Owls get new girls coach

Chris Baker has resigned and been replaced by Donnie Mullins as girls' basketball coach at Ooltewah.

Baker's resignation will be effective on Nov. 1.

"I'm actually going back to Cookeville. My wife has accepted a job as a professor at Tennessee Tech," Baker said.

Baker said everything fell into place for his family. He is a former men's basketball assistant at Tennessee Tech and at Cookeville High.

"It's a great situation for my wife, but we also have friends and family there," he said.

Baker will be working for the state of Tennessee in its "E for Tennessee" online learning system.

"For lack of a better word, I will be the liaison for Middle Tennessee," said Baker, adding that he will have an office through the Putnam County school system.

He was the Lady Owls' coach for two seasons and compiled a 24-28 record.

"It was my first jump into the girls' arena and I didn't know what to expect, but I think if I got back into coaching I would like to stay on the girls' side of things," Baker said. "I will miss the girls, but I told them when I took the job that I would do what was best for my family as a husband and father.

"I feel fortunate to have worked for Ed Foster, Jim Jarvis and Mark Bean. I feel they are great administrators who are athletic-friendly."

Bean replaced Foster this year as Ooltewah principal. Jarvis is an Ooltewah assistant principal and the athletic director.

Mullins is a 1995 Ooltewah graduate.

"The administration made a great hire," Baker said. "He'll be a fantastic girls' coach. He's enthusiastic. He's from Ooltewah and he loves Ooltewah."

"I'm a little nervous but I'm also excited," said Mullins, who played four years of basketball and two each in football and baseball. "I'm looking forward to getting started. I have taught at the elementary school level and taught and coached at the middle school and high school levels, and I don't foresee any problems.

"An athlete is an athlete and a player is a player. The speed of the game might be more methodical, but I don't think gender dictates one way or the other. Girls may play better defense, and I think with girls there is more emphasis on the fundamentals of the game."