Athletic Spotlight Katherine Hatcher, Keith Hatcher, Lynn Hatcher
Cavalier for Life Being a Cavalier is in Keith Hatcher’s blood. Not only is he a graduate (1996), but he is also part of an extended family that has had six generations attend Mount de Sales—a family that is fiercely competitive on the playing field. Keith’s father, Ricky Hatcher (’71), was a starter on four state championship teams at Mount de Sales. Ricky continued his athletic career at Gainesville Junior College on a baseball scholarship, where he started every game as either catcher or shortstop. Keith’s mother, Lynn Acey Hatcher (’72), earned five varsity letters while attending MDS and was the first female to play on the allmale golf team. After graduation, she won several golf club championships, winning the Middle Georgia Golf Championship in 1990. Continuing the family tradition, sister Katherine Hatcher Smith (’92) played softball and basketball for the Lady Cavs. Brother Scott (’02) played football and basketball during his time at MDS. Keith was a three-sport athlete, playing football, basketball, 18
and baseball and earning 13 varsity letters while at MDS; he also was selected for the GISA All-State teams in each sport during his junior and senior years. Keith then signed with Mars Hill College to play football and baseball, where he was named to the South Athletic Conference AllAcademic team each year from 1996 to 2000. Coaching is also a part of Keith’s DNA. Lynn coached softball and won two state championships coaching golf and track while at MDS. Katherine joined the MDS staff in 2015 to teach and coach varsity softball and middle school basketball. However, Keith credits his cousin Chris Hatcher (’91), now head football coach at Samford University, with his decision to leave the financial services industry and begin a coaching career. “Chris was a strong influence on my desire to get into coaching. He encouraged me to do so and gave me my first opportunity in coaching to work under him as a graduate assistant at Valdosta State University,” noted Keith. His college coaching career would take Keith to the University of Alabama–Birmingham, back to Valdosta State with Chris, to Georgia Southern, and finally to Murray State University.
In 2013, Keith chose to leave college coaching in order to devote more time to his family. “Ashley and I had two young children, and I was not around very often,” said Keith. “Ashley was offered a job in Middle Georgia, and we decided that it was time for a change so that I could be more involved with our family, and she could have the opportunity to commit to her career.” Shortly after relocating to Macon, longtime Mount de Sales coach and athletic director Robert Slocum (’74), who had coached Keith as a student, reached out to him about returning to MDS. “My time was winding down,” said Robert. “I was looking for somebody to step in who had football knowledge and knew the Mount de Sales community. Keith was from a strong Catholic, Mount de Sales family, and I felt he would be a good fit. We talked several times while he was coaching at the college level. The first time we talked he wasn’t ready, and then finally he made the move.” Robert stepped down in 2015 after twenty-one years as head football coach, paving the way for Keith to become the Cavalier’s head football coach and athletic director. Neither are easy jobs, but Keith’s passion for