Trinity alum Sheffield takes football job at Wheatmore

Jacob Sheffield (Courtesy photo)

TRINITY – Jacob Sheffield is the new football coach at Wheatmore, but his ties to the school extend more than a decade.

Most recently, Sheffield has been an assistant coach at rival Trinity, his alma mater.

He said he has “fallen on both sides of the tracks” when it comes to the neighboring schools.

He takes the vacancy left when Philip Yarbrough resigned after seven seasons as Wheatmore’s football coach. The Warriors were 2-8 last year.

Sheffield, who’ll turn 37 in May, said it appears a foundation has been established at Wheatmore. When he met with players last week, he was asked if the Warriors were in a rebuilding mode.

“I’ve been through a rebuild,” he said he told the group. “You have already worked through those stages.”

Sheffield, a 2005 Trinity graduate, spent the past season with the Bulldogs following three seasons as coach at High Point Central, where his teams were a combined 7-20. His coaching stops included time as a staff member for football at Greensboro Page, where he also was wrestling coach.

“I was really happy with Trinity,” he said.

Sheffield’s said Trinity football coach Bear Bradley, who’s a past Wheatmore coach, was supportive during the process regarding the coaching opening with the Warriors.

Sheffield said when he was an Appalachian State student in 2009, he wanted a taste of high school coaching and that initiation came at Wheatmore. He would arrive for Friday’s game and stay through Sunday meetings with the coaching staff before returning to Boone.

He later coached track and field at Wheatmore and combined with Yarbrough on the wrestling team’s staff.

Sheffield was an exceptional children’s teacher during his previous time at Wheatmore. Since then at his other stops, he has taught physical education and weight training.