Tharptown baseball, Red Bay volleyball announce new head coaches for 2026-27

At the May 18, 2026, meeting of the the Franklin County Board of Education two assistant coaches were elevated to head coaching duties for the Tharptown High School baseball and Red Bay High School volleyball programs next season.

At Tharptown, Michael Burkett will lead the Wildcat baseball team, and at Red Bay, Jade Hallmark will take the reins of the still relatively new Lady Tiger volleyball program.

Burkett takes over for departing head coach Lucas Craft who led Tharptown for two seasons before accepting the same position at his alma mater, Colbert County. Burkett was an assistant under Craft this past season.

While Burkett is still pretty new to Tharptown—he just finished his first year at THS—he’s no stranger to the game. Burkett has 23 years experience at both private and public schools, including a stint at Southeastern High School where he was the head football coach from 2014 to 2017 and head baseball coach from 2015 to 2018, winning a baseball area championship in his final season there.

Burkett said he hated to see Craft, a friend, leave Tharptown but added that he was excited about the possibility of becoming a head coach again and planting roots.

“I’m extremely grateful for Superintendent (Greg) Hamilton and the Board for putting their faith in me to lead this program,” Burkett told the Franklin Free Press.

“At my age, at this point in my career, I’m not trying to build some special resume so I can go be the head coach at some powerhouse school. I love it here, my family loves it here, and this is where we want to be. I love it here at Tharptown, and I want to help these kids be successful,” he added. “The athletics here at Tharptown can be as successful as we want them to be.”

For the Wildcat baseball team the road to that potential success is first paved, Burkett said, with two simple ideas: respect and fun.

“Coach Lucas Craft did a great job and he implemented a lot of the things that I’m going to do, but the first word that comes to mind is ‘respect,’” Burkett said. “These guys have to have more respect; more respect for themselves, more respect for their community, and more respect for our opponent—and that covers it all. We’ve got to take more care of our locker room, take better care of our equipment and that sort of thing. Coach Craft did a really good job of implementing those kinds of ideas the last couple of years, so I think it’ll be fairly easy to get everyone on board with that.

“The other thing we have to remember is that baseball is meant to be fun, it’s a game that’s meant to be enjoyed,” he added. “We’ve got to take some pressure off ourselves and that comes with confidence. This summer we need a lot of reps in the cage and a lot of technique work with the skills involved so that we can relax more when the season gets here instead of having that pressure of trying to improve our skills while the season is going on.

“Once we fully understand the respect we need to have for ourselves, our community, our opponents, and then we get our skills developed, then we can relax and have fun playing baseball.”

Across the county at Red Bay, Hallmark replaces Trae Wiygul, assistant principal at RBHS, who led the Lady Tigers for one season.

An assistant coach under Wiygul last campaign, Hallmark knows the players she has coming up through the ranks. She said she is dedicated to taking the RBHS volleyball program to the next level, but added it will take time and dedication from everyone involved in order to take those steps forward.

Jade Hallmark takes over as head coach of the Red Bay High School varsity volleyball program after serving as an assistant during the 2025 season. (Photo by Caleb Ramey)

“This is a special group of girls. There is a lot of talent here, especially in the younger age groups,” Hallmark said. “I have a plan to make this a successful program, but it’ll take time and dedication from the girls. Getting not just the girls but their parents to buy in as well will be the shift we need.”

Hallmark said she’s looking forward to working with her team both in the weight room and on the court this summer, making versatility a priority and building on the progress the program and its players have made up to this point.

“One of the biggest changes we have had in our off season is being strict in the weight room and we plan to carry that into the season, as well,” she said. “The weight room is just as beneficial if not more than being in between those lines.

“We have a very tough schedule this year, which can be crucial in creating a successful program. You have to play those hard games. We plan to get these girls stronger this summer and build team chemistry,” she added. “One of the things we are changing this year is that everyone will know how to do every position on the floor so in tough situations we aren’t leaning on one player to get the job done. We will have five other girls out there that will be able to execute the play. Ashley Blackburn will be alongside me this year and her volleyball knowledge is very beneficial for our program, and we are very lucky to have her!”