CLRAKSVILLE, Tenn.- (CLARKSVILLENOW) Northwest High School’s Athletic Department is pleased to announce the appointment of two new head coaches, Greg Petty and Chris Mitchell.
Lady Vikings Soccer: Greg Petty
Head Coach Greg Petty graduated from Lambuth University, where he played soccer for two years. During his time as an Eagle soccer player, the team won the conference championship both years. Mr. Petty began coaching career at North Side High School in Jackson, TN. To this point in his career, Mr. Petty has coached Girls Soccer for six years and Boys Soccer for ten years. Coach Petty has a career coaching record of 156-82-14, and has taken his team(s) to two state tournaments, earned seven district championships, and three region titles.
Mr. Petty stated he is “very excited about the opportunity to coach at Northwest High School. The program has been up and down over the years but clearly has the potential to become a force in the area. I have heard great things about the team and the character of the players and hope that we will be able to quickly improve the team’s ability to compete. I am also looking forward to working with the staff and the students at NW who have made amazing strides in academics and have several other programs that are exceptional.”
Lady Vikings Basketball: Chris Mitchell
Head Coach Chris Mitchell will be taking lead for the Lady Vikings Basketball program. Mr. Mitchell has over twenty years of coaching experience in multiple sports, including basketball, baseball, and football at all levels ranging from middle school, high school, and travel programs. He comes to Northwest from Illinois, where he most recently spent the last three seasons as a Head Coach for Riverdale High School Lady Rams, where he was focused on rebuilding the program which had only won three games in two seasons prior to him taking the head coach role. This past season, the Lady Rams made it to the regional championship game without any senior players on the roster.
In terms of his process to turn around this previously unsuccessful program, Mr. Mitchell shared, “It wasn’t easy. I embedded myself in the elementary, middle school, and travel programs as that is the foundation for beginning and sustaining a successful program. A coaching staff must have buy-in from players and parents at every level to be successful and make it a true ‘basketball family.’ I love the challenges and satisfaction in seeing not only the program, but more importantly the student-athlete develop. I teach ‘trusting the process,’ not only will you hope to see the improvements on the court, but more importantly in the classroom and in everyday life.”
Now shifting his focus to Northwest High School, Mr. Mitchell stated, “As I begin this journey at Northwest, I’m hoping to bring a brand of basketball to Viking Country that will be a bit different than historically seen. Ideally, we’d like to play and produce an exciting, passionate, high tempo, fan involved program that makes the parents, grandparents, families, community and most importantly the younger groups want to and look forward to being a part of! With that being said, the current group of student athletes will play a large role in how we immediately proceed, and then how and when we will get to the desired state.”
Mrs. Peppard, Northwest Athletic Director, shared “We were drawn to Coach Mitchell’s enthusiasm for developing young athletes and passion for what he does. He brings a new level of energy to the program that we believe will have a positive influence on our ladies. We look forward to seeing him push the girls to maximize their potential and are excited to see what they accomplish next season.”
For more information on Northwest athletics, please contact Northwest High School at (931) 648-5675.