Longtime Venice High volleyball coach Brian Wheatley steps down to take coaching job in Auburn
VENICE — When it came to leaving Venice High, there were not many positions Brian Wheatley would consider, especially on the high school level.
When Dr. Cristen Herring, the Superintendent of Schools at Auburn City Schools, reached out with a volleyball coaching position at Auburn High and an elementary principal job for Wheatley’s wife, Lisa, it was almost too good to be true.
“We love Auburn and eventually wanted to be in Auburn,” Wheatley said. “We weren’t pursuing anything. Some of the things they offered, we really couldn’t turn down.”
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Wheatley had his doubts about the move at the outset.
“I was very against it. I always said there was one high school in America that I would at least listen to if it ever became available and the time was right, and that was Auburn High,” he said. “Auburn is a lot like Venice, when people get in they stay. For both of those positions to come open, it is very rare.”
Reaching their 30-year mark in Florida, the Wheatley’s can draw retirement from the state, “which was very important.”
The Wheatleys had aspirations of retiring in Auburn at some point.
“What better way to go into the community as leaders into the community out of the gate, as a principal and high school coach,” Brian Wheatley said.
Auburn volleyball finished 22-22 this past season.
“They’ve never really won there at Auburn at the state level,” Wheatley said. “It’s kinda like a sleeping giant. The interest is definitely there. It’s going to be a fun challenge.”
The 53-year-old Wheatley won at Venice, compiling a 721-203 record and six state championships, the first in 1998 and the most recent in 2022. Venice also was state runner-up twice.
Wheatley was elected to the Florida High School Athletic Association Hall of Fame in 2017.
“We’re not going to be ghosts here,” said Wheatley, who plans to rent his Venice home and be “snowbirds.”
Wheatley was hired as a 23-year-old in May of 1994 by then Principal Dan Parrett and the Director of Athletics Larry Sandberg.
“The community and school have been so good to us,” Wheatley said. “It’s the only job I’ve ever had. I couldn’t have asked for any more. All those kids and all those relationships I still have with all those kids, that’s the kinds of things I think about. And the relationships with the coaches from around the state, coaches in the area and the coaches at Venice High.”
Wheatley plans to depart from Venice in less than a month, leaving behind a legacy and a vacancy likely to be filled by assistant Jay Lanham. Wheatley joins a group of coaches like Manatee High football coach Joe Kinnan, Southeast High football coach Paul Maechtle, Sarasota High baseball coach Clyde Metcalf and Southeast High girls basketball coach John Harder who coached for decades, not years in Sarasota/Manatee County.
“I thought I was going to go out one of three ways: retire at Venice, take a college position or this. And this is the only high school position that I was going to at least listen to. It just seemed like the right timing,” Wheatley said. “I don’t think we would have another opportunity like this with both those jobs being open and being able to do it.”
Wheatley, who made the Venice High schedule for the 2024 season already, hopes to be invited to the Battle at the Beach volleyball tournament hosted by Venice High in 2025 and beyond.
He told his returning Venice players of his intentions Tuesday.
“They were upset,” Wheatley said. “They were in shock.”
For the first time in 31 years, the head coaching position at Venice High volleyball will be filled by someone other than Brian Wheatley.
“We kinda felt like that’s where God was leading us,” said Wheatley, who still has aspirations to coach at Auburn University.
This article originally appeared on Sarasota Herald-Tribune: Brian Wheatley, longtime Venice High volleyball coach steps down
