ACE hires a familiar face to bring ‘immediate credibility’ to football program

The search for a new head coach at ACE has come to a close and a familiar face is set to take over: ACE announced the hiring of former Mount de Sales head coach Keith Hatcher on earlier this month.

Hatcher spent the last eight seasons coaching at his alma mater, where he racked up 46 wins and went 30-14 over the last four seasons.

He led the Cavaliers to a region title in 2019 and his run at the school ends with five straight playoff appearances. In 2019, he was named the region coach of the year and the Macon Touchdown Club coach of the year.

Josh McLendon, ACE athletic director, said hiring Hatcher brings instant credibility to a football program that has yet to have a winning season but is coming off its first playoff appearance after going 4-2 in region play.

“We wanted someone who would not shy away from the fact that we have high expectations in the classroom but at the same time we have high expectations on the athletic fields,” McLendon said. “I feel like hiring someone like coach Hatcher brings immediate credibility. I felt that was something that we needed.”

‘Tremendous upside’

The interest between Hatcher and ACE was mutual. Hatcher has been fond of ACE since it first opened in 2014.

One of the biggest reasons ACE was such a great fit was because of its “dedication to academic excellence” and its success in various sports like softball, cross country and soccer, Hatcher said.

“I have felt like there is a tremendous amount of upside at ACE from the outside looking in,” he said. “It just seemed like a great opportunity to build something special at a school that is already enjoying some success in Middle Georgia.”

The decision to leave his alma mater was not an easy one for Hatcher. The veteran head coach was not looking to depart Mount de Sales but after some conversions with ACE piqued his interest, he decided to make the jump. He said the process moved fairly quickly after the initial talks.

Part of family history

Hatcher said he is grateful for his time at Mount de Sales and will always have a great appreciation for the school and those he worked alongside.

“It is a large part of my family history. I enjoyed my time there. It was just time for a personal change and a positive change within the Mount de Sales football program,” Hatcher said. “I will always be a Cavalier but I am also very excited about moving on to a new opportunity at ACE.”

With the new job also comes with the chance to build a program up that has not enjoyed as much success. McLendon said ACE administrators always knew football would take a little longer to be competitive once varsity sports started in 2018.

But the success in other sports like softball, which just finished off a state championship season where the team went 31-0, shows ACE dedication to its athletic program. The hope is Hatcher can provide a jumpstart the program.

Hatcher wants to make the football program a competitive one as quickly as possible.

“I believe ACE will be competitive right away. That is what we have got to focus on,” Hatcher said. “Regardless of who our opponents are we have got to build belief, we got to build our program to the point where we can be competitive and that is going to be our goal in this first year”