Clarke Central High School’s 2025-26 head varsity golf, volleyball, wrestling and baseball coaches are shown. All four coaches are changing for the 2026-27 season, and CCHS Athletic Director Dr. Jon Ward expressed that a possible solution to coach turnover is better support for the coaching staff. “On my end, we try to support the coach, the players and work with the parents. It’s a tripod,” Ward said. “Cultivating those relationships (produces) clear goals. Those goals involve being successful in competition, but also the experience of being part of that sport.” Photos from the ODYSSEY archives
Multiple CCHS athletic programs will have different head coaches for the 2026-27 season, leaving players and teams in a period of transition.
An influx of coaching changes will hit Clarke Central High School athletics as multiple new head coaches take the helm for the 2026-27 school year.
Coaching turnover is not uncommon in high school athletics, and a high volume of changes within a short time frame can affect a team’s culture. In the past five years, the CCHS girls’ varsity soccer team has been led by four different head coaches, with five transitions. In the past 20 years, the girls’ varsity softball team has had 11 different head coaches. Looking to next year, other CCHS programs will be under new leadership, leaving athletes and programs facing a period of adjustment.
“Coach stability, (meaning) the coach being in the program for a long period of time, helps the overall state of the program. (Coaches) build relationships with the kids (and) with their parents, so they’re in close communication,” CCHS Assistant Athletic Director Dr. Chris Aiken said. “Having those strong, formative relationships not only leads to success on the field, but builds a strong culture within the program.”
One coach stepping down is CCHS’s former head varsity wrestling coach, William Lance. Lance, who has coached softball since the 2020-21 school year, also stepped into the wrestling position during the 2023-24 season. Lance is staying as softball’s head coach, but is leaving wrestling for health reasons and told his team about his departure on April 19.
“When I first took over, the idea of me becoming the wrestling coach was for me to change the culture and turn the program around, (like) I did with softball. I didn’t know how long that would take and (now) I feel like I did (that) and I really enjoyed it,” Lance said. “But I realized it was taking a physical and mental toll on me. (I) spoke with a doctor, and it was clear that coaching eight months straight for the past two years was taking its toll.”
In addition to Lance, CCHS’s former head varsity golf coach Stephen Howard is also stepping down. Howard took over the golf team during the 2020-21 school year and is leaving due to an expected move to Augusta, Ga. in the summer of 2027. He announced the change to his team on April 15.
“I have loved coaching the team the last six years. It has grown so much each year, and it’s really nice to see the progress we’ve made. I love golf, so I’m happy that we’ve been able to grow the program so more students can play,” Howard said. “I hope the program can continue to grow, continue to be competitive (and) never stops being a fun activity.”
“I have loved coaching the team the last six years. It has grown so much each year, and it’s really nice to see the progress we’ve made. I love golf, so I’m happy that we’ve been able to grow the program so more students can play.”
— Stephen Howard,
2021-2026 Head varsity golf coach
In addition, both volleyball and baseball will have new head coaches for the 2026-27 season, CCHS’s former head varsity baseball coach Jerry Boatner stepped down on April 16 after four years, leaving CCHS head varsity football coach David Perno to step in. CCHS’s former head varsity volleyball coach Stacey Scott was let go in December 2025 and CCHS special education department teacher Logan Horne will take over the role.
“I’ll be 81 in three weeks and I just got burnt out and got tired,” Boatner said. “I’ll be coming back, watching (the team) play and I may watch them practice. My grandson(CCHS boys varsity baseball catcher Jimmy Bishop) plays ball, and he’ll be a senior, so I’ll be around.”
These changes will put CCHS athletics in a transitional period across multiple programs. According to CCHS Athletic Director Dr. Jon Ward, the shifts highlight both the challenges and opportunities that come with turnover in leadership.
“If you’ve been able to play for the same coach throughout your high school career, the relationships you build with the coach and assistant coaches (make) a common culture with your teammates,” Ward said. “It makes the experience better for the high school athlete if they’re playing in a program where there is consistency.”
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Giving it everything
Clarke Central High School physical education department teacher William Lance poses with CCHS varsity wrestler Charlie Drake, a sophomore, in the CCHS Wrestling Room on Dec. 11, 2025. In late April, Lance stepped down from the wrestling positions out of a concern for his health, but will remain the head varsity softball coach. “When the softball season’s over with, It’ll kind of be a relief to reset, because mentally it’s just hard, like super hard, just do (two seasons) back-to-back,” Lance said. Photo by Dream Freeman
At the end of April, CCHS physical education department teacher Will Lance stepped down from his position as CCHS’ head varsity and junior varsity wrestling coach out of concern for his well-being.
Amid the flurry of coaching turnover in Clarke Central High School athletics is varsity softball and wrestling coach Will Lance, who chose to step down as the wrestling coach after overseeing both sports since the 2023-24 school year.
Lance, whose health was the primary reason behind his departure from the team, decided to tell his story and the goals he has for himself and the CCHS softball program moving forward.
I really enjoyed coaching wrestling, but I realized it was just taking a physical and mental toll on me to coach eight months straight with no breaks, and then I spoke with a doctor, because I knew something was not right. After speaking with a doctor and running some tests, it was clear that physically coaching eight months straight for the past two years was taking its toll.
You genuinely care about a program and you generally care about the kids’ well-being and trying to make them better humans, but you also know what their goals are.
This has nothing to do with the school, the kids, this is just how my brain’s wired.I go 100% gas pedal when I’m committed to something, like it is the only mission. Unfortunately, when I was doing that, and trying to build two sports back to back, and then also doing season training, and it just in turn took over my life, both physically and mentally, where it was I wasn’t taking care of myself. I wasn’t accomplishing anything in my personal life, because it’s just how my brain’s wired.
You genuinely care about a program and you generally care about the kids’ well-being and trying to make them better humans, but you also know what their goals are. When you know their goals, you want to do everything that you physically and mentally can do to help them succeed and reach those goals. So, in my head, it was a 24-hour job.
I’ll be moving into a kind of liaison for wrestling, where I’ll still, I won’t be physically coaching, but I’ll still help out the program with a lot of the backside stuff that no one talks about, and) try to try to help facilitate things to ensure that the program stays strong and moves forward.
This is the first time in my life I’ve quit.
And that’s hard because I’m super competitive, and so it’s going to be really difficult when the softball season’s over, not to be in that routine of, “Let’s go, let’s get after this.” But I just know that physically, there were things that a doctor was telling me, “You run the risk.”
It was a high risk of something happening to me that if I didn’t make a change, it would cost me a lot, and so I’m willing to give almost everything up, but when he told me that, I realized that I can’t sacrifice it all.
