Savannah Christian defensive coordinator Robert Walsh lands first football head coaching job

He's been an unmistakable presence on the sideline of Savannah Christian football games as a defensive coordinator for the last five years with his non-stop energy and close connection with his players, now Robert Walsh is ready to take the reins as the head coach of his own program.

Walsh, 34, announced Tuesday that he accepted the job as the head coach at Whitefield Academy in Mableton, just west of Atlanta. The WolfPack competes in the GHSA Class A Division I enrollment class.

Walsh, who played high school football under the late Kirk Warner at Liberty County, was a defensive coordinator at Savannah Country Day for five years before making the move to Savannah Christian, where he worked with head Coach Baker Woodward.

"Whitefield Academy reminded me a lot of Savannah Christian," Walsh said. "It's a faith-based K-12 school so my daughters will going to school there and be with me on campus. That was a big part of my decision -- I've always wanted to become a head coach, but I needed to find the right one. Now that I'm getting older and more mature, I took those things into consideration. I wanted to land somewhere where it will be a good fit for the long term."

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Walsh is known for his animated style -- he'll be the first to meet a player who just made a critical third down stop with a chest bump off the sideline -- and he still has a decent vertical for a man in his 30s.

Last season, the Raiders had one of the top defenses in Class 3A as they allowed 14.6 points per game. SCPS advanced to the state quarterfinals and finished the year with an 11-2 record.

In his five years as an assistant with SCPS, the Raiders made three trips to the state quarterfinals and one to the state semis.

"Coach Walsh brought a lot of energy and passion for the game and he has a great relationship with his players," Woodward said. "He's been my right-hand man since I started here, and it's going to be tough without him. He handled all facets and schemes with our defense, and the kids fed off his energy.

"But we knew it was only a matter of time before he got a head coaching job. He's one of those guys you know can handle the job and he's going to be a heck of a coach."

Walsh, who was also an assistant athletic director, a physical education teacher and former head basketball coach at SCPS, will teach three periods of weight lifting in addition to his head coaching role at Whitefield Academy, which went 6-5 last year and has been to the playoffs for six straight years. The WolfPack has reached the second round of the playoffs four times since the program started in 2002.

"I've learned a lot working with Coach Woodward," Walsh said. "He does a great job creating a family atmosphere with the program and a brotherhood between the players -- those are some of the things I'm going to bring with me to Whitefield. I think having a close-knit team leads to success. The wins come when the coaches and players like being around each other."

Dennis Knight covers sports for the Savannah Morning News. Contact him at Dknight@savannahnow.com. Twitter: @DennisKnightSMN

This article originally appeared on Savannah Morning News: Savannah Christian's Robert Walsh advances in football coaching career