete in high school, played collegiately at Morehead State (Ky.) from 1995 until 1998. He was a pitcher, outfielder and first baseman. He transferred to Simpson College in Indianola, Iowa for his senior year.

“I grew up around sports,” he said. “I like being around coaches and athletes and being around all the programs. I think I have a lot to offer because of the experiences I have had. Like Greg, I think there is something to be said for an athletic director who has both played and coached.”

Lawler continued by saying that in high school there are cycles of athletes and classes that come through, but if there is a system in place and there is a plan, “even through the cycles the fundamentals will come through and your program will continue to excel.”

He also noted that he will be there to support the coaches, help them continue to build on their successes and help them when needed.

“Maybe I can even give them a few new wrinkles that I have learned from my experiences,” Lawler said.