A new era of athletics is dawning at West Lauderdale High School after the school on Friday announced new volleyball and basketball coaches and a new athletic director heading into the new year.

 

Current Athletic Director Jody Hurst announced he plans to retire after more than 30 years in the school district, but he is positive he is leaving student athletes in good hands.  Stepping into the position will be Daniel Knox, who has been with West Lauderdale since 2016.

 

“Coach Knox is great. We’ve been working together for the past year,” he said. “He’s going to do an outstanding job, and I’m not worried about him at all.”

 

Knox said Hurst has been a friend and mentor to many people on campus and has been extremely helpful in preparing for the transition. Stepping in as athletic director, he said he will inherit a field of coaches with a record of success and looks forward to continuing that trend.

 

“We’re just excited to keep building on what’s been going on at West for the past several years,” he said.

 

In addition to Knox, Hurst also named Abby Applewhite as West Lauderdale’s new head volleyball coach. An assistant coach with the team for the past two seasons, Applewhite previously held the head coach position at Mooreville High School and looks forward to putting that experience to work leading the team to victory.

 

“West Lauderdale has a high standard of excellence here, and our hope is just to continue that standard in the volleyball team as well,” she said.

 

Facing high expectations in a district with challenging opponents, Applewhite said the team will have to show hard work and determination to find those wins and reach the championship level.

 

Hurst said one of his final duties as athletic director was to find a new basketball coach to replace longtime basketball coach Duran Clark, who has been with the school for more than three decades. In making the selection, he said, a consensus developed that the best candidate for the job is coach Jerry Byrd, and even Clark himself said Byrd was a prime choice.

 

“We’re very, very excited to have him,” he said.

 

Also named as assistant basketball coach and assistant volleyball coach is Jeremy Bowen. Hurst said Bowen is someone who will be an asset to West Lauderdale and its athletic programs. After meeting him during the interview process, Hurst said West was lucky enough to have a position open for Bowen and have him agree to join the team.

 

As he prepares to retire at the end of the year, Hurst said he is confident in the new hires and assured that West Lauderdale athletics will continue to grow and thrive.

 

One of my goals here was when I was retiring, I wanted this place to be better than it was when I started, and I think that the hires we had today will put us in a better place,” he said.