Job filled/help wanted: Central Fellowship taps ACE's Whetsel as new athletics director

 By Michael A. Lough

The Sports Report

centralgasports@gmail.com

          The human resources job of Jake Walls to replace, well, Jake Walls in a variety of positions at Central Fellowship is a little easier.

          The CFCA principal, athletics director, and head football coach now has two successors officially in place with the hiring of Todd Whetsel as the Lancers’ new athletics director.

          The move has been in place for a week or so and announced on social media by the school Wednesday morning.

          “I just have a lot of a lot of respect for him and all the things he's done,” Walls said. “He's just such a sharp guy with great character, and you know, that's the key for us.

Photos: Academy for Classical Education

          “CFCA is a Christian school, not a perfect school, but it’s a school that actually is still trying to fulfill what it was founded to do. We can’t just hire anybody, or somebody who’s a winner and a great coach. We try to hire great people.”

          The school is likely to announce Walls’ replacement as head football coach this week, and again, the school didn’t have to go far. Jeremiah Sattazah was announced in late February as the new principal.

          It’s a trip back in time for Whetsel, whose coaching career started at Central Fellowship back in 1995, where he stayed until 2006.

          He and Walls passed each other with stints at Covenant, Whetsel from 2006-09, where he started the girls basketball program. Whetsel earned GISA and GHSA coaching honors with Tattnall’s girls basketball program from 2009-19, going 163-73 and suffering only one losing season.

          He left for the job as head of the old Georgia Independent Christian Athletic Association as it transitioned to become the Georgia Association of Private and Parochial Schools (GAPPS).

          He also spent a period of time in administration with the GISA/GIAA before returning to the bench to take over the girls basketball program at ACE Charter.

          The Gryphons 68-38 in his four seasons. He won his 400th career game last December. Whetsel also coaches golf at ACE, leaving first-year Gryphons’ AD Thomas Darrah two jobs to fill at the end of the school year.

          Throughout his career, Whetsel was part of football staffs at Gilead, CFCA, and Covenant – where he was head coach for three seasons, while also coaching track. He was athletics director at Tattnall and Covenant, and an assistant athletics director at ACE.

          The Tucker native and Forest Hills Christian School grad also coached at Gilead.

          Walls and Whetsel have never coached or administrated together, but have Covenant in common as well as several years crossing paths in the GISA/GIAA world.

          “We had about six (candidates), some great names, good people,” Wall said. “But Todd was the top choice.”