After 28 years in education, the last 15 spent as the principal of Saks High School, Jody Whaley retired at the end of November 2021 and will now explore turning his interest of developing apps for audio tours of historic sites into a career.
In the 70’s, Jody Whaley spent his pre-teen years in Ohatchee, watching his father, Grover Whaley, coach pee wee football while also being the principal of Ohatchee High School. Later, his dad took the principal’s job at Alexandria when Whaley was in the 6th grade. Whaley played high school football for Coach Lou Scales. After graduation from Alexandria, Whaley volunteered for three years as the team cameraman for the Valley Cubs while Coach Larry Ginn was the head coach.
To help pay for college, Whaley joined the Alabama Army National Guard. During the 6 years that he served, he was awarded the Army Commendation Medal for Meritorious Service and was a final four candidate for the Alabama Soldier of the Year. He was first attached to the 151st Engineer Battalion, Delta Company in Jacksonville. He finished his military duty as a Sergeant, attached to the Army Training Battle Simulation Systems (ARTBASS) Unit in Montgomery, Alabama.
Jody married Lisa Turner in 1993. Lisa retired after 37 years as an elementary school teacher in the Calhoun County School System. They attend Hill Crest Baptist Church in Saks. They enjoy traveling as much as possible.
Whaley did his student teaching at Saks High in 1993 and was a volunteer assistant football coach for Coach Bobby Joe Johnson. Johnson was an assistant coach under Grover Whaley at Cherokee County High in the mid 60’s and was a great mentor to Whaley at Saks as he began his coaching and teaching career.
In the fall of 1994, Whaley was hired at Oxford High to teach math and coach ball. Whaley coached B-team football, JH basketball, and was an assistant baseball coach while at Oxford. He also scouted for the varsity football team. Whaley tells people that he did more learning than he did teaching and coaching at Oxford. He loved everything and everybody at Oxford, and he still does.
In the summer of 1996, Coach John Grass persuaded Whaley to join his coaching staff at Ashville High. Whaley coached 3 sports for Ashville and was a proud assistant coach of the first Ashville Football team to have a perfect 10-0 regular season in 1998. Whaley became the assistant principal at Ashville that same fall and took over as principal and athletic director for Ashville in the fall of 2002. As the AD, Whaley saw the Bulldogs win the 2003 3A State Baseball Championship, compete in the 2004 Elite 8 Volleyball State Tournament and participate in the 3A Girls and Boys Basketball Regionals at JSU numerous times. He also started the youth league basketball program back up during his 5 years as AD and principal at Ashville. Whaley tells people that he had 11 great years at Ashville, all because of the wonderful students, faculty and staff that he worked with.
haley became the AD and principal at Saks High in 2007. He has watched the Wildcats excel in every sport. The football program won 4 regional championships during his tenure and made it to the playoffs 13 times where they were semifinalist three times. The volleyball program won several area championships and competed in the state regionals 10 times. The men’s and ladies basketball program won the county tournament twice and the boys basketball program reached the Final Four in Birmingham in 2014. The baseball program reached the state quarterfinals twice. And the softball team won the 3A State Softball Championship in 2012. Whaley also started the youth league basketball program back up at Saks where it is still running strong today. Whaley tells people that the students and teachers at Saks High have provided him with wonderful memories that will last a lifetime.
As principal, Whaley was awarded the Calhoun County School System’s Principal of the Year award in 2017 and Saks High was recognized as a CLAS Banner School in 2016. He was the tournament director for all of the Calhoun County Tournaments during the 2020-2021 school year. His Saks faculty and staff were the true heroes of making the county tournaments possible during that very trying school year.
Since Whaley has retired from education, he has become the tournament director for the Calhoun County Principals & Coaches Association. The CCPCA provides student athletes across the county to showcase their abilities during county tournaments. The CCPCA is a non-profit organization that give the net proceeds back to the participating schools.