Red Bank High School has hired Nathan Wehunt to coach its wrestling program.
Wehunt will continue as a faculty member at Notre Dame as he undertakes his first job as a head coach, pending Hamilton County Department of Education approval.
"I remember him. He was always really professional," said Red Bank assistant principal Wendell Weathers, who was a wrestling coach before entering administration. "Notre Dame wrestling always represented itself well, and he was part of the reason for that."
Wehunt replaces Ulric Winesburgh, who has taken a full-time teaching and coaching position at Alcovy High in Covington, Ga.
"Ulric did a good job for us, but he needed a full-time job and we didn't have anything," Weathers said. "It was economics for him and teaching-position issues for us. We'd love to have been able to keep him, and I want people to know he left with our highest regard."
Red Bank represents an opportunity Wehunt has long desired.
"I have wanted to be a head coach for years," he said. "The opportunity to coach a good high school team in Chattanooga is great, and I'm excited about the opportunity to mentor young men."
Wehunt said he sees Red Bank as a school with a great tradition and also as a school on the rise.
"This is a great opportunity," he declared. "(Red Bank athletic director) Mandi Munn has a son on the team, and her husband is coaching at the middle school. The facilities are top-notch and there is tremendous potential."
A University of Tennessee at Chattanooga graduate, Wehunt played football and wrestled at Notre Dame. Since he departed UTC, he has worked at James Madison as an assistant strength coach (specifically with the wrestling, swimming, soccer and basketball teams) and spent 13 months in Bahrain, setting up conditioning and training programs for both the army and police departments while working for that country's interior ministry.
He has a master's degree in secondary education.
"Nathan is like a gift that walked up to our door," Weathers said.
Contact Ward Gossett at wgossett@timesfreepress.com or 423-886-4765. Follow him at Twitter.com/WardGossett.