While the search didn’t exactly lead them right back home, the Board of Directors at Meadowview Christian School picked a familiar face when they selected the school’s new headmaster.

Dr. Michael J. Gaylor was announced last week as the next man to lead Meadowview.

Gaylor, who taught science at the school in 1998 and 1999, was the head football coach at Sparta Academy before taking the Meadowview job.

“I’m excited about it, its a little bit different from what I’ve been doing recently,” Gaylor said. “Meadowview has an opportunity to get back to being one of the better schools in the AISA.”

It’s that kind of optimism, along with an impressive resume, that helped the board select Gaylor according to board member Les Smith.

“We talked to him informally (at first) and he had a wonderful resume. He taught science at Meadowview and was an assistant professor at Auburn for years,” Smith said. “The interview was great. He seems to be a very disciplinary type person.”

With his blend of experience in athletics and academics, Smith said Gaylor is the right fit for Meadowview.

“It’s the right mix. He’s been a football coach and a teacher for the last several years,” Smith said.

“The first priority of any school is academics, but athletics are also important,” Gaylor said.

Gaylor, who has also coached basketball, retired from Auburn after a distinguished career as a research scientist.

He had a doctorate from Texas A&M.

One of Gaylor’s priorities will be to improve Meadowview’s image in the community.

“What I want to do is make Meadowview as good as it can possibly be,” Gaylor said. “I want to concentrate on letting people know what we’ve got going for us.

We’ve got some good teachers.”

Improving Meadowview’s image was a topic Smith touched on as well.

“One of the things we wanted to do is get involved in communicating what Meadowview’s all about,” Smith said. “To get our name and the good things that are going on there.”

Gaylor’s hire ends a bit of tough patch for the school when the previous headmaster left unexpectedly in March.

“It’s been a long, strenuous process for all of us as board members,” Smith said.

But Smith added that despite the search for the right candidate, enrollment numbers are better than they were at this time last year.

Now, it will be up to Gaylor and the rest of the school to keep that momentum going.