Fort Dale football coach James &uot;Speed&uot; Sampley has been named as the new athletic director at Fort Dale following the departure of Reggie Mantooth.

Mantooth is leaving Fort Dale for Oak Mountain High School in Shelby County, and because of his many positions, there have been several positions to fill in his absence.

Earlier this week, William Johnson was announced as the new boys’ and girls’ basketball coach.

&uot;Following coach Mantooth’s departure, coach Sampley has been named athletics director,&uot; said headmaster David Brantley.

&uot;He will assume those responsibilities and be accountable for all our sports programs,&uot; he continued.

&uot;I’m glad to be named athletic director, and all our sports programs are important,&uot; Sampley said.

In addition to being the head football coach, he will be responsible for working with the athletic budget, assisting coaches with scheduling, and also assisting coaches in any other matters that might come up.

&uot;Another big portion of the responsibility is making sure all the eligibility forms are filled out and other paperwork,&uot; Sampley said.

&uot;If there are personnel decisions to be made, he would also help with that,&uot; Brantley said. &uot;This adds to his responsibility, but he will do well.&uot;

Although Mantooth has been the athletic director at Fort Dale for the last eight years, Sampley has prior experience in the position, as he was the athletic director at Lowndes Academy before coming to Fort Dale.

&uot;Coach Sampley was the obvious choice for the job,&uot; Brantley said. &uot;He has been on staff eight years and is one of the most knowledgeable people we have.&uot;

&uot;He is a professional in every way, he works very hard and he will be extremely successful in this new role,&uot; Brantley continued.

&uot;The main thing is that we want to be good at everything we do,&uot; Sampley said.