Meet the new athletic directors at ACE and Tattnall

As the 2024-25 school year and athletic year waned, the Academy for Classical Education and Tattnall Academy both had some work to do.

The schools lost their athletic directors and had coaching slots to fill, with tons of sports ranging from baseball to basketball needing new leaders before the season rolled around.

Luckily, the two schools each had internal options that have stepped up to lead ACE and Tattnall into new athletic eras. The Gryphons selected basketball coach Thomas Darrah to lead the way as AD, while the Trojans went with baseball and softball coach Jordan Brooks.

Each coach has an intriguing history and some goals for their respective schools.

From Waffle House to the Gridiron

Darrah grew up in Newnan and had a stellar high school football career as a player that led him to Alabama before he transferred to Columbus State. That part of his career trajectory was fairly ordinary, but the next step for Darrah was a bit more
uncommon.

“I actually went to work with Waffle House for close to eight years,” he said. “Got a lot of experience in business and management, but when I tried to transfer down here to Macon through Waffle House it didn’t work out.”

Instead, Darrah took a risk and moved down to Macon to get involved with ACE as its football program tried to grow.

“I was originally going to be sort of a community coach, but that didn’t pan out and (Laura) Perkins and the administration convinced me to jump right in as a PE coach,” Darrah said.

That was five years ago now, and the move certainly worked out for the former football phenom. Darrah first got involved with ACE’s football program as an assistant, then became its offensive coordinator, a position he’s held for the past three seasons.

Darrah has since watched the Gryphons grow from a fledgling but struggling team to a competitor in a stacked GHSA Class A-Division I region in recent seasons. ACE had its best season in 2023 with an 8-3 finish and a playoff berth, then followed that up with a 6-5 season and another playoff appearance last year in a region that featured two state semifinal teams in Northeast and Dublin.

“With football, we’ve been putting out winning efforts, we just have to finish that off,” Darrah said. “If we stay healthy this year, we have a great chance to win our first football playoff game in school history. That’s a big milestone.”

As fun as the football growth has been, the Gryphons saw even more success in other sports. They secured a state championship in softball and have routinely been one of Macon’s top softball and baseball teams. The ACE boys soccer team made the state title game in 2021, while the girls team appeared in the Final Four this year.

“Obviously the sport you’re involved with you have more of a vested interest in, but as a PE coach I interact with the student athletes from all the different teams. Watching their progress really means a lot,” Darrah said.

Now Darrah will be involved with all those sports directly after former AD, softball coach and baseball coach Josh McLendon left at the end of the school year.

“Josh did a lot to build this program up and I’m proud to be a part of it, so when the position opened up it just felt like the right fit,” Darrah said. “I think my business experience will be a plus, because obviously there’s some of that stuff you have to do. I also just feel at home at ACE, and I’m ready to just keep our momentum rolling.”

Darrah immediately had some key decisions to make along with the school’s administration.

“It was right out of the gate. We had some really big spots to fill, the three main ones being baseball, softball and basketball,” he said. “And then we had a lot of other coaching spots to get figured out. There’s a lot of changes.”

The softball and basketball decisions came first, as ACE elected to hire internal options. Andrew Claxton, who was a coach under McLendon when the Gryphons routinely dominated the area, will take over as softball head coach. Bert Barnes was selected to be the new head basketball coach after spending the past three years on the staff under Darrah.

Claxton was hired in April, soon after McLendon announced his departure, while the school announced Barnes as the basketball coach in late May.

The other key hire was external, as the Gryphons hired Bubba Pool from Mount de Sales to take over the baseball head coaching duties in May. The Cavaliers struggled last season but historically performed well under Pool, winning 154 games in his tenure there. Mount de Sales got a playoff series win over local rival Stratford in 2024.

ACE also named Lonnie Wheeler as its new head volleyball coach.

“We really believe in all those coaches. The ones from within the program we obviously have a lot of faith in, and Coach Pool has just done a really good job. We’re really glad to have him,” Darrah said. “I think we’re in really good shape.

“I think at the end of the day it’s all about the kids and preparing them for the next step. We’re trying to develop the student athletes and make them the best people that we can possibly make them. We’ll approach it that way every single day and be excited about it, because it’s fun.”

A Tattnall lifer takes the helm

While some ACE parents and fans might not have known Thomas Darrah’s route to becoming a Gryphon, most of the Tattnall faithful probably know exactly how Jordan Brooks arrived on Trojan Trail.

Brooks attended Tattnall from kindergarten all the way through senior year of high school, playing baseball for the Trojans and eventually pitching for Georgia College and State University. He has worked at Tattnall for the past eight years, finding success as the school’s baseball coach.

Brooks helped Tattnall win state baseball titles in 2016, 2018 and 2019 as a coach under previous skipper and AD Joey Hiller, whom he succeeded as head baseball coach in 2022. Brooks will now succeed Matt Chambless, who was also the boys and girls basketball coach, as the athletic director.

“I knew I would want to be an AD at some point, but I kind of didn’t have it planned to happen this quick, if I’m being honest,” Brooks told The Melody this week. “When our head of school approached me about it, I felt really good about it. I’ve been around the athletic department for a long time and feel prepared to lead all of our sports.”

Brooks has guided Tattnall’s baseball and softball teams to plenty of success — the softball program won a state title last season and the baseball team yet again competed in the playoffs — and wants to extend that trend to the Trojans’ other sports.

“I think it’s a culture thing that bleeds throughout the programs. With a smaller private school like we have, there’s a lot of crossover with the athletes playing multiple sports,” Brooks said. “I want to get all the sports to a point where they can lead themselves. That’s when you have a program that can really have sustained success, when you have students who are truly leaders.

“With softball last year, we won that championship because we had some seniors on that team who knew what we needed to do and were setting examples for their teammates. We want that for all sports, the standard is the standard.”

While the baseball and softball programs have plenty of momentum, other programs had to retool on the coaching front. 

Chambless, the former AD, had built up the boys basketball team to its best season in recent memory last year in which it defeated rival Stratford a whopping three separate times en route to a semifinal appearance.

Chambless also led Tattnall’s girls basketball team to a playoff upset as the No. 11 seed on the road.

Tattnall selected two Stratford alumni to take over the programs to try and keep the momentum rolling. Former Piedmont coach and 2019 Stratford grad Christian Palmer will be the boys head coach, while former soccer star Lauren Spillers Hodge will lead the girls team.

“Christian is young but has a motivation that is really rare these days. He knows exactly what gets guys going and how to get the most out of them,” Brooks said. “Lauren has so much experience as well, I think those programs are in a really good spot.”

But the most interesting Trojans hire by far — perhaps the most intriguing hire in Bibb County this year, even — came earlier this year, when the Trojans hired legendary head coach Barney Hester to return to Trojan Trail as football coach after John Garrett Abernathy stepped down.

“I played under Coach Hester when I was in school here, and I can’t tell you how excited I am that he’s back,” Brooks said. “For the young men to have that same experience that I had is a thrill. (Hester) was a huge figure in my life, and I think it will be the exact same thing for the guys on that team now.”

With all the changes finalized, Brooks is prepping for softball season and getting used to his new duties ahead of what should be a busy year for Tattnall.

“I was the facilities director beforehand for several years, so that helps,” Brooks said of his adjustment to the new gig. “Some of it’s new, but the transition was probably smoother than it might have been if I wasn’t directing the facilities for a while. The closer we get to August, the more hectic it’ll probably get, but I’m excited for it. We’re just ready to get to work.”