By NEAL WAGNER / Managing Editor

ALABASTER – Thompson High School’s new athletic director is looking to use his lengthy track record of high school and collegiate experience to strengthen all THS athletic programs, he said during a March 18 interview.

On Feb. 16, Alabaster City Schools district Athletic Director Mark Freeman named coach Vincent Pitts as Thompson High School’s new athletic director. Pitts came to Thompson in May 2015, and served as an assistant football coach and assistant athletic director at the school for several months before his February promotion.

While attending Auburn University in the mid-2000s, Pitts served as a student assistant with the Tigers’ football team. He called his time with Auburn his “biggest learning experience.”

“Getting experience at such a high level gave me a lot of insight into things that are not just coaching-related,” Pitts said. “Auburn uses the same model, for the most part, as Alabama, Florida, any of those large programs. Having an experience with a program like that is priceless.”

After graduating from Auburn, Pitts went on to Spanish Fort High School, where he served as a football assistant and equipment manager, then to Fairhope Middle School, where he was an assistant coach, and then St. Paul’s Catholic School, where he was the co-equipment supervisor and served on the turf management crew. After St. Paul’s, Pitts returned to Spanish Fort and then moved to Demopolis High School, where he coached girls’ basketball, was the football team’s defensive line coach and handled the school’s eligibility matters.

He holds a bachelor’s degree in physical education from Auburn, a master’s degree in instructional leadership from the University of West Alabama and holds a teaching certificate in business education.

Pitts said his main goal at THS is to move all of the school’s athletic programs forward together.

“My biggest goal is to have a comprehensive athletic department that works to advance the school and its programs across the board for the benefit of our kids,” Pitts said. “We want there to be a process and a method for all that we do.”

Since becoming the school’s AD, Pitts said he has been making his rounds to all of the school’s athletic teams.

“I work for really good people here, and I enjoy coming to work every day,” Pitts said.

Under Pitts’ leadership, the THS athletic department has also greatly expanded its social media presence. The department has established a new THS athletics website at Thompsonwarriors.org and a football website at Thewarriornation.org. The department has also set up an Instagram account at THS_Athletics, a Twitter account at @Athletics_THS and a Facebook page at “THS Athletics.”