An interesting trend is taking place at Butler High School.

The hiring of Todd Erdos to coach the Golden Tornado baseball team last Monday means the head coaches of four marquee sports — football, boys and girls basketball, and baseball — aren't employed by the school district in any other way.

This seems a bit odd, given the size of the Butler district.

But it's OK.

Football coach Jim Rankin, who built an impressive resume at Ellwood City and North Allegheny, is retired.

Boys basketball coach Matt Clement is a retired major-league pitcher who was a stellar basketball player on a great team at Butler.

Girls basketball coach Dorothea Epps was a longtime Butler assistant coach with a solid playing career in the sport.

Erdos spent a number of years in professional baseball, including five in the major leagues, before retiring in 2007.

High school sports are extracurricular activities. Coaches of those sports are paid through supplemental contracts.

Supplemental contracts can be earned by nonteaching personnel. There's no law against that.

Some believe coaches should be working in their respective schools, at least part time, so they can be around the players, keep tabs on them and make sure they're toeing the line.

There can be a benefit to such a situation, surely. But is it a necessity?

Hardly.

Players' behavior in the school setting should be monitored by all supervisory personnel, period.

Knoch recently hired Sean O'Donnell, a teacher at the school, as head girls basketball coach. He was the only finalist who currently is teaching in the district, and athletic director Josh Shoop said that played a factor in his hiring.

Shoop also said O'Donnell was the right man for the job. That's the bottom line. O'Donnell is coaching Knoch's eighth-grade girls basketball team this fall, a perfect lead-in to working with the varsity girls.

Erdos replaces Dave Florie — another retiree — who guided the Golden Tornado baseball team to three playoff berths.

Clement led the basketball team to the postseason and won his first 15 games.

Epps has maintained a consistent girls basketball contender, and Rankin knows the blueprint for winning football.

High school athletes need the right person for the job.

The quality of instruction they receive and caliber of relationship they build with their coaches are what counts.

Supplemental contracts are awarded to coaches who are supplementing their players' education. Sports are an extension of the classroom, not the classroom itself.

As long as those coaches are good with the players and for the players, their employment background, age and gender shouldn't matter.

John Enrietto is sports editor of the Butler Eagle.