North Forsyth hires Tilden as new athletic director
Article courtesy of Forsyth County News
One of Scott Tilden’s last memories of North Forsyth was in 2001 when Coal Mountain had a parade. Tilden was an assistant coach on the Raiders’ football team that went 12-2 and reached the Class AAA semifinals. The GHSA held the season’s penultimate games in the Georgia Dome in those years. It’s still the only time a Forsyth County football team has ever played on the NFL stage, and the surrounding communities gave the team the proper pageantry when it departed for Atlanta.
“Before we could ever hit 400 we were driving around the elementary schools and middle schools with everybody outside cheering for us. Even through Cumming town square,” Tilden said. “Fun years, great years.”
Tilden will bring his career full circle as North’s next athletic director. Tilden was officially hired Thursday to replace outgoing athletic director Nathan Turner, who has split his time this spring between Coal Mountain and his new position as Athletic and Activities Coordinator for Forsyth County Public Schools.
Tilden arrives after three years as an assistant boys basketball coach and economics teacher at Flowery Branch. Prior to that, he had assistant basketball coaching stints at Mill Creek (2009-13), South Forsyth (2003-09) and North (1995-03).
That makes 20 years on the sidelines as a coach for Tilden, a breadth of experiences he says will have great influence on how he leads the Raiders’ athletic program.
“I was a coach for 20 years. I would like to feel as a coach I had good ideas and good suggestions when I was on that side of the desk. Now, on the other side of the desk, I’m going to be the biggest supporter of coaches you’ll find,” Tilden said.
“I can appreciate the effort they give. I’m going to be asking for questions and suggestions from my staff. I think they’re good people with great ideas. I expect to have a great working relationship with them. My job will be, as I’ve done a lot in the past, working behind the scenes helping to facilitate the programs and make the life of a coach easier.”
Tilden arrives at an intriguing juncture for North. The Raiders have a new football coach, Robert Craft, and will move into the newly created Class AAAAAAA with the rest of the county’s public schools as part of Region 5 along with Milton. This past season has seen encouraging postseason appearances by several teams, particularly North’s wrestling team that finished runner-up in Class AAAAAA at the state duals and traditional tournaments.
“I think sky’s the limit for all our programs,” Tilden said. “We’re doing nothing but moving toward our potential.”