Courtesy of Chadron State College Relations
Chadron State College announced four finalists for the Athletic Director position. The finalists are Emannuel Reinsch. Ronald Palmer, Signe Coombs, and William Randolph Price.
All four candidates will interview and participate in open forums for community members and alumni. Palmer will interview Thursday, June 20th, Coombs will interview Friday, June 21st, Price will interview on Monday June 24th, and Reinsch will interview Tuesday June 25th. The first three open forums begin at noon and will be held in the Scottsbluff Room of the Student Center. Reinsch’s open forum will also be at noon but in the Bordeaux Room of the Student Center.
“We are excited to have four great candidates to be the next Athletic Director at Chadron State College,” said President Ron K. Patterson in a statement. “The search committee, which includes community members, alumni, and employees of the college collaborated in a wonderful fashion to get us to this point and I thank them for their wonderful efforts.”
Palmer has more than 20 years of experience in athletic administration and coaching. He started his career as the head baseball coach at Salem Community College in 2003 before becoming the athletic director the next year. He moved on to Davis and Elkins College in 2007 as head baseball coach before being named the athletic director in 2010. In 2015 he took the athletic director role at Division ll Post University in Connecticut. Palmer holds a bachelor’s degree in physical education and health from Davis and Elkins College and a Master of Education degree from American InterContinental University.
Coombs also carries a coaching and administrative background. She began coaching in 2007 as an assistant for the Iowa Rockets, an AAU club while working as an Admissions Counselor at Ashford University. Coombs eventually became head coach of the Rockets and led the team to a national championship. In 2012, she was named assistant volleyball coach at Missouri University of Science and Technology, helping guide them to a division championship. In 2013, she was named an assistant coach at Missouri Western State where she helped the team to back to back 20 win seasons. She remained in that role until 2016 when she became the assistant athletic director for academics and senior woman administrator. In 2018 she was named head volleyball coach at Oklahoma Panhandle State. After a year of coaching, she moved to Georgia Southwestern State University to work as a development officer for the university foundation. After two years in that position she became Senior Associate Director of Athletics at GSSU. She currently oversees the department’s internal operations, game day management and event planning where she has been since 2021. Coombs was an athlete at the University of Iowa where she received her degree in communication studies in 2011. She has also earned a masters of applied science in sports and fitness management.
Price has spent his entire professional career in sports. He began as a graduate assistant in the High Point University sports information office. After graduating from High Point University he was hired as an athletic marketing associate at James Madison in 2007. In 2010, he moved to New Mexico State where he was hired as Director of Marketing and Promotions until 2013, when he became director of Corporate Partnerships and Marketing at the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference. After a year there he became the Director of Marketing and Promotions at Northern Arizona University. In 2017, he continued working in athletic marketing at the University of Memphis as its Assistant Athletic Director for Marketing. Promotions and Branding. In 2022, he was hired as Senior Associate Athletic Director responsible for revenue generation at the University of New Mexico where he has remained since. Price holds a bachelor of science from Radford University and a masters from High Point University.
Reinsch has familiarity with Chadron State College and the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference through his experience. He earned his bachelor’s and master’s degrees at the University of Nebraska-Kearney and was involved with several campus and athletic functions. He worked in event and hospitality management and served as a graduate assistant. Following his graduation, he was named Facility and Event Manager. In 2018, his title was changed to Assistant Athletic Director for Facilities and Events where he remained until 2020. In 2020, he was hired as the Associate Athletic Director for External Relations and Development at Colorado State University-Pueblo. He remained there until 2023 when he was named the Senior Associate Director of Athletics and Championships Resources at Austin Peay University.