Piedmont Sees Many Coaching Staff Changes
Piedmont Academy is having to fill some big shoes on its coaching staff for the upcoming 2014-2015 school year.
Long-time baseball and softball coach Danny Camp will begin coaching at Westfield School in Perry where he will direct the Lady Hornets fast-pitch program. Camp, who guided Piedmont Academy to the GISA Class AA state baseball title, will also be an assistant with the Westfield baseball program.
Camp coached the Diamond Cougars for 17 seasons, qualifying for the postseason 16 times. In addition to 2014, Piedmont reached the Final Four in 1998 and 2008. He compiled almost 300 wins as baseball coach.
During his time at Piedmont, Camp also served as head football coach for three seasons and helped coach basketball. As athletic director, Camp oversaw major growth to the school’s entire athletic program during which times sports such as soccer, cross country, wrestling and competition cheerleading have been added.
“Words cannot express what I have gained from my 17 years at Piedmont,” Camp said. “I was a 23-year-old right out of college when I was hired. Piedmont took a chance on me and this became my home. It’s doesn’t take long for a place like Piedmont to grow on you. The school has been very good to my family during all those years and I have tried to return that loyalty.”
The school now has a separate softball complex where night games can be played and recently installed a football practice field.
Initially turning down Westfield’s overtures, Camp said he wanted to try coaching at a different school (he has been at Piedmont his entire career) and see if he could help build Westfield’s softball program. He said his two daughters will continue to attend school at Piedmont.
In softball, Camp helped lead the transition from slow-pitch to fast-pitch play. He recorded more than 200 wins in softball and reached the Final Four three times.
Long-time softball and baseball assistant coach Daniel Funt will become head coach for those two sports and has already begun summer workouts for both teams. Piedmont graduate Kirstie Lewis has been hired by the school and will help coach the softball team.
“I will miss it,” Camp said. “You can’t walk away after 17 years and not miss it. I am glad I will still have ties to the school. I am excited for Coach Funt and the school moving forward. I couldn’t ask for a better person to step in. That made my decision easier.
You reach a point when an opportunity arises that you can’t turn down. It’s emotional, because I will always bleed blue. I am glad to leave on such a good note with the championship and I am so proud of the kids for what they did.”
In addition to Camp’s departure, Piedmont Academy is losing Rhett Farmer, who guided the school’s football program to back-to-back state championships in 2010 and 2011. During his five years with the Cougars, Farmer compiled four region championships and one-region runner-up finish.
He compiled an overall record of 41-18. His 2010 and 2011 teams were both 13-0. In 2009, Piedmont lost to Memorial Day, the eventual state champion, by one point in the playoffs.
Farmer will also be coaching and teaching at Westfield during the upcoming school year as a football assistant and middle school basketball coach. Farmer, who has a coached basketball for several years, was the head coach of the Lady Cougars this past season.
“It’s another chance for me to learn under a legendary head football coach,” Farmer said. “I have enjoyed my time at Piedmont the last five years. I wish them the best moving forward both athletically and academically. I have always taken pride in teaching in the classroom as well.”
Farmer coached for several seasons under Barney Hester at Tattnall Square and will now work for long-time Westfield football coach Ronnie Jones, who has directed the school’s football program since 1993.
Accepting the job was not an easy decision, Farmer said, but it will mean a closer drive for the coach who lives in Macon and will enable him to see his children more in their activities at Tattnall Square Academy.
“I have so many great memories that I will always cherish,” Farmer said. “I have been able to work with so many great players. The two championship years were very special and even the 2009 season was very special to me. The players on the 2009 team don’t get as much credit as they deserve. I also think our 2012 team was an overachieving one.”
The Piedmont track program also excelled under Farmer’s guidance.
“Every team in every sport I’ve coached has been special in their own way,” he said. “I would not trade these memories for anything when it comes to the players and assistant coaches. It’s time to move on, but I will carry these memories with me always.”
Former defensive coordinator Wes Tanner is returning to Piedmont as head football coach. Tanner was the head coach at Covenant Academy in Macon this past season and was also the school’s head baseball coach. Tanner was the defensive coordinator during Piedmont’s two state championship seasons in 2010 and 2011.
“It’s good to be back,” Tanner said. “This is a great opportunity and it’s great to be close to home again.”
Summer weight training and conditioning have already begun for the football players.
“We will look to implement some new techniques to go with some of the things which have made the program successful,” Tanner said. “It won’t exactly be the same but it won’t be completely different either.”
The new Piedmont head football coach said he wanted to thank Covenant officials for the opportunity they gave him.
“The experience was very valuable,” Tanner said. “Covenant is a great school and everyone there was very supportive. Piedmont is the only place I would have left Covenant for. We were building a good thing there and I look forward to that continuing for them.”
Tanner will also assist Funt with the Piedmont baseball program next spring. He is currently putting together his football coaching staff which will include Bubba Nelson, Walt Nelson, Alvin Hawkes, Jeff Beggs and others.
Beggs will be the school’s new athletic director. He is a former head football coach at Winder-Barrow High School and Rockdale County High School. He was also athletic director at WBHS and most recently for the Atlanta Public School System. His nephew, Zach Beggs, was a key member of the school’s championship baseball team this spring.
Jeff Kent, who was soccer head coach and an assistant football coach at Piedmont this past school year, has accepted a job at Curtis Baptist.