Lakemen tap Atlas as new head coach

Bill Atlas has been named the new varsity head football coach at Wilson High School, replacing Jeff Dabill, who assumes the role of assistant coach.

Atlas, a 1990 graduate of Amherst High School, was unanimously approved as the new Lakemen coach earlier this month at meeting of the Wilson Board of Education.

“I’m really excited about this opportunity,” Atlas said Wednesday.

“We’ve got a good group of kids interested who’ve been the victims of injuries and bad luck. They’ve been working hard. We’re going to get them started in the weight room on March 1 and from there, we’ll build the program from the ground up.”

According to Wilson athletic director Charlie Jufer, Atlas will hopefully turn the Lakemen program around.

“Coach Atlas will be charge of righting the ship after suffering five consecutive losing seasons with an overall record of nine wins and 26 losses,” Jufer said.

Last fall, the Lakemen were 0-8.

“Coach Atlas is a student of the game who brings a lot of knowledge and experience to the program,” Jufer said. “He’s meticulous, hard-driven and a fundamentalist on the practice field. We’re optimistic that coach Atlas will being a high quality product to the table.”

Atlas, a physical education teacher at Thomas Marks Elementary School in Wilson, said he has several key players coming back next year, which should help make the transition to a new coach much easier.

“I know we have some really good athletes coming back this fall. I’m excited to get going,” said Atlas, a former wide receiver and defensive back at Amherst.

“We look to meet a few times over the summer, maybe at some mini camps — just throw the ball around and talk — to see what we have and hopefully get us going in a positive direction.”

Atlas and his wife, Kerry, reside in Wilson with their sons Bobby, 4; and Luke, 2.