Bunting named head football coach at St. Stephens

Chris Bunting, who joined the football staff at St. Stephens High in 2010 and was the team’s defensive coordinator last season, is the school’s new head football coach.

Bunting will take over for Fred Whalen, who has resigned after four seasons to pursue a master’s degree in administration. Whalen will continue to teach at St. Stephens but not coach.

Bunting was introduced at about 3 p.m. on Thursday in an on-campus press conference that came about four hours after St. Stephens Principal DeAnna Taylor notified local media the Indians would be making a change.

At the press conference, Taylor said Whalen had indicated his plans in late December but had not tendered a written resignation. Whalen was notified this week he has been accepted into graduate school.

Bunting is a 1999 graduate of West Montgomery, and he’s also a graduate of Catawba College. He attended Catawba on an academic scholarship and played inside linebacker for the football team until his career was ended by an injury.

At the high school level, Bunting was defensive coordinator at North Stanly for three years, defensive coordinator at West Montgomery for four years and then spent 18 months at Patton, where he was also the defensive coordinator, before coming to St. Stephens.

Bunting’s appointment ends speculation that began earlier this month that Whalen would not return and that St. Stephens would name a new head football coach for the fifth time in 14 seasons.

Whalen has been head coach at St. Stephens since the 2008 season, when he replaced Doug Justice after Justice left to become head coach at North Henderson.

The Indians went 7-5 and reached the state 3AA playoffs in Whalen’s first season, then went 4-7 and 2-9 the next two years and didn’t qualify for the postseason.

Last season, St. Stephens went 2-4 in the Northwestern 3A-4A, finishing fifth, and ended up 4-8 after being beaten 49-0 by Crest in the first round of the 3AA bracket.

While the Indians have earned six of their nine all-time postseason trips over the last 10 seasons, their program has continued to struggle.

St. Stephens has won 22 games the last five seasons and 31 over the previous 10, bit it has lowest football winning percentage in the Greater Hickory area over the last 15 (46 wins, .269), the last 20 (68, .303) and the last 30 seasons (104, .321).

Bunting will be the 11^th head football coach at St. Stephens since 1972. When Ed Tallman left after the 1977 season, George Nazaravich was the head coach in 1978.

Marty Curtis was head coach from the 1979 through 1982 seasons, then Roland Scott left an assistant’s position at Newton-Conover to become head coach for the next four seasons.

Dick Foster, after tenures as a head coach at Bandys and Fred T. Foard, moved to St. Stephens in 1987 as the head coach and stayed nine seasons. His tenure included the Indians’ only modern era state playoff football win in 1991, a  39-32 first-round home victory over West Henderson.

Foster resigned after the 1995 season and Gary Moore took over for two seasons.

Frank Snider, whose coaching tenure also includes time at Maiden, became head coach in 1997. His two teams went 3-19 and he was asked to resign.

John Jarman came to St. Stephens in 2000, staying three seasons. When he resigned, Justice was hired and stayed for the next five seasons.

After a 4-8 record and a state playoff spot in his first season, Justice’s next two teams went 0-11 before he guided the 2006 and 2007 teams to the state playoffs.

Record Sports Writer Allen Haynes contributed to this article.