By Bob Sutton
Special to The Alamance News
Jason Knapp, a former baseball coach at Williams, has taken on the athletics director duties at Orange High School.
Knapp fills the vacancy that arose when Mike McCauley died June 5 at age 59. McCauley, a former Graham football coach, had been athletics director for seven years at Orange. He lived in Elon.
Knapp, a Burlington resident, left his Williams coaching position after the 2018 season to become Orange’s baseball coach. He’ll remain as coach of the Panthers, who are the reigning Central 3-A Conference champions and have been a state power.
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“Mike was getting ready to retire at the end of July,” Knapp said. “I was approached about (the AD job) when we knew Mike was going to retire. I was going to be (shadowing) him. We still miss him, that’s for sure. Just trying to figure it out as we go along.”
Knapp, 48, said Williams athletic director Todd Davis, who was a student in Knapp’s physical education’s classes at Williams, has been a good resource as he transitions to this role. He also has consulted with former Orange colleague B.J. Condron, who’s beginning in his first AD role at Southeast Alamance.
Orange competes in the same conference with Eastern Alamance, Southern Alamance, Western Alamance, and Williams, along with Cedar Ridge and Roxboro Person.
In memory of McCauley
Knapp said the life of McCauley will be honored at the season-opening football game August 18 against Southeast Alamance. McCauley died shortly after a diagnosis of pancreatic cancer.
Plans are for Orange’s game captains to release purple balloons, while football staff members from both schools will wear purple ribbons. Fans are also encouraged to wear purple ribbons in honor of McCauley.
