Aaron Crawford is Olympia High's new athletic director -- Observer Preps

When Aaron Crawford decided to pursue the athletic director opening at Olympia High, there was one thing in particular that stood out to him: For a school that opened in 2001, it already has a defined culture and tradition.

“I knew the tradition and I knew the culture was one that was consistent with what my ideals and visions are,” Crawford said from his office during the first day of school Monday. “I think there’s just a culture that is so rich, and for that to be able to be established in just 17 years — that’s kind of a big deal.”

Crawford, who spent the past three school years as the athletic director at East Ridge High School in Clermont, was named to that role at Olympia over the summer. He replaces Lauren Bradley, who stepped down to pursue other opportunities within the school on the administration spectrum.

Crawford said he was impressed with Olympia’s faculty-retention rate.

“The folks that are here on campus — they don’t come here for a year or two — they come here for their career,” Crawford said. “A lot of the faculty has been here since the school opened.”

Before holding the A.D. position at East Ridge, Crawford taught and coached at Windy Hill Middle School and again at East Ridge, where he started his teaching career. While serving as the school’s A.D., he oversaw a stretch during which more than 50 student-athletes signed National Letters of Intent for scholarships and also directed a focus on branding.

At Olympia, that process already was underway, thanks to Bradley’s work over the past few years to incorporate teal as the school’s accent color and to bolster school pride and identity with branding around campus and athletics facilities.

“I don’t think I could have jumped on a better situation."

Crawford said he is excited to continue that branding effort, noting the football team has added the teal accent to its new black home jerseys for this coming football season — it also is present on the Titans’ new scoreboard at their outdoor stadium — and that baseball is the next program that will work to incorporate the rebrand.

Additionally, he will look to hire a boys and girls track coach and he also is looking at some new solutions for storage space on campus.

Crawford said he benefits greatly from Bradley’s presence on campus and, generally speaking, the new A.D. for the Titans said he is excited to keep the positive momentum on campus going

“I don’t think I could have jumped on a better situation,” Crawford said.

Contact Steven Ryzewski at [email protected].