On Tuesday, Troy City Schools Board of Education unanimously approved Angelo Wheeler as the new athletic director at Charles Henderson High School. 

Wheeler has been an assistant principal at CHHS for the past four years but is no stranger to athletics. Along with having spent the past four years closely working with CHHS Athletics, he is a nearly 20-year football coaching veteran, as well.

“Being in coaching for 18 years, I’ve served as an athletic director and a head coach in the past, and I’ve always had a love for both athletics and schools,” Wheeler said. “My goal is quite simple; achieve excellence through athletics. Troy City Schools does such a great job of creating avenues for our kids to prepare them for the next level and prepare them for life and to be productive citizens. 

“I’m just honored to be able to take over the athletic side of things to continue to put our (athletic) programs in a place where our kids have an advantage; meaning they understand the importance of being a student-athlete and putting an emphasis on student.” 

Wheeler is a Prichard native that was an All-State defensive lineman at Blount High School. Wheeler was part of a group of athletes that featured future Auburn and NFL quarterback Dameyune Craig and Alabama and NFL running back Sherman Williams. Wheeler was a part back-to-back state championships at Blount. 

Wheeler went on to play college football at Auburn before beginning his coaching career at Capitol Heights Middle School in Montgomery, where he served as an assistant principal, head football coach and athletic director. In 2010, Wheeler was named head football coach at Sidney Lanier High School, where he served until 2012. He then went on to serve as defensive coordinator at Park Crossing for five years before being named head coach and athletic director there in 2018. 

Wheeler said that he wants to continue pushing athletes at CHHS for success in both athletics and academics.

“We want them to be students first and we do all types of things here like tutoring programs for our athletes,” he continued. “One of the things we’re hopeful to do in the future is to connect with Troy University to get some intern students to come in and possibly help tutor our kids. My goal here is to give our kids the best opportunity to receive a full scholarship to pay for their college tuition and room and board when they get ready to graduate from Charles Henderson.”

Wheeler is excited about the coaching staffs across all of Charles Henderson’s sports.

“We have such a great coaching staff across the board,” he emphasized. “I can honestly say that I expect nothing but success in all levels of sports here. We have a guy like (volleyball and softball coach) Sonny Kirkaptrick, who has been a collegiate coach. (New head football coach) Phillip Jones played at the college level and has coached here for 20-plus years. (Baseball coach) Chase Smartt and (basketball coach) Tim Fayson were former college athletes and are veteran coaches.

“Across the board, I think we have the right coaches in place to be great mentors, great role models and positive figures for our kids to give them an opportunity and to hold them accountable.”

Accountability is something that Wheeler brings from his coaching days.

“One of the things I focused on as a coach was accountability,” said Wheeler. “The biggest thing you can teach a high school athlete is the importance of being accountable. When I went from Blount High School to Auburn that was one of the things I had difficulty adjusting to. So, I try to base my beliefs and thoughts on my own shortcomings and downfalls as an athlete to make sure our athletes don’t make those same mistakes.”

Wheeler emphasizes that the coaches and administrators at Charles Henderson are concerned with building the total athlete, which encompasses more than just sports.

“We’re going far beyond athletics, we’re going for mentoring and community service,” he said. “We want to see our athletes be in the community and I want to build the total athlete. There is a difference between being a total athlete and just being an athlete. With some coaches, they’re through you with you once the season is over and those kinds end up not being academically prepared.

“That’s not what we do here. Here at CHHS, we prepare our kids, whether that’s with ACT prep or making sure they’re good with the NCAA Clearinghouse. When a (college) coach comes through the door, all of those things will be in place for our kids. That will give us an advantage when it comes to (college) recruiting.”