Tocoi Creek High School is excited to announce the hiring of Darick Dunham as Head Wrestling Coach for the newest high school in St. Johns County Florida.
Originally from Cincinnati, OH Darick moved to Jacksonville, FL. as an adolescent and graduated from Terry Parker High School in Duval County. He played multiple sports during his youth and was a high school varsity athlete in golf and wrestling. Coach Dunham went on to pursue a degree in Sport Management at Florida State University where his focus shifted to Greco-Roman and Freestyle wrestling. After graduating from Florida State, he relocated back to Jacksonville and accepted a teaching position at Terry Parker High School. After returning to his alma mater, he held roles of assistant wrestling coach and head coach of the boy’s golf team where he coached several state qualifiers in golf and wrestling for TPHS and has coached student athletes to NHSCA All American status (wrestling).
Coach Dunham relocated to St Johns County in 2004 and began teaching Physical Education and coaching at Murray Middle School. He spearheaded the first middle school wrestling program in St. Johns County, Bulldog Wrestling Club, which has been active since 2004. During his tenure at Murray MS, he has served as the Athletic Director since 2011, he has worked to build programs that support the community, helped prepare student athletes to advance to the high school level and beyond. Some of those programs include, director and head coach of Ancient City Wrestling Club, founded in 2006, which focuses on training at the elementary, middle, and high school levels. Darick also is a founding member of the St Johns branch of North Florida’s “Beat the Streets” which, through a partnership with USA Wrestling, serves to empower urban youth through the sport of wrestling.
Coach Dunham was the Head Wrestling Coach at Pedro Menendez High School from 2006-2012 and coached multiple Falcons to “All St Johns County”, district, region titles, and state wrestling finishers during the FHSAA Tournament. He has coached his athletes to “All American” finishes at the Greco and Freestyle FAWA state championships, Asics Cadet and Junior National (Fargo) and a Sunkist Kids Ultimate Challenge Champion.
Throughout the interview process, Coach Dunham expressed a commitment to developing a highly successful wrestling program based on instilling a foundation of solid wrestling fundamentals, continue holding his athletes to a high standard of success, and coaching to get the most out of his teams of athletes at TCHS. His background of successful teaching and coaching, a vision of developing well-rounded student athletes who are committed to excellence, and a constant positive approach aligns with the vision for Tocoi Creek HS. Principal Jay Willets said, “Coach Dunham has been a long-time asset to the SCJSD and to the students that he has served, we are fortunate to have him be apart of the inaugural athletic department at TCHS.”
Coach Dunham is extremely excited about the opportunity to build a community full of new traditions and experiences that will take all Tocoi Creek students to the next level both academically and athletically. His goal is to be a positive force that helps turn TCHS into a place the community is proud of.