Joe Farley ready for dream job
Former Templeton Athletic Director Lindsay Franklin stepped down on March 20, leaving an open spot atop the athletic department. Former Eagle Joe Farley has filled it.
Farley graduated from Templeton in 2011 before heading to Northern Arizona University, where he earned a degree in business management. Following college, he moved home, began working in the area and now has one of his dream jobs.
“It is like a dream job,” Farley told The Atascadero News and Paso Robles Press. “Sometimes I am driving from Home Depot in Atascadero, and I’ll drive by the high school stadium right there off the freeway, and I’ll just think, ‘Gosh, I can’t believe I am the athletic director of the high school.’ I think if you talked to any of my classmates who I graduated with would probably tell you they saw me doing something in athletics but maybe not at Templeton High School.”
The new athletic director began his career in education in the spring of 2017 when he began substitute teaching in the district. After a little time, he landed a long-term substitute position, and it was in that classroom teaching math that he fell in love and has been pursuing a future in education and coaching ever since.
For the past few years, Farley has served as one of Templeton’s Intervention Specialists, spending time tutoring kids at risk of failing their classes while working with former Athletic Director Franklin.
“Coach Joe Farley is already doing great in this position, taking over the helm in a very chaotic time where he’s being asked to navigate uncharted territory,” Franklin said. “Coach Farley’s advantage is the positive rapport he already has established with his student-athletes since he’s been a trusted on-campus staff member and assistant coach for several years. As an alum, coach Farley cares deeply for THS and the athletics program, and he will work tirelessly for the coaches and student-athletes.”
The new head of the Eagles athletic department will have his work cut out for him as Templeton’s athletic programs have experienced a lot of success in all three seasons the last couple years but looks to build on the progress and hopefully use it to get more kids out onto the field and into the gyms participating in sports.
“Having success is always a good thing, and the kids like to be a part of successful programs,” Farley said. “Number one, we want to build on that success and get more kids participating. We are seeing it in the freshmen class a little, and more kids are wanting to come out and play sports because they have been going to the games and have seen the success.”
As for the state of athletics right now, there are none, but Farley and the Templeton school board have agreed on a plan to return to action in the near future. They are currently awaiting the all-clear from the San Luis Obispo County Office of Education and the Public Health Department.
A few weeks ago, all San Luis Obispo County athletic directors held a meeting and came up with a plan for every school to bring to their respective school boards. Almost every school’s policy looked the same with just slight differences.
Last Thursday, Farley brought his plan to the Templeton Unified School District Board, which unanimously approved it, and now the Eagles have a plan in place for when they return.
“The County is not ready to move forward with youth sports or high school athletics,” he said. “They are just in a wait-and-see approach because they don’t want to contradict the state, which is understandable.”
When sports do return, the Eagles will be ready and are also one of the few schools in the County, along with Mission Prep, who will take their athletes’ temperatures before each practice as a precautionary measure. In contrast, others will rely on self-reporting from their student-athletes.
