Wheaton Academy takes interim tag from Thornton

Brad Thornton will gladly accept this kind of pressure.

Operating this fall under the title of Wheaton Academy’s interim football coach, on Friday Wheaton Academy athletic director Andrew Tink and head of school Gene Frost took away the interim tag.

“Now that the title is officially in place it’s a weight off my mind in that the uncertainty is cleared up, but I feel the burden of the responsibility,” Thornton said. “That’s not a bad thing, and now my mind is running a mile a minute to make this thing successful.”

One immediate aspect of that is obvious, he said: “To get wins.”

Wheaton Academy went 4-5 last season but took three losses to Suburban Christian Conference Blue Division powers Montini, Aurora Christian and Marian Central. Against Gold Division foes Wheaton Academy went 3-0, and looks for greater possibilities when the Warriors move to the Metro Suburban Conference next fall.

Wins and losses aside, the decision to name Thornton the coach enhances the program’s continuity. When Thornton arrived after six years as a defensive coach at Evangelical Christian School in Memphis he became the Warriors’ third coach in three seasons. Thornton followed the one-year term of T.J. Ragan, who succeeded Ben Wilson after Wilson resigned the position for health and family reasons following brain surgery.

“Just having that stability is going to go a long way to helping that program grow,” said Thornton, a Cary-Grove and Wheaton College graduate.

“There’s a good, positive energy about the program at the school right now,” he said.

As he strode the sideline this fall, Thornton certainly had the look of a man in charge. His work with his staff and in keeping with Wheaton Academy standards impressed Tink.

“Over the past six months coach Thornton has done a remarkable job of building a staff of high-caliber coaches, developing a culture of excellence and most importantly working tirelessly in his relationships with his players to develop Christian character,” Tink said in a statement to the Daily Herald.

As well as earning those victories on the football field, Thornton stresses off-the-field wins.

“The thing that we want to be distinctive about the Wheaton Academy program,” he said, “is that when we have players who come back to us 10, 15, 20 years down the road they will not only be able to see an excellent program at the school, but we will see in them that they are leaders in their job, that they have strong marriages and families, and that they are doing good work to advance the kingdom of God.”