HOME ABOUT DARLINGTON SCHOOL FACULTY DIRECTORY

Tommy Atha

Former Faculty

August 1993 to May 2023

Previous Background
Tommy has taught P.E. at Darlington since 1993 and also serves as an assistant athletic director, head varsity football coach and Middle School girls’ basketball coach. He holds a B.S. from Presbyterian College and has also coached track and taught civics, world geography and American history. Tommy has led the Tigers football team to the state playoffs 17 times and coached them to three consecutive region championships from 2009-2011. He and his wife, Cathe, are the parents of Maggie Beth (‘14), Anna Claire (‘17), Tommy (‘19) and Katherine (‘25).

College Education

B.S. Presbyterian College

Atha to retire after 30 years at Darlington

January 17, 2023

Tommy Atha, assistant athletic director and head football coach, will retire at the end of the school year after 30 years of service to Darlington. With 179 career wins under his belt, he is the winningest football coach in Darlington history.

20 earn All-Region football honors, Atha named Coach of the Year

December 7, 2022

Twenty members of the varsity football team received All-Region honors, and head coach Tommy Atha was named Region Coach of the Year.

Episode 86: Fall Varsity Sports Recap

December 1, 2022

In this episode, senior day student Ryland Scott talks with varsity coaches Tommy Atha (football), Brant Evans (cross country), Christina Kopp (volleyball), Matt Larry (softball) and Melissa Smyly (football cheerleading) about the fall athletic season at Darlington. You'll hear a little bit about each team and their highlights of the fall season, from summer workouts to team bonding to their accomplishments and more.

Episode 69: Darlington Tigers Football Preview

August 4, 2022

In this episode, Head of School Brent Bell talks with Head Football Coach Tommy Atha and seniors Jack Good and Braden Bell about the Darlington Tigers' upcoming football season. They discuss how the team has been preparing, their goals for the season and what they're most excited about.

23 earn All-Region football honors, Atha named Coach of the Year

December 9, 2021

Twenty-three members of the varsity football team received All-Region honors and head coach Tommy Atha was named Region Coach of the Year.

Varsity Football: Tigers pull away in second half for third straight win

September 17, 2021

The game got off to a bit of a slow start on Friday as Darlington and Heritage’s defense turned away the opposing offenses for much of the first half. But once the Tigers got going, they weren’t going to be stopped as they ran away in the final quarter for a 28-7 victory over the visiting Generals.

Podcast Episode 20: Fall Sports Preview

August 12, 2021

In this episode, Head of School Brent Bell talks with coaches involved in fall sports at Darlington. You'll hear about how our athletes have been preparing over the summer and what we might expect to see over the next few months.

Podcast Episode 11: Athletics Recap and Reflections

June 10, 2021

Welcome to Episode 11 of The Darlington Podcast! In this episode you will hear from four outstanding Darlington coaches as they reflect on the past year and share their philosophies around coaching and what got them into coaching to begin with.

Speed Football Signing

April 23, 2021

Thomas Speed signed to play football at Birmingham Southern College during a ceremony on Friday, April 23 in the Johnson Field House in the Huffman Center.

It's a Great Time to be a Tiger!

Upper School | Tommy Atha, February 16, 2021

Wednesday, Feb. 3 was a great day for our football program and for our school. We had the great privilege of having three young men sign to play football at two phenomenal institutions.