By DIANE GASPER-O'BRIEN

dobrien@dailynews.net

He knows expectations could be high for him.

In fact, he hopes they are.

And, Bill DeWitt says, "I'm going to deliver."

The 36-year-old DeWitt, a 1992 graduate of Thomas More Prep-Marian, on Monday was announced as the new principal for the local Catholic high school, effective July 1.

He will replace Denis Coakley, who resigned last month after three years at the school. Coakley, also 36, called serving as TMP-Marian's principal a "dream job."

But Coakley, an only child, decided to return to his hometown of Buffalo, N.Y., to be nearer his mother, who is facing health issues.

"People might think 36 sounds young to jump into the principal's spot," said DeWitt, who comes back to his native city after spending the first 12 years of his professional career in education in eastern Kansas.

"But, I guess (Coakley) was younger than that when he started there," he said.

DeWitt, much like Coakley, thinks youngsters respond positively to high expectations.

But he said he won't dress like Coakley.

"I don't own a bow tie," DeWitt said with a laugh, referring to the tie of choice for Coakley -- who said he has about 100 bow ties.

"That's an East Coast thing," DeWitt said. "I'm just a Midwest kid who's never lived anywhere but Kansas."

But Kansas has been good to DeWitt, who said he received an "excellent education" at various schools in the state.

Those all began in Hays, where he was born and raised and attended St. Joseph Elementary School and Kennedy Middle School, then TMP-Marian and Fort Hays State University.

"Times change, but I feel like values don't," DeWitt said, who was greeted with a few pleasant cosmetic changes when he came to Hays for his interview April 29.

"The (TMP) auditorium looked great, the chapel was redone," he said, adding the field south of the school that was a "sticker patch" when he went to school now is home to a four-field baseball/softball complex.

DeWitt said he was excited about coming back, but a little anxious at the same time.

"You wonder, you're a little nervous," he said of returning to his alma mater.

But it didn't take DeWitt long to feel welcome again.

"The values at TMP are still there," he said. "You know that when you walk in the building."

Some of the staff DeWitt learned under also still are at TMP-Marian.

"A lot of my own personal philosophies came from the teachers that I had there," he said. "I'm confident I'm there for the right reasons. A lot of my own personal and professional missions and values are modeled after what I learned there."

Glenn Braun, president of TMP's Board of Trustees and a member of the search committee for the new principal, personally knows of those values. He is a 1974 graduate of TMP-Marian.

"The school has a tremendous history, and the graduates are infused with that history," Braun said. "I think that is an asset."

However, Braun said DeWitt's "credentials spoke for themselves," no matter where he got his education.

Braun said he was pleased with the diverse -- and well qualified -- group of applicants, somewhat softening the blow about Coakley's departure.

"Denis will be sorely missed, but I think we've been blessed with another good one," Braun said. "I think Bill not only will be an asset to the school, but to the community (too)."

DeWitt graduated from KU in 1997 and has been living in Eudora since 1999, teaching social studies and coaching a variety of sports at Tonganoxie and Eudora.

He had been asked to apply for a couple of different jobs at TMP-Marian the past several years, but he said he felt a fierce loyalty to his students and athletes in his current school at the time.

Not until he received his administration degree did he want to make one more move, both professionally and personally.

Knowing that would be accomplished this spring, he began looking -- and interviewing -- for administrative positions.

"I only wanted to make one move," said DeWitt, who knew that move had to be the right one, the perfect fit.

"I told (search committees) in interviews that I am not going to move my kids around, not going to chase dollars," he said. "I wanted a place to go and stay, a place to call home."

He had no idea that actually would be his home town.

"When I was growing up, I always wanted to go away to a big college, KU or K-State, and see where that took me," said DeWitt, who started his college career at FHSU, then transferred to the University of Kansas.

"Amazingly," he added, "that's taken me back home."

Now, DeWitt said he can't wait to get there.

"I feel very good about bringing my girls back there; it's a great place to raise a family," said DeWitt, whose wife, Amy, grew up in Holyrood in Ellsworth County.

DeWitt's parents moved to Iowa while he was in college, and his wife's parents since have moved to southeast Kansas.

"But Amy still has a lot of friends there," he said of Holyrood, "and Hays always will be home to me."

The DeWitts have three daughters ages 4 to 8 who they hope will feel at home in Hays, too.

DeWitt said that because of coaching and other school responsibilities at Tonganoxie and Eudora, he hasn't been able to make it back for several years to a TMP homecoming, one of the biggest attended events during the school year.

So he is looking forward to being a part of all of that -- and much more -- once again.

"I can't wait to get back to town and start working with those teachers and staff," DeWitt said. "They have a tremendous group of teachers there; they have no idea the quality of the staff they have."