The St. Pius X football program has had a changing of the guards. Longtime head coach, Paul Standard, has moved on to a new position at Gilmer High School after 20 years with the Golden Lions, and former offensive line coach Coach Chad Garrison has stepped up to lead the program. The majority of the football coaching staff returned from last year, but there are a few changes and additions this year.

From student and player to administrator and coach, Mr. Blaise Wannemacher returns to coach at his alma mater for his 13th year, but this time in a new role as the offensive coordinator. Wannemacher was hired as the Director of Operations in March of 2021, and is beginning his first year of varsity coaching after spending his previous years coaching the freshman team.

Another new addition to the staff brings 41 years of coaching experience with him. Mr. Buzz Preston has spent time all around the country coaching collegiate football for almost 4 decades. Joining the staff as the running backs coach, he brings both great knowledge and energy to the team. 

He said his past experiences have shaped his coaching style. “One of the biggest lessons of my life in coaching was this. I was coaching the wide receivers, and doing a lot of yelling and screaming. And Coach told me ‘Come here buddy. You’re just doing a lot of yelling and not a whole lot of coaching’…and it taught me a lesson about coach-teach versus yelling and screaming.”

Jim Walsh, entering his 34th year of coaching high school football, is another strong addition to the program. Replacing Garrison as the offensive line coach, Walsh draws some of his experience from his past. As a collegiate athlete, Walsh was a three year starter for the University of South Carolina Gamecocks.

Mr. Larry Moyer has joined the Golden Lions’ staff as the new wide receivers coach, or as Coach Garrison likes to call them, “the demoted offensive linemen.” Coach Moyer has background experience as a player and a coach coming from Miami, Florida. 

In his glory days, Coach Moyer played quarterback and has some impressive stats from high school. When asked about his past performance, he let us know he was an explosive, yet risky player. 

“In my best game I threw for about 500 yards, and in my worst game I threw six interceptions,” Moyer said. 

Coach Moyer has coached running backs for his former high school in Miami and for Johns Creek high school. He has had to adjust, being on the younger side of an extremely experienced staff. He has overcome all challenges thrown his way, and some results speak for themself, as Moyer informed us, “I coached at two small private schools with not much talent… and we won our conference championship twice.”

While there are many new faces on staff this year, some coaches are returning for more. Mr. Nick Brigham has an extremely positive attitude about this year’s coaching group. When asked his favorite part of this new regime, he posed a question.

“All you got to know about the new coaching staff is, when was the last time we beat BT?…..this year,” Brigham said. 

 The Blessed Trinity victory was the first time St. Pius defeated their crosstown rivals in seven years and is a massive victory for this new coaching staff. The morale on the team is high, and it is clear that this team is filled with hard workers who feed off of  the upbeat attitude that the new coaching staff brings.