MOULTRIE – It looks to be as smooth a transition in leadership as can be expected.

On Aug. 21, Moss Farms Diving Tigers head coach Chris Heaton was named the new head diving coach at Harvard University of the Ivy League. His last day leading Moultrie’s storied program is Friday. Heaton’s tenure began in October, 2015, when he and his family moved to South Georgia from his native Ohio.

On Tuesday, John Fox – hired as Moss Farms Diving assistant coach just two months after Heaton obtained his position – said he is now the head coach. In 2017, he added the title of Chief Financial Officer (CFO) for Moss Farms to his coaching duties.

Like Heaton at Miami (Ohio) University, Fox arrived in Moultrie after a collegiate diving career at the University of Kentucky.

For Heaton, Harvard will be his first head coaching position at the NCAA level. He was a volunteer graduate assistant at Indiana University after his college days ended and was heavily involved in the club diving scene training Junior Olympic competitors in both Indiana and Ohio.

“From a career and family standpoint, it’s a unique opportunity,” said Heaton on Tuesday. It will involve recruiting junior level divers and training them for NCAA nationals. He said he won’t leave the club scene altogether as he plans to begin a club team in Massachusetts and find somebody to run it.

“Being at the college level is what you strive to reach (as a coach),” said Heaton, noting also the overall prestige of Harvard.

To be in South Georgia and in particular with Moss Farms Diving, Heaton could only think of a few words to describe the near three-year experience. “Blessing” was the first one. He said Colquitt County is a great community and he was grateful to be a part of it and a part of Heritage Church.

“Being at Moss Farms is special,” said Heaton.

While for five decades the Diving Tigers program has produced major college divers who won NCAA titles, Hall of Fame divers and world championship qualifiers, Heaton said there was a two-fold purpose when the Moss Farms Board of Directors hired both he and Fox.

“They hired us to make it a powerhouse again on the national stage,” he said. “And to instill good moral fiber and character. We’ve done that. We’re in the top 10 for the first time in over a decade.”

Heaton concluded by saying the Diving Tigers are in great hands.

“John will do a great job,” he said.

“I’m really excited that Chris has this opportunity,” said Fox. “We look to send him off with huge congratulations. Harvard could not have picked a better person. He will work hard and bring high caliber recruits to the university. He will be missed.

“And I’m very eager to see what the future has in store for Moss Farms Diving.”

Fox said this was the first time he and Heaton worked together in the same program, but they had known each other as competitors – though there is a few years difference in age – for about 10 years.

“It’s always been a storied program,” said Fox about his attraction to work at Moss Farms. He actually applied to be the head coach in 2015.

“I made a career decision to be a coach,” said Fox. When it was time for graduate school, he said his mentor and college coach told him he needed to differentiate. So while applying to graduate school in Kentucky, he was directed to the DeVos Management Program at the University of Central Florida in Orlando. There, he obtained a masters in business administration and in sports business management.

After he learned of the coaching opening at Moss Farms Diving, Fox said he was offered the position as assistant coach.

“I wanted to develop roots here,” said Fox.

As for the implementation of a plan he and Heaton had for the diving program and the success seen with a high number of USA Diving Nationals qualifiers and top 10 finishers, Fox goes back to the original vision of Moose Moss.

“I attribute it to God,” he said. “His blessings have been here for years. Moose Moss had a vision, and his dream set us on the course we are on now.

“We love what we do. We know it’s greater than us. There is something bigger going on. We could not be a success without (the Moose Moss Aquatic Center). That has brought us great parents and a good group of people to help us.”