After the loss of his baby son Kai, former Falcons linebacker Sean Weatherspoon was in a dark place.
He was working on starting a coaching career and had been in touch with Falcons coach Raheem Morris and general manager Terry Fontenot about serving an internship through the Bill Walsh diversity coaching fellowship.
“Right during that time, my wife (Christine) and I, we had a baby boy in March of 2023, that was born, quite early,” Weatherspoon told The Atlanta Journal-Constitution recently. “He was born at two pounds. A lot of things were up in the air for me.”
Weatherspoon was looking to do the internship in the spring of 2024.
But life had other plans.
“My son was in the NICU (neonatal intensive-care unit) for about 15 months, and when he came home this past summer, on the third day, we had an emergency,” Weatherspoon said. “So, we ended up losing baby Kai this past summer. I took some time away. I didn’t even get a chance to reconnect with Terry and Raheem. ... I didn’t want to leave the state because I wanted to be close to home.”
Credit: Courtesy of the Weatherspoon family
Credit: Courtesy of the Weatherspoon family
After losing the baby, Weatherspoon’s son, Franklin De’Sean Weatherspoon II, pulled him out of his dark place. His love for working with children and his knowledge of sport led to Weatherspoon being named the head football coach at Pace Academy.
“Golf was taking up a lot of my time, but I was still going to the gym because my son, would say, Dad, when are we going to Legacy (Sports Complex)?” Weatherspoon said. “I feel great when I’m with those kids. I was going through a lot mentally and he pulled me out of it by being the guy.”
Weatherspoon and his wife, along with former Falcons Mohamed Sanu, are part of the ownership group of Legacy.
“Him and Mohammed Sanu Jr., MJ and Sean Weatherspoon II, are best friends,” Weatherspoon said. “So, we were just getting after it, watching these kids go and go and go.”
Weatherspoon got the coaching bug while coaching 7-on-7 teams.
“Just being on the turf with the kids,” Weatherspoon said. “We’re doing speed and agility work with 5-year-olds all the way up to 17-year-olds. We started doing a 7-on-7 program.”
Weatherspoon, Sanu and Christian Blake put together some good squads.
“We were ranked last year with our 10-(under) teams,” Weatherspoon said. “We had two 10-u teams, and Pylon (pylonfootball.com) actually ranked us in the top 25. It just seemed like we were doing something right, and being out there with those kids coaching them, it was something that just kind of lit a fire under me.”
A chance meeting on a children’s visit, Weatherspoon reconnected with Pace Academy headmaster Fred Assaf, whom he met on a visit to the school in 2011 with teammates Julio Jones and Kroy Biermann.
“So, I’ve known Fred since I came to Atlanta because he and (Falcons owner) Arthur Blank are really good friends,” Weatherspoon said. “When we visited them, the football program was fairly new. They started it in 2009. So, they didn’t have a lot going on, and sometimes they didn’t have a lot of games. So, we took them through an inner-squad scrimmage. This was 14 years ago.”
Assaf still had the pictures and said, “Man, you should come and coach.”
Weatherspoon already was aware of the opening.
“I had my information already together because I was excited about being back out there with the kids and from being at the gym,” Weatherspoon said. “It just gave me that itch to want to do it more. Then I’m looking at Pace. The history that we have and it’s not far from my place. My daughter is in their admissions pool. I’m going hey, this might make some sense.”
Weatherspoon went for it.
He met with athletic director Chad Walker on a Sunday and interviewed that Tuesday. He chatted with Ronnie Brown, the former NFL star running back from Cartersville, who’s on the board at Pace Academy.
“(Brown) kind of laid out the land a little bit of what he’s experienced at Pace,” Weatherspoon said. “His son is in the sixth grade at Pace. He’s playing up in the eighth grade and getting a lot of experience.”
On Feb. 20, Weatherspoon was named the head football coach at the school. He’ll take over this summer with the Knights preparing for the 2025-26 season.
“It started happening pretty fast,” Weatherspoon said. “I’m pretty excited about it. I’m looking forward to getting those Knights right.”
Weatherspoon had a vision for the program and wants to start a junior varsity program to help develop and retain players in the program.
“I think the main thing that we have to do is we have to get the younger kids that have been at Pace excited about coming to the upper campus and still being involved with football, because we have a middle school program.” Weatherspoon said. “I think my job is to make sure that they’re excited about the fact that we’re going to get our JV program back up and running as soon as possible. It takes them to actually come out as a young freshman and 10th graders to come out to be a part of that and actually grow.”
Weatherspoon played his high school football in Jasper, Texas, before going to star at Missouri. He was drafted in the first round (19th overall) by the Falcons in 2010.
He was playing at a Pro Bowl level with Achilles injuries in 2013 and 2014 changed the trajectory of his career. He played for Arizona in 2015, but came back to finish his career with the Falcons in 2016 and 2017.
His message will be simple.
“I think the benefit is learning a lot about teamwork, team building, and the bond that you get from being a part of something great,” Weatherspoon said. “I’ve always been a part of teams that have been winning teams. I plan on implementing a winning culture at Pace, just like they had when coach (Chris) Slade was there.”
Slade, who also played linebacker in the NFL, for the Patriots (1993-2000) and Panthers (2001), led Pace Academy to its first state title (Class 2A), in 2015.
“They’ve been to the promise land,” Weatherspoon said.
Weatherspoon plans to get in touch with a couple of his former Missouri teammates, Robert Steeples Jr. and Jeremy Maclin, who have coached at the high school level.
Steeples, who is the defensive backs coach at Iowa State, led De Smet in St. Louis to a state title in 2019 and was runner-up in 2020.
“I’ve spoken with Jeremy Maclin,” Weatherspoon said. “J Mac was my college roommate. He’s been coaching his high school since he’s finished up. He took his team to the state semifinals last year. They ran into a team with offensive line with everybody going D1 (Division I). So, they he had a tough go with that. I’ve been leaning on him.”
Weatherspoon was upbeat about his new job and the future.
“Just being in the gym with those kids, fulfilled me,” Weatherspoon said. “I lost a baby last year, but I’m gaining many more babies. I’m so excited about it.”
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