Christian Academy of Knoxville has a new assistant director of athletics and two new head coaches for girls sports.
Abby Williams is the assistant AD and the girls head basketball coach at CAK. She replaces Caitlin Hollifield, who accepted a similar post at West High School.
Williams joins CAK from South-Doyle Middle School where she was the school’s eighth grade assistant principal. She coached the S-D Middle girls team to an undefeated season in 2011, according to a press release from CAK.
In 2012, Williams was named assistant coach of the Bearden High School girls basketball team, followed by a head coaching position at South-Doyle High School where she doubled the team’s winning percentage, appeared in the regional tournament, and had consecutive 20-win seasons in the 2014-15 and 2015-16 seasons (the first time in more than 10 years for the school).
For the past five years, Williams has coached with TN Fury, an AAU basketball organization in Knoxville founded to physically and spiritually impact youth through competitive athletics. She began her teaching career in 2011 as a physical education teacher at Hardin Valley Elementary. She also taught health at South Doyle Middle School before becoming a mentor teacher and lead teacher, then subsequently joined the administrative ranks.
A graduate of Halls High School, she was a two-sport athlete (volleyball and basketball). She played basketball for two years for Carson-Newman University, then transferred to UT-Chattanooga where she a bachelor’s degree in health and a master’s in educational leadership. She and her husband, Darren, attend Faith Promise church. Their children are Aleaha and Carson.
Michael Marcum is the new head coach of CAK’s girls volleyball team. He replaces Ashley Pittman, who is getting married and moving away from Knoxville.
Marcum currently coaches with the K2 Volleyball Club located in Louisville, Tenn. In addition to providing private lessons, he coaches (or has coached) under 15-, under 16- and under 17-year-old boys and girls. Marcum previously coached middle school basketball for CBFO, Concord Christian School, and also a stint with CAK.
Marcum is trained and certified to administer first aid, CPR and an automated external defibrillator (AED) device. He volunteers his time with ChildHelp of Knoxville and with Club Vibes, which takes blind and visually-impaired individuals on tandem bike rides. Marcum and his wife, Pepper, have two children who graduated from CAK – Barrett (Class of 2010) and Colten (Class of 2014). Their daughter is a rising sophomore at CAK. The family attends Foothills Church.
When he is not coaching, Marcum is an outdoor guide for Blackberry Farms, specializing in hiking, biking, kayaking, canoeing, archery, wake surfing and wakeboarding. Ried Estus is athletic director for CAK.