HEBRON — Less than five minutes.

That’s how long it took to reveal the fate of three Hebron coaches at a special meeting of the Boone Township school board on Tuesday — and that included an addition to the agenda to approve the hiring of a math teacher.

The contracts of girls basketball coach Jerry Bechtold and baseball coach John Hall were not renewed. Mike DeFries will return as boys basketball coach.

A motion was made to not renew Bechtold’s contract, seconded and passed unanimously. The procedure played out similarly for Hall. DeFries was not mentioned, and was the only one of the three coaches not to attend the meeting at the school library; around the corner in the gym, he was coaching the Hawks boys basketball team in a summer league game against River Forest.

“They listened to everything at the last meeting, and decided to keep Mike,” superintendent George Letz said.

Tuesday’s gathering stood in contrast to a school board meeting two weeks ago. Hundreds of people had packed the school cafeteria and, after almost 90 minutes of public comments — mostly supporting the coaches — the board tabled the issue of whether to renew the contracts.

“Shocked,” was Bechtold’s reaction to the outcome, as he received a series of consolatory hugs.

“They had their minds made up.”

Bechtold guided Hebron to a Class 1A state runner-up finish in 2002, earning Post-Tribune Coach of the Year honors with a 25-3 record. The Hawks went 78-38 in his six seasons, including 8-12 this past season.

Bechtold said as the situation unfolded, he continued to take the team to play in Lafayette at his own expense — both financially and in terms of time away from his family.

“It’s always been about the program,” he said, adding he and athletic director Rhonda Walker have had “some issues.”

Hall had been optimistic he would be retained after he met on Friday with Walker and principal David Howenstine, going over a document referred to as an improvement plan.

“I was kind of prepared for both ways,” said Hall, who spent four seasons as the varsity baseball coach, after one season as the JV coach. “I’m real shocked.

“They voted on us, and they want to go in another direction. I wish them the best of luck.”

Letz said the improvement plan was discussed as part of a “normal” evaluation process — Bechtold also met on Friday, and DeFries did so on Monday after he was out of town on Friday — and was not an indication that anyone’s contract would be renewed.

Both Hall and DeFries said they never before had been formally evaluated — DeFries through 10 seasons as a head coach, with several ADs. Letz expected that practice to change for all coaches.

“There has to be accountability every year,” said Letz, adding an evaluation should take place at the end of a given season.

DeFries, who has a 53-65 record in six seasons with the boys basketball team, felt good about his chances to return for a seventh after speaking with the board before the meeting two weeks ago.

“That opened the lines of communication,” he said, in between calling out plays. “They had a better idea where I was coming from, and I had a better idea where they were coming from. It cleared up a lot of the issues.”

Still, beyond being told he had a game to coach on Tuesday, DeFries said, over the last few days, he hadn’t heard anything more than “rumors” about his status.

“I didn’t know what happened at the meeting tonight,” DeFries said. “What happened in there was gonna happen if I was in there or not.

“I said my piece (before the school board meeting) and after that, I told them I was going back to business as usual. The board had to do what they had to do.”

DeFries said he felt more comfortable with a written improvement plan in place, detailing expectations and including essentially a job description.

“It’s eye-opening when something like this happens,” he said. “We have to be mindful our jobs are year-by-year.”

Letz said the search process for the two positions will begin, with inside and outside candidates.

Bechtold and Hall, both teachers in the district, said they would have to think about whether to remain.

Reporter Michael Osipoff can be reached at 648-3137 or by e-mail at mosipoff@post-trib.com.