Coaches

Varsity HEAD COACH - Todd Hartman

Coach Todd Hartman is entering his 2nd year as the Varsity baseball coach at Forest Hills Central High School. Previously, he spent the past thirteen seasons as the Junior Varsity head baseball coach at Forest Hills Central. As Catholic Central High School graduate, he played baseball and football for the Cougars. Coach Hartman attended Grand Valley State University where he played linebacker for the Lakers football team while majored in Psychology and Special Education.

Coach Hartman has a passion for coaching. He has been an assistant Varsity football coach for the past 18 years at FHC. Prior to being hired at FHC, Coach Hartman spent three years coaching collegiate football at Grand Valley State University.

Coach Hartman is married to his wife of fifteen years, Sarah. They have two children, Katherine and JT.

Coach Hartman is extremely excited about the opportunity to build the Ranger baseball program at every level, and has very high expectations for the athletes in the classroom, on the field, and in life.

Contact: thartman@fhps.net

Varsity Assistant - Lang Davis

Coach Davis has been at FHC for 12 years, he coached the freshman baseball team from 2011 to 2014 and JV baseball in 2018.

Coach Davis played high school varsity baseball at Grand Rapids Catholic Central for 2 seasons, in 1992 and 1993.

Coach Davis graduated from Western Michigan University in 1998. He returned to school in 2003 to pursue his degree in education at Grand Valley State University. Upon completion of his degree he was hired at FHC where he has remained since the 2007/2008 school year.

Coach Davis is married to Laura and they have two children, Ryan and John.

Contact: ldavis@fhps.net

JV HEAD COACH - Jimmy Murray

Jimmy Murray enters his 1st year as the JV head coach. Jimmy was the head Freshman coach for the last 4 years. Prior to that he assisted Coach Hartman for a year and Coach Abel for a year.

Coach Murray graduated from FHC in 2009 playing baseball all 4 years.

Coach Murray is currently a grad student at Cornerstone University working on his master's of counseling.

Contact: jimbomurray11@yahoo.com

JV Assistant - Nelson Wilner

Coach Nelson Wilner is excited to move up with Coach Jimmy Murray from Freshman to JV. Nelson assisted Coach Murray the past three seasons at the Freshman level. Prior to that, Coach Wilner was Assistant Coach for Coach Hartman in the 2007 JV season and Coach Maury Blish in the 2006 Freshman season.

Nelson is proud to say he coached Jimmy Murray for many years in Travel baseball. “Jimmy brings the same work ethic and dedication to coaching he did as a player. Jimmy was a very talented catcher, and always showed amazing hustle and leadership”, says Coach Wilner

Originally from South Florida, Coach Wilner has been in Grand Rapids for 18 years. His son and daughter, All Conference and State athletes, respectively, are graduates of FHC. Nelson is a University of Florida Gator and is married to Mary, a Michigan Wolverine, for 30 years. Nelson is VP of the Kawasaki Engine Division.

Freshman HEAD COACH - Paul GRADY

Coach Grady has been involved in youth and high school sports for 23+ years. He has coached baseball at the Freshman and JV levels assisting Coach Lang Davis and at the JV level as an assistant to Coach Hartman. He also had the privilege as a volunteer coach under Coach Ken George for three years at the Varsity level.

Coach Grady attended West Catholic High School in the late 1970’s early 80’s and played basketball and baseball in High School. He graduated from Ferris State University in 1986 with a degree in accounting with a minor in finance.

Coach Grady has a passion and love for working with high school athletes and brings that excitement every day to the practice and playing field. Coach Grady brings a competitive spirit to the game, but has a talent to make sure every player has a positive experience with the team. In his spare time, Coach Grady owns and operates a logistic company based out of Grand Rapids.

Coach Grady has been married for 31 years to Carolyn (The Real Coach), and with her help has raised three adult sons, Michael, Brandon, and Patrick who all played baseball at FHC at some level.

Contact: Pgrady29@yahoo.com

Freshman Assistant - Cole Dangler

Cole has two seasons of volunteer coaching under his belt and is very excited to get started coaching at Forest Hills Central. He returned to his alma mater high school of Chippewa Hills to get his coaching career kicked off. His first year he worked as a varsity assistant more or less just learning the ropes of coaching. In his second year, he worked with the JV team and was further immersed into coaching and took a bigger role more interactive role applying what he had learned the year prior.

Growing up, baseball was Cole's sport of choice. He played high school baseball at Chippewa Hills and got his fill by playing summer ball with the West Michigan Outlaws. While at Chippewa Hills, he was well decorated receiving many accolades including the 2016 CSAA Gold Divisions Most Outstanding Player Award. Now days, Cole still plays recreationally during the Summer months in the Gratiot County Men's Baseball League for a Lansing based Front 43 team.

Originally from the small town of Lake in Mid-Michigan, some interests of Cole's include watching NASCAR on Sundays, being a huge Lions/Tigers/Wolverines fan, fast cars, bow hunting, fishing, snowmobiling, and riding his motorcycle. He is currently a student at Grand Valley State University studying Physical Education and Health. He has a passion for coaching and wants to influence his players both as athletes but also young men and community members. His long term goal is to one day have his own baseball program and to become an Athletic Director.

FreSHMAN Assistant - Steve Courcy

Steve Courcy will be an assistant coach on the FHC freshman team. Steve has coached JV and varsity baseball for 6-8 years at Coopersville High School, where he works as an English teacher. Steve’s son, Owen, is an FHC grad who played JV baseball for Coach Hartman 2016 and then played left field as a junior on the FHC varsity ballclub the following spring. Steve also coached summer travel teams for both Diamonds and Elite when his son Owen was a youth baseball player. Steve lives in the Forest Hills district and is excited to have the opportunity to volunteer his time to his local community and to the game he has played, coached, and loved since childhood. Steve expects nothing less than maximum effort and a great attitude from his players, the two things that make baseball such a fun game to play. He hopes his players will hustle, have some fun, win some games, and make some great memories in the coming season.

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