For more than a year, planning and hiring have consumed the life of Allatoona High School principal Scott Bursmith.

Beyond all the other concerns of building a school designed to house 2,100 students, there was one big lingering problem: How do you build intimidation into a fish?

Such considerations as ordering computer monitors and hiring teachers might seem challenging enough, but Allatoona perhaps faced a more daunting decision in picking its mascot. People wanted to stay with the water motif implicit in the name, but finding a suitable aquatic mascot proved difficult.

"We were almost the Mudcats," laughed Bursmith. "You hear all these stories about these big catfish caught near the dam on Lake Allatoona. We looked at the logo of the Carolina Mudcats [a minor-league affiliate of the Florida Marlins]. But no one could decide what kind of fish to be, and it is hard to fear a fish."

Welcome the Buccaneers to the land of the Blue Devils, Raiders, Hoyas and Indians.

Allatoona —- in far northwest Cobb —- hasn't opened its doors yet, but excitement is starting to build at Northwest's newest high school.

"I am feeling two emotions —- anticipation and pressure," said Bursmith. "July is here, and I still see workers in the building installing things. I am hoping that all of their work will be done before a teacher has to flip a switch.

"It has probably been the fastest year of my life. We have all of our people in place, but it has really flown by," said Bursmith, who has been involved with Allatoona from its earliest stages.

"Finding people that fit together and form a good team has been the hardest part," he said. "I really think that we did a good job of that. Before we brought this team together, I told people that we were going to build it right."

Consider that done on both the academic and athletic sides. Benji Morrell came over from North Cobb as assistant principal and athletics director, and the two have assembled an impressive coaching staff.

Gary Varner will start the football team after serving as Roswell's offensive coordinator. The Hornets won a share of the Class AAAAA state title in 2006.

Softball coach Troy Pirkle was the head coach at Grayson and has ties to Harrison. Dave Ravenscraft started the cross country and track programs at Kennesaw Mountain and will do the same for the Bucs.

Former East Paulding coach and Jacksonville State letterman Amie Howard will handle the volleyball program. Michael Taylor, fresh off back-to-back boys state track titles at McEachern, will coach the girls basketball team, while Markus Hood, who led Hiram to the Final Four last season, will be at the boys helm.

"It is a great coaching staff," Bursmith said. "Part of the reason we have a great staff is that we have a great district, and people want to be here. I had a lot of great applicants apply, so that part was easy. All these coaches are coming from strong winning traditions. There will be a little bit of an adjustment."

Bursmith doesn't expect the school to compete immediately for state titles. Allatoona will not have a senior class until the 2009-10 school year, and there will be only around 700 students on campus when the school opens later this summer.

All Buccaneer teams —- with the exception of football —- will immediately jump into the fire of Class AAAA competition, despite an initial enrollment more befitting a AA school. Football will play a modified varsity/junior varsity schedule and will not be eligible for the playoffs.

"The [non-football] coaches felt like they could hold their own and play straight varsity schedules in the region," said Bursmith. "Personally, I think that playing tougher competition early will challenge our kids and make them better. When you are talking about the male athlete, there is a lot of difference between a 15- and an 18-year-old. It isn't necessarily the same with the girls."

Already, the Allatoona "brand" is popping up in the area around the school, which will draw students from North Cobb, Harrison and Kennesaw Mountain. School T-shirts are being seen and summer sports camps have been going on.

The design and layout for Allatoona —- situated on 120 acres along the Paulding border off Ga. 92 —- recalls Kell and Hillgrove.

"This area has some awesome parents," Bursmith said. "They are very supportive of their children and very supportive of the school. Parents have been calling us asking what they could do. The booster clubs sprung up like mushrooms overnight. They are raising money, and they are ready for the school to open."