“Coach” Jim Leierer’s legacy may be cemented in more ways than just in the hearts of those who knew him.

The South Whidbey School District board of directors discussed renaming South Whidbey High School’s stadium after the longtime football coach at a workshop meeting Wednesday night.

Jon Chapman, a community volunteer who has been working with the district to acquire long-term advertising to help replace aging scoreboards at the school, proposed in an email that the stadium be named Leierer Stadium at Waterman’s Field. Leierer reached near iconic status in the school athletic community after coaching the football programs at Langley and South Whidbey High Schools from 1953 to 1982. He died at the age of 92 in June.

Superintendent Jo Moccia is currently researching board policy to determine whether the directors have the ability to rename school facilities and will present her findings at a July 27 board meeting. The board is also treading cautiously, as Waterman’s Field was named after a South Whidbey family who donated land for development of the high school. Moccia will determine whether there is any language in the Waterman donation documents that prohibits the renaming of the field.

Only one of the four board directors present at the meeting — Damian Greene — was ready to support the stadium’s renaming. Board Chairwoman Linda Racicot and directors Shawn Nowlin and Rocco Gianni were neutral on the matter. Director Julie Hadden was not present at the meeting.

In a phone interview with The Record Thursday afternoon, Greene, a 1980 Langley High School graduate who played for Leierer, felt Leierer played an instrumental role in the passing of a bond that allowed the high school to be built in the early 1980s. Langley finished second at state in football in 1979.

“It was because of the athletics, in my opinion, that Coach Leierer was in charge of, that gave us the ability to be recognized on a state level and have a new high school built,” Greene said. “I would support something in recognition of Coach. The stadium’s a great idea. There might be something else that comes up, but at this point I’m in support of it.”

Racicot expressed hesitancy at the meeting, addressing the long-term effects of renaming the stadium. She also added that the proposal may be of emotional origins.

“There are going to be some other wonderful people here in the next 20 years who might be equally worthy; that’s where, for me, it gets to be problematic because the world changes over 20 years,” Racicot said.

“It’s a really nice sentiment, but the only thing is it’s an emotional decision as opposed to a policy decision, so that’s something we would have to work on.”

Nowlin and Gianni shared similar views in follow-up interviews with The Record. Nowlin said she was ambivalent, as she did not know him personally but understood the tremendous impact he had on the community. Gianni wanted to wait until Moccia reported back to the school board on July 27.

“This could cause difficulties in future years,” Gianni said. “I need to hear more of the facts before I make a decision.”