Less than a two weeks removed from leading Ravenwood to a Class 6A football championship, coach Will Hester is moving on.
Ravenwood Head Coach Will Hester led his squad to the 6A state title.
On Thursday, Hester was named the football coach and athletic director at Nolensville High School, which will open next fall.
“It’s the opportunity to be the athletic director and to start a program from scratch,” said Hester, who compiled a 38-4 record in three seasons at Ravenwood, culminating in the Raptors’ 27-16 upset of two-time defending champion Maryville earlier this month.
“The Nolensville community was part of the Ravenwood community, and Nolensville is being born out of Ravenwood. It’s a community that I’m familiar with and it’s a community that I have a lot of ties to.”
Hester, who began his head coaching career at La Vergne (2007-2009), led Ravenwood to a two District 11-AAA championships, a Region 3-6A title and a pair of BlueCross Bowl trips.
“It was more than X’s and O’s at Ravenwood,” Hester said. “It was all about the character and love those guys had for each other. We knew early on that (the class of 2016) was going to be a strong group, and they proved us right time and time again.’
Hester said that as of now he plans to finish out the school year at Ravenwood, but that plan could change.
“There are some things there that still need to be ironed out, but I would say as of now that I’ll finish the school year out at Ravenwood,” he said. “There may be some opportunities to help Ravenwood bring in a coach, or to help me get started at Nolensville a little quicker. Those things are still being explored.”
Nolensville was recently approved to join the Tennessee Secondary School Athletic Association for the 2016-17 school year. The school, which is expected to have 550 students in grades nine and 10, will participate at the junior varsity level in football until the 2017 season.
“You’re going to have your feeder school on the same campus as the high school, and it’s a wonderful opportunity to build something special from the ground up,” Hester said. “I’m looking forward to it.”
Reach Michael Murphy at 615-259-8262 and on Twitter @Murph_TNsports.