Longtime basketball coach Jeremiah Faber has been named the director of athletics at Ridgeland-Hardeeville High School. He will remain as the school’s head boys basketball coach.
Faber, who has notched more than 500 career victories as the head boys basketball coach across several incarnations of the Ridgeland school since 1985, also served as the school’s athletics director from 1988-2010.
“Certain things haven’t changed that much,” said Faber, who has remained in an administrative role in recent years, handling eligibility and scheduling, among other responsibilities. “It’s still a major responsibility, and it’s a challenge I look forward to, getting the program back where it needs to be.”
Faber has been a fixture in Jasper County athletics for more than three decades, initially beginning his career as a teacher and assistant coach at West Hardeeville High School. He has coached the boys basketball team since taking over at the old Ridgeland High School in 1985 and maintained the position at Jasper County High School (1986-2007), Ridgeland High School (2007-12), and Ridgeland-Hardeeville High School (2012-present).
Toward the end of Faber’s last tenure as AD, the Jasper County School District installed a district-wide AD, a move that Faber felt resulted in a loss of the hands-on connection between administration and the coaches and student-athletes they serve. Among his priorities, Faber hopes to work one-on-one to mentor coaches and rejuvenate the school’s programs that have struggled in recent years.
“The only programs that have really been competitive the past few years have been the girls and boys basketball programs,” Faber said. “We have to rebuild those programs that have sort of drifted away from us a little bit. One of the greatest challenges we’re faced with is our kids are being recruited, and we’ve got to find ways to keep our kids interested in the program.”
Of particular concern is the football program, which has won only two games each of the past two seasons after going 8-4 in coach Jahmaal Nelson’s first season in 2014.
“We have to rebuild our football program back to a competitive level,” Faber said. “I’m going to work very closely with coach Nelson and do all that I can to help him revive the football program.”