With the retirement of beloved Athletic Director Coach Lenny Paoletti comes newly appointed Coach Cole Hudson, the new athletic director at Saint Stephen’s. As an athletic director, Hudson has stepped in to fulfill many duties around campus here at Saint Stephen’s.

“As an athletic director, my main job is to oversee and support all of our programs and make sure that they’re all loved and supported,” Hudson explained.

Coach Hudson had a long journey before getting this new position as AD at SSES.

“After I finished my degree at South Florida, I started out as a substitute teacher and a middle school baseball coach,” Hudson explained. “Then I kind of transitioned into a middle school athletic director role and a part-time teacher. So then I began to get more administrative roles kind of thrown at me.”

Hudson added that after he got his Master’s degree from Southeastern Oklahoma State, he felt that that extra piece of schooling further strengthened his calling as an athletic director. 

Hudson worked at Bradenton Christian School as an athletic director for over five years. When asked how he planned to convert his competitive energy from BCS to Saint Stephen’s, he explained that he was already all in for the green and gold.

“All of it really has been converted to Saint Stephen’s,” Hudson said. “And ever since I took the job and decided to come over to Saint Stephen’s and wear the green and gold, I mean, I’m all in.”

Hudson also explained what motivated him to leave Bradenton Christian, where he spent most of his athletic directing career.

“At some point in your life, you have to make a change for what you feel is better for you and your family,” Hudson said. “And that’s exactly what we did.”

Hudson is loving life here at SSES already, and he is really looking forward to this year. When asked what he anticipates the most, he expressed his appreciation for the coaching staff at Saint Stephen’s.

“I love relationships and building chemistry with coaches,” Hudson said. “I’m really looking forward to that first year with them and really building a bond with those returning coaches.”

Even though Hudson has many responsibilities as athletic director, he still has time to do what he enjoys outside of school.

“I golf and fish a lot and I spend a lot of time with my family,” Hudson said. “I’ve got a 16-month-old daughter at home. And, so we’re very much into her life as new parents.”

Hudson explained that being a new parent made him change his whole outlook on life.

“Once you become a parent for the first time, you realize that it’s not about you anymore. It’s all about your kid,” Hudson said.

He also explained that he used to play baseball, basketball, and football. His passions are sports, which made finding a career path much easier.. 

“Baseball was really my life growing up,” Hudson said. “And at one point, I thought I was probably gonna coach baseball and teach PE my whole life. But then I kinda got put in a role where I was starting to get on the administrative side. And I feel like I really enjoyed that more.”

Baseball isn’t the only sport that Hudson enjoys. When asked if he wishes Saint Stephens had any other sports that it offered, he named off some of his favorites.

“We don’t have wrestling here, but high school wrestling is a really neat sport,” Hudson said. “Lacrosse was a game that was really new to me three years ago. It’s a sport that I think is a really neat sport.”