Chase Cochran, the Athletic Director at Northern Guilford High School, is stepping down from his position. After taking over the department in August 2023, his departure is scheduled to take effect at the end of July.
Chase Cochran took over as the Northern Guilford Nighthawks’ Athletic Director on August 1, 2023…He loved what he was doing with Northern Guilford HS athletics, but like many other young coaches and administrators these days, he wanted to spend more time with his family, and he has a young son, at maybe around 4 years old…
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Bryant Roche reporting for the News and Record…
Coach Cochran took over the reins from former NG AD, Brian Thomas, back in 2023…
from the former Northwest Guilford Observer, now called Connect2NWGuilford.com:
Chase Cochran settles into new role as Northern’s athletic director
from August 31, 2023
by Kellen Holtzman:
NORTHERN GUILFORD – Taking the reins of an established high school athletics program that has had more than its share of successes could, for many, come with a bit of pressure. But as Chase Cochran, Northern Guilford High School’s new athletic director (AD), settles into the role he assumed Aug. 1, he believes everything leading up to now has prepared him well for the challenges ahead.
Cochran most recently taught sports marketing at the high school and served as assistant athletics director. As the school’s new AD, he picks up the baton from Brian Thomas, who served as Northern Guilford High School’s AD for more than a decade and presided over many of the Nighthawks’ athletic successes during his tenure – including four state football championships from 2010-2014.
It was during that exact timeframe that Cochran emerged as a standout wide receiver for Ohio University’s football team, under the direction of lauded head coach Frank Solich.
Cochran hails from Lebanon, Ohio, outside of Cincinnati. He and his wife, Faith, met at Ohio University when he was on the football team and she was a member of the Bobcats’ volleyball team.
He credits Jason Grooms, former Ohio Bobcats football operations director, for inspiring him to become an athletic director (Grooms left Ohio for Vanderbilt and later joined Texas as the football program’s chief of staff).
“Everything he instilled in us from a director of operations’ perspective, I really clung to that,” Cochran said. “I really enjoyed seeing what he did as a profession.”
The Cochrans moved to the Triad area when Faith, a Kernersville native, enrolled in graduate school at Wake Forest University. For six years Cochran led Northern Guilford Middle’s athletic department in addition to coaching the school’s football team and serving as an assistant coach for Northern High’s football program under Erik Westberg.
On succeeding Thomas as Northern’s AD, Cochran acknowledged, “I definitely have big shoes to fill with him retiring. He’s done such a good job here for such a long time. He really has built this school athletically into what it is.
While he never takes winning for granted, Cochran said he has shared his expectation with the Northern Guilford coaching staff that the athletic program’s tradition of success over the last 17 years will continue.
Thomas, he said, advised him that his most important role will be making sure he does everything possible to put the school’s coaches in positions to win.
“I really relish this opportunity and I want what’s best for our kids,” Cochran said. “When our kids graduate from here, I want them to walk away and say, ‘Man, that was awesome! In my time at Northern Guilford, people were great to us. Our coaches treated us fairly. They coached us hard but they loved us.’
“I want our kids to leave here with a smile on their faces,” he added. “If we do that, I think all of the records and all of the championships – all of those things will come.”