Nervous, stressing, and starting to doubt his future, former varsity baseball coach Steve Teter receives a message saying multiple players will not be playing in the season finale. Doubting his job security,Teter takes a step back, takes a deep breath, and calls former football coach Timothy Perry for guidance.

“If it wasn’t for that little bit of help provided by Mr. Perry, I might not be here today and still working at JC, I probably wouldn’t have made it another season,” Teter said. With the help of Perry, Teter got through the day, didn’t forfeit the game, and kept his job, that he still has today.  

In February 2015, it was announced that Teter would be the new Athletic Director. After five years of coaching and two years of being a social studies teacher, Teter changed gears into an administrative role.

“The [Athletic Director] job involves more than just athletics, it’s a face of the school. We liked how professional he is and how he deals with controversy by being polite and businesslike,” Principal Madelyn Ball said.

The father of two boys, Teter never expected to become the Athletic Director, although he’s glad he was able to find his home here. “I saw myself being an AD, but not necessarily at JC and thought I’d have to find another home at a public school,” Teter said, “I’m glad I found my home here, it makes sense to me logically, and I have great people I’m working with here like Ms.[Abigail] Swift and Mr. [Brian] King.”

With the new job, there have been challenges. Because of increased attendance at Friday night football games, trying to balance the responsibility of being a father, and sacrificing the close student-teacher relationships, the transition has been tough, according to Teter.

However, his colleagues are impressed by his work so far this year. “He’s efficient and easy-going about work. He’s very hardworking, kind, funny, and honest,”  Administrative Assistant to Athletics Abigail Swift said.

This year, Teter has changed the office, worked on creating a new sports website that will go live in the near future, and helped initiate the petition for a new scoreboard, which he hopes will be ready by the lacrosse season. “I want to make the best program possible for student athletes and coaches,” Teter said.

He reminds himself constantly that he works to improve the athletic program, not just make calls all day. “[Teter] is dedicated towards all of the sports programs. He wants all of the programs to thrive and be the best they can be,” senior Paul Wilson said. Wilson has played varsity baseball under Teter for four years.

According to Teter, a part of accepting the Athletic Director position included adding extra coaches to the staff.

Even with taking a step back from coaching baseball, he is still always accessible to students and players. “Teter is focused in school, but always has time to talk,” Wilson said. “Teter is still the same, hard working guy who wants the best for you as a person, and just a cool person to be around.”

As the new Athletic Director, Teter still maintains his enthusiastic personality while retaining a serious attitude that is required for the position. “He’s really good at having fun while working, and interacting with the student’s,” Swift said.

“However, the position has had its downsides such as not being able to be with students as much and not being able to make as many games he hopes,” Teter said.

The position gets difficult at times trying to balance being a dad and executing his responsibilities for the school. According to Teter, seeing the success of students makes the difficulties that come with the job worth it.

“I’ve always enjoyed being in the high school setting. Seeing the football and field hockey championships was amazing. You just can’t top that,” Teter said.

Kishan Patel is the Online Editor in Chief of The Patriot and jcpatriot.com.