West Springfield has hired Andrew Muir to be its next director of sports activities, school officials announced on Tuesday. Muir, most recently the assistant director of student activities at W.T. Woodson and perhaps better known as a field hockey coach, replaces Tim O’Reilly, who spent two seasons atop the West Springfield athletic and activity program.
Muir stepped down as the Cavaliers field hockey coach in 2005, only to return for the 2006 season when the school had trouble securing a quality replacement. The 2006 team went 19-3, but was upended by Stafford, who was on a 46-game winning streak and the defending state champions, in the state quarterfinals. Muir, who won 100-plus games over 12 seasons retired after the Cavaliers made their fifth straight state tournament appearance.
During the last two school years, Muir has concentrated solely on his student activity duties.
When Muir inherited the Cavaliers program in 1994, they went 0-15 and scored just one goal the entire season. Nine years later, he led W.T. Woodson to on a perfect season — 23 straight wins — capped by Samantha Howard’s game-winning goal in overtime of the 2003 state final. The Cavaliers — behind Howard’s 20 goals and 19 assists — became the first Northern Region state champion since McLean downed Albemarle in 1986.
In 2002, W.T. Woodson went 20-2-1, won its first-ever Northern Region title before bowing out in the state semifinals.
Longtime Cavaliers director of student activities Dan Checkosky told The Connection in 2006 that stepping in for one more years as head coach was a testament of Muir’s character.
"It shows how unselfish he is," said Checkosky about Muir's decision to coach for another year and his commitment to the players. "He did it for the kids."
<b>SOURCES INDICATE</b> that Muir and former Oakton DSA Phil Levine were finalists for the job vacated by O’Reilly. The former football coach elected to take an assistant principal position at Chantilly because of family reasons, leaving the Spartans without a DSA since June 25. O'Reilly spent four seasons at Thomas Jefferson, where he was the assistant DSA and head football coach.
A three-year letterman at the College of William & Mary, O’Reilly was the offensive coordinator at Stonewall Jackson for 15 years, leading the Manassas-based school to nine playoff appearances.