Tommy Atkinson

For the last eight seasons, Tommy Atkinson has learned the value of building strong player relationships and tradition through coaching.

Now he’s hoping to impart those lessons as a head coach.

Atkinson was named the new football coach at Whittemore-Prescott High School last week. Atkinson, 26, graduated from Alpena High School in 2009.

“I’m very excited for the new challenge. I’ve been fortunate to coach in a great program for the last eight years and made great relationships,” Atkinson said. “It’s exciting to continue to push yourself and take on a new challenge.”

He comes to Whittemore after a successful coaching tenure at Beal City. In addition to leading the football program, Atkinson will teach social studies at Whittemore, allowing him to coach and teach in the same place. Atkinson previously taught at Marion High School while coaching at Beal City.

He is the son of former football coach Tom Atkinson, who coached Alpena, Johannesburg-Lewiston, Beal City and Manistee in a 32-year coaching career.

Tommy Atkinson started coaching at Beal City when he was 18. As part of the coaching staffs of both the football and baseball teams, Atkinson coached in five state championship games.

He was part of the football staff during a stretch when the Aggies went 36-5 between 2012-2014 and finished runner-up in 2012 and 2013. In baseball, the Aggies finished runner-up in the Class D final in 2013 and 2014. The Aggies won the Class D championship this season, defeating Unionville-Sebewaing 10-0.

Growing up, Atkinson routinely traveled to local games with his father and saw first-hand the excitement of football in the North Star League.

“I grew up going to a lot of games in neighboring districts,” Atkinson said. “Every Friday night we’d go to Posen, Atlanta, Alcona, that was my first taste of small-town football. It’s a very competitive league. It’s the type of league where any team can win on any given night.”

During his coaching tenure, Atkinson was part of a football program that coaches, players and the community was excited to be around. A big reason for that was Beal City’s winning tradition and Atkinson is hoping to bring what he’s learned to Whittemore.

When it comes to tradition, the Cardinals have long been one of the most consistent teams in Northeast Michigan. Whittemore hasn’t had a losing season since 1992 and has made the playoffs 22 times since then. The Cardinals went 5-4 last season under coach Dennis Prescott, but missed the playoffs for the first time since 2007.

Until football practice begins next month, Atkinson is staying busy getting to know his new team. He’s commuting from Alpena three times a week to Whittemore and spending time in the weight room, getting to know his players.

“(I learned that) tradition breeds tradition. If you (build) up a program that’s successful, more people are going to be excited and more people are going to want to be a part of it,” Atkinson said. “You look back and you realize they (the Cardinals) have got a pretty rich football tradition.”

The Cardinals open the season on Aug. 24 at Rogers City.

James Andersen can be reached via email at sports@thealpenanews.com or by phone at 358-5694. Follow James on Twitter @ja_alpenanews.