HCA: A Hall of Famer Arrives on Campus

It does not happen very often when a small, Class 1B Christian high school can hire a Hall of Fame coach to any sport.

But for Hernando Christian Academy Athletic Director Mike Drummond, things could not have worked out any better than it could when he recently hired a new softball coach.

With last year's coach Sue Murphy wanting to concentrate on other sports, Drummond was in the market for a new softball coach. And he was fortunate when Florida Athletic Coaches Association Hall of Fame member Ernie Chatman took over the job of softball coach at HCA.

While Murphy had won district titles in her two years at the school, Drummond said that she wanted to cut back some on her duties.

"She's a full-time teacher at school so I think she thought her plate was full. With her coaching volleyball, softball and helping the basketball team, she mentioned she would not mind learning under a coach like Ernie," the HCA AD said.

Chatman, who has coached at Hernando High for the past 34 years and has coached almost every sport, talked with Drummond about the softball job on and off for more than a year.

"I had talked with Ernie for the past year, you know, nothing serious. Then in June, he said he wanted to come over. It's like we hit the jackpot," said Drummond.

Drummond said coach Murphy will still help with the softball team and coach the HCA junior varsity. "This fills a need for us," he said. "And being able to keep coach Murphy on to run the JV and help the varsity, it makes me feel like we've got a dream team here."

Chatman 101

Chatman was the softball coach at Hernando between 1997 and 2002, where he took his team to the state playoffs five of those years. His 2000 team made it all the way to the state finals where they lost to Bartow.

Chatman's 6-year reign at HHS produced a county-record 136-48 won-lost fast-pitch slate.

He was named to the Florida Athletic Coaches Association Hall of Fame in 2004 and is the current boys cross country coach. Chatman also is a teacher at Hernando High and will keep those positions along with helping the boys distance runners on the track team.

Besides those duties, Chatman is one of the original members of the Red Mule Runners Club in Brooksville and has run a marathon in all 50 states.

For Drummond, having a coach like Chatman taking over one of his school's teams is important.

"It's like I've been telling some of the families of our players; this guy is a Hall of Fame coach," smiled Drummond. "You could scourer resumes from all over the country and not come up with someone like him."

The HCA softball team, which last year was 22-4 and has captured five consecutive district titles, will still be a contender under Chatman.

"I was reading his resume when I was putting the press release together," Drummond said. "I knew he had accomplished many, many great things. I just didn't realize how much he had done."

By the Numbers: Ernie Chatman
- Compiled by TONY CASTRO
YEAR SCHOOL W L .PCT
1997 Hernando 17 14 .548
1998= Hernando 21 10 .677
1999+= Hernando 26 06 .813
2000+=$Hernando 27 04 .871
2001+=$Hernando 30 04 .882
2002 Hernando 15 10 .600
TOTALS 136 48 .739
+ Denotes GCAC Champion
= Denotes District Champion
^ Denotes District Runnerup
$ Denotes Final Four Participant