‘A reason to be around sports even more’: Hull to become next athletic director at Palmyra

PALMYRA, Mo. — For Marty Hull, becoming an athletic director again is like riding a bike.

“You haven’t done it in a while, but it’ll take you just a little bit to get back on and get your balance back,” Hull said.

Hull, who spent seven seasons as the Hannibal High School boys basketball coach before resigning from that position in March 2024 and has been the assistant principal at Hannibal Middle School since 2016, will take over for Brian Wosman as the Palmyra R-I School District Athletic and Transportation Director beginning with the 2025-26 school year. The school board approved Hull’s hiring at their January 14 meeting.

“My wife and I grew up playing sports, our kids are in sports, and we’re a die-hard sports family, so being an athletic director is kind of the job you always want, a reason to be around sports even more,” Hull said.

Hull had a three-year stint as the athletic director at Western High School in Barry, Ill., from 2008 to 2011, so while the AD title is not new to him, some of the manners in which an AD fulfills their responsibilities have changed.

“It’s a lot more technology now with contracts and contacting refs and things,” Hull said. “The feedback’s a lot quicker. You can send out a contract and text the other AD, ‘Hey I just sent you this,’ and they can accept it, whereas before I would send out a paper copy. It would take three or four days to get there by mail. They had to look at it, accept it, sign it, send it back, and it’s another three or four days. It may take a month back in the day to get a piece of paper back that you need, whereas now it can be pretty immediate.”

The general tasks of an athletic director are relatively consistent across the board, but Hull said there are always slight variations in processes from school to school. Thus, despite all the time Hull has spent at small schools like Palmyra — he attended West Pike High School and also worked at Mark Twain High School for three years — he admitted he still has some learning to do.

“Every school runs things a little bit differently,” Hull said. “I still have a lot to learn even though I grew up at a small school and know how things go a little bit. You still always have a big learning curve at a new school.”

That learning curve is the main reason why Hull is spending the week shadowing Wosman at Palmyra’s 82nd annual Tony Lenzini Basketball Tournament.

“I don’t want to come here day one and not have a grasp of what to do,” Hull said. “I’m just trying to follow Brian around as much as I can and get as much information out of him as I can. I’ll ask a lot of questions, and he’s been very patient with me with all those questions.”

Wosman, who has been at Palmyra since 2001 and has been the athletic and transportation director since 2007, will retire following the 2024-25 school year. Hull will succeed Wosman on July 1.

“This year has gone by pretty fast,” Wosman said. “Now that your replacement is here, it’s hit hard. It’s been exciting, but now that you have a replacement, it’s sad, too.”

Wosman said he wrestled with the decision to retire for about a year and a half before coming to his conclusion last fall.

“It was a hard decision, and I was back and forth, but it was time,” Wosman said. “It was one of those decisions where you sort of know it’s time to move on. I felt like it was probably the best decision for myself in my family. I made that decision in November, and I thought it was best for the school to get somebody in here sooner than later.”

Wosman also won 202 career games and Class 2 state championships in 2006 and 2007 as the Panthers varsity softball coach and spent three years as the varsity girls basketball coach. 

With his retirement, Wosman will conclude a 29-year career in education.

“In this job, you’re organizing all the time for other people. That’s what’s great about this job is you’re always doing things for other people, and that’s what I’ve gotten to do for basically 29 years,” Wosman said. “I’ve gotten to coach everybody else’s kids. For the last 18 years, I’ve gotten to do things for everybody else’s kids, set up athletic events, and do things for our kids and our community. It’s been nothing but great, and I wouldn’t change it for the world. It’s been a great place for our family, to raise our kids, but it’s also been a great place for me to work at.”

What comes next for Wosman in his next chapter of life is to be determined.

“People have asked, ‘What are you going to do?’” Wosman said. “I really don’t know what I’m going to do after this, but this is all I’ve ever done.”

Hull’s next chapter will be written as Wosman passes the torch to him.

“Marty is walking into a very good situation, and I think he will keep it going in the right direction,” Wosman said. “I think he will add even better things to it and make it even better than where it’s at. He’s going to do a great job.”

Hull has already started to dust off the seat.

“It’s the old adage of, ‘You can ride the bike,’” Hull said.

In a little more than five months, it will be time for him to start pedaling.