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Sid Wheatley Named New Northview High School Head Football Coach

Call him the chief of the Chiefs — Sid Wheatley has officially been named the new Northview High School head football coach.

Wheatley was named interim head coach after Cody Keene resigned in mid-July to accept a coaching job at Hooper Academy in Montgomery. Wheatley was hired as the head football coach this week.

“I’m excited about it,” Wheatley said from his new office Thursday afternoon. “We have a good group of kids, and a good group of seniors. We are working out now, and they look good.”

After four years as an assistant coach, Wheatley said he knows the players and they know him from working together. That allowed him to hit the ground running when he took over as interim head coach.

On the defensive side, Wheatley plans to stick with a 4-3 scheme and push for focus on the ball.

“We’ve got to have 11 guys swarm the football,” he said.

On the offensive side — that one he is keeping to himself, other than to say he plans to throw in a “few wrinkles”.

“We’re working on ball control and wearing down the offense.”

The Chiefs are a classification lower this year, having dropped into Class 2A District 1 with Jay, Baker, Vernon, Sneeds, Freeport, Holmes County, South Walton and Bozeman.

“We are excited about the new class; it will bring a lot of excitement,” Wheatley said. “It is going to be a very competitive district. We are going to work and put ourselves were we want to be.”

There are 20 seniors on this year’s lineup, and Wheatley said those seniors have already been instrumental in providing leadership and motivation for the entire team. Seniors to watch, he said, include John Sellars, Anthony Pierce, Brian Knight and Austin Cooper.

Chris Sheets and Dustin Yuhasz are two others to watch this year, he said.

The new coach said that in the quarterback position, “we have two that are battling it out right now” — senior Brad Lowery and sophomore Brandon Sheets.

“It’s going to be a good year,” Wheatley said.

“We are going to go all the way; we look forward to the playoffs” Principal Gayle Weaver said. “Coach Wheatley was a good choice. He represents the school well, both on and off the field.”

Wheatley was selected for the head coaching job by a selection committee. He had served as Keene’s assistant coach since the 2005 season, most recently coaching the offensive line and defensive backs last season.

Wheatley has served as Northview’s baseball coach since 2005, and he also teaches history at the school. Wheatley attended the University of Southern Mississippi where he received a Bachelor’s degree in coaching and sports administration.

This is not the first time Wheatley has served as a head football coach — he led Loyd Star High School in Brookhaven, Miss. from 2002 to 2003. He’s also served as an assistant football coach at various other schools in Alabama, Florida and Mississippi.