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School names Atha head coach
Dec 7, 2001 8:00 AM
By Stefan Eady - Faculty
President David V. Hicks has named Thomas F. “Tommy” Atha the School’s new varsity head football coach. “Coach Atha replaces the legendary and much-loved Jerry Sharp, who will focus on his duties as Darlington’s athletic director next year, but Coach Atha is no stranger to Darlington football,” according to President Hicks. “For eight years, he has been an integral part of a coaching staff that prepared our teams for the State play-offs in all but one of those years.”
Atha joined Darlington as assistant varsity coach for the offensive line in 1993. At the beginning of his second year at the School, Atha added offensive coordinator for the varsity football team and varsity girls basketball head coach to his list of athletic responsibilities.
“Even though I had played football against the Tigers in high school, I didn’t really know how much the School had to offer until Coach Sharp asked me to consider coaching here,” Atha said. “I liked the small college-like environment I found here. The students show you respect and come with good, strong values. They have a lot of School pride.”
“My main goal these past eight years has been to work hard for Coach Sharp,” Atha said. “Jerry has been more than a head coach to me; he is a mentor and second father. He has taught me as much about being a man as about being a coach.”
“Tommy fits the Darlington program perfectly,” President Hicks said. “The students know and admire him; he exemplifies the values of clean living and hard work for which our School stands; and he understands and supports our academic priorities. All of his players will go to college and do well there, as students.”
Darlington’s football program has evolved for the better over the past eight years, according to Atha. “The weight program has improved significantly and that has helped us achieve our successes,” he said. “Our conditioning program should improve even more now that we can work out on new, state-of-the-art weight equipment in the Huffman Athletic Center that opened this fall.”
The Tigers continue to work towards achieving another state championship after their last one in 1998. The team has reached state playoffs seven times since Atha joined the coaching staff. “We have set a high standard for ourselves,” Atha said. “Winning the state championship represents the pinnacle of success and we’re working to put ourselves back in that position again.”
The team finished 9-2 this season, winning the region championship. With 16 seniors graduating at the end of this school year, the team was well seasoned. “We’ll have a young team next year, which will give more players a chance to grow as football players and show themselves and others what their special talents and abilities are,” Atha said.
Atha’s coaching philosophy is simple: Fundamentals are the key to success. “I learned from Coach Sharp how important it is to get the maximum amount out of each student in terms of ability and effort,” he said. “Jerry can take an average student and help him raise the bar and he leaves no stone unturned by leaving nothing to chance.”
“I am proud of how hard our players work. Generally, they come from families who believe in working hard to achieve success in life,” Atha said. “Our kids know how to compete on both sides of the road—academically and athletically,” (a metaphor for the fact that the Chris Hunter Stadium is located across Cave Spring Road from the Darlington campus).
“As members of Darlington’s faculty, all coaches at Darlington, including myself, are teachers first,” he said. “As a result, we have intangible goals, such as teaching and building leadership, character, and commitment, as well as the tangible goal of winning.”
Atha taught English and literature, in addition to coaching football, at Rockmart High School prior to joining the Darlington faculty. A 1986 graduate of Rockmart High School, he received his bachelor’s degree in political science in 1990 from Presbyterian College where he played football and baseball. He came to Darlington to teach sixth-grade civics as well as coach and added eighth-grade geography the next year. Currently Atha teaches sixth-grade World Cultures and physical education. He is also an eighth-grade class adviser.
Atha and his wife, Cathe, have three children, Maggie Beth, a kindergartner in Darlington’s Lower School; Anna Claire; and Tommy Jr.
Atha joined Darlington as assistant varsity coach for the offensive line in 1993. At the beginning of his second year at the School, Atha added offensive coordinator for the varsity football team and varsity girls basketball head coach to his list of athletic responsibilities.
“Even though I had played football against the Tigers in high school, I didn’t really know how much the School had to offer until Coach Sharp asked me to consider coaching here,” Atha said. “I liked the small college-like environment I found here. The students show you respect and come with good, strong values. They have a lot of School pride.”
“My main goal these past eight years has been to work hard for Coach Sharp,” Atha said. “Jerry has been more than a head coach to me; he is a mentor and second father. He has taught me as much about being a man as about being a coach.”
“Tommy fits the Darlington program perfectly,” President Hicks said. “The students know and admire him; he exemplifies the values of clean living and hard work for which our School stands; and he understands and supports our academic priorities. All of his players will go to college and do well there, as students.”
Darlington’s football program has evolved for the better over the past eight years, according to Atha. “The weight program has improved significantly and that has helped us achieve our successes,” he said. “Our conditioning program should improve even more now that we can work out on new, state-of-the-art weight equipment in the Huffman Athletic Center that opened this fall.”
The Tigers continue to work towards achieving another state championship after their last one in 1998. The team has reached state playoffs seven times since Atha joined the coaching staff. “We have set a high standard for ourselves,” Atha said. “Winning the state championship represents the pinnacle of success and we’re working to put ourselves back in that position again.”
The team finished 9-2 this season, winning the region championship. With 16 seniors graduating at the end of this school year, the team was well seasoned. “We’ll have a young team next year, which will give more players a chance to grow as football players and show themselves and others what their special talents and abilities are,” Atha said.
Atha’s coaching philosophy is simple: Fundamentals are the key to success. “I learned from Coach Sharp how important it is to get the maximum amount out of each student in terms of ability and effort,” he said. “Jerry can take an average student and help him raise the bar and he leaves no stone unturned by leaving nothing to chance.”
“I am proud of how hard our players work. Generally, they come from families who believe in working hard to achieve success in life,” Atha said. “Our kids know how to compete on both sides of the road—academically and athletically,” (a metaphor for the fact that the Chris Hunter Stadium is located across Cave Spring Road from the Darlington campus).
“As members of Darlington’s faculty, all coaches at Darlington, including myself, are teachers first,” he said. “As a result, we have intangible goals, such as teaching and building leadership, character, and commitment, as well as the tangible goal of winning.”
Atha taught English and literature, in addition to coaching football, at Rockmart High School prior to joining the Darlington faculty. A 1986 graduate of Rockmart High School, he received his bachelor’s degree in political science in 1990 from Presbyterian College where he played football and baseball. He came to Darlington to teach sixth-grade civics as well as coach and added eighth-grade geography the next year. Currently Atha teaches sixth-grade World Cultures and physical education. He is also an eighth-grade class adviser.
Atha and his wife, Cathe, have three children, Maggie Beth, a kindergartner in Darlington’s Lower School; Anna Claire; and Tommy Jr.
