Athletic director Aaron Wampler continues to make new moves as the River Road ISD school board approved Jonathan Wise as the school’s new head baseball coach and defensive coordinator during a meeting Monday night.
Since taking over the program in April, Wampler has made quite the changes on the boys side of the coaching staff. Wampler has added a new boys head basketball coach Greg Freeman, who takes over for recently retired Steve Rhodes, and now brings in a familiar colleague and friend in Wise.
“Ever since coach Wise and I worked together at Caprock, he was one I’ve always tried to get back to coaching with,” Wampler said. “I love his mindset, and he holds young athletes accountable and athletes love playing for him. Jonathan genuinely cares about kids, and he will make us better. He will push these guys to do more than they can, and he can get a ton out of these guys. We’re really excited to have him onboard.”
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Wise, an Amarillo High graduate, has built his coaching resume over the past decade. He was at Caprock with Wampler as an assistant, he’s been the head track coach in Panhandle and spent the past seven years building the Childress baseball program from the bottom up. This past season, Wise led the Childress baseball team to the programs first playoff series win in 14 years. Though it wasn’t an easy decision, getting to work with Wampler once more was very enticing.
“Coach Wampler is one of my closest friends,” Wise said. “He is a kid magnet, and everyone works so hard for him. Coaches work hard for him, and this was a great opportunity to not only work for a good friend but a great coach. River Road has a great administration that has been together for a long time. They have great facilities including the weight room which is second to none. My wife and I are also both from here, so we knew this was a spot to come to and be closer to family.”
Wise will take over a baseball program that struggled last year going winless through district including losses to Wise and Childress. Wise is no stranger to building and is looking forward to the opportunity as well as his defensive coordinator and strength and conditioning duties.
“Coach (Bart) Upchurch did an amazing job here at River Road,” Wise said. “I have a ton of respect for him. I just want to come in and try to rebuild this program. We did that in Childress and I think that is something possible here. We need to get guys bought in and realize what they are capable of. We loved Childress and this wasn’t an easy decision, but I see River Road as a place that can win, and the kids work hard and want to win.”