Newcomer to the Chattanooga-area coaching Courtney Braswell of Central, left, joined fellow veteran coaches Hixson's Dan Duff and East Hamilton's Ted Gatewood at the Region 3-4A media meeting with the media on Wednesday at Finley Stadium.
photo by Dennis Norwood
It’s still the middle of July and hotter than blue blazes outside, but another season of high school football is just around the corner.
Local prep teams get to put on full pads starting Monday. The annual jamboree will be held on Friday and Saturday, August 12-13 with the first week of regular-season games kicking off on August 19.
The first round of playoffs will begin on November 4 with state championships being determined the first week of December at Tennessee Tech in Cookeville.
While most teams have been working out in shorts and helmets, the rubber really hits the road on Monday when nothing is held back and coaches really get to see who wants to be the man for the upcoming season.
Coaches and top players from District 3-AAAA gathered at Finley Stadium for lunch on Wednesday. It was a chance to renew old friendships and for coaches to talk about the upcoming season.
There are seven teams in this group, including Chattanooga Central, Cumberland County, East Hamilton, Hixson, Livingston Academy and Stone Memorial.
No polls were taken and no votes were cast, so nobody’s really sure of who the team to beat is for the coming season.
Here are the comments from the coaches in attendance on Wednesday and the hopes they have for the season ahead. They are listed in alphabetical order.
CHATTANOOGA CENTRAL: Last year was not a very memorable season for the Purple Pounders as they were winless in 10 games. The coach was dismissed and former defensive coordinator Courtney Braswell was hired to turn things around in Harrison.
Braswell has lots of experience as an assistant coach, but this will be his first shot as a head coach. He knows that plenty of work is ahead, but he’s ready to jump in with both feet and get started.
“It’s good to be back at Central again. Most of the time when new coaches come in, you have to get to know everybody, but that wasn’t the case with me. I’m excited about the possibilities and the hopes of restoring a once-proud program,” Braswell began.
“When you’re 0-10, the only way to go is up. I don’t think Central won at anything in football last year, but we’re looking for small wins every day. We have to figure a way to win, but right now we have more players than we do helmets and that’s a good problem.
“I was looking for a hard job as we all live for a good challenge. The biggest improvement we’ve made so far has been showing up. I think they finished with about 30 players last year, but we had 73 at our workout this morning. They’re showing up with the attitude of being willing to work hard, but we have to pay attention to detail,” he added.
There are several outstanding players back for the Purple Pounders, but none are drawing any more attention than McClendon Curtis.
Curtis transferred from McCallie last year and made a huge impact on the basketball court as he’s really quick and agile for a young man who is 6-8 and 295 pounds. He should be a real force on both sides of the ball for Central.
CUMBERLAND CO.: Coach Ken Johnson graduated 19 Jets from last year’s squad, so there will be some new faces in starting positions next month.
The Jets finished with a 5-6 record, losing in the first round of the playoffs.
“We have a fairly young team, but we try to be as physical as possible because that’s just how we play the game,” Johnson suggested.
“We’ll probably have to move a few kids around and we won’t be the same team as last year. We have to play as a single unit and our success depends on that. If one player messes up, the whole team goes down.
“It’s easy to kick a dog when he’s down, but team unity will be a key for us this fall. We just have to do what we’re supposed to do, but we’re excited to see what we can do,” he added.
EAST HAMILTON: Coach Ted Gatewood has been around the block a few times and he knows what to expect, but the biggest challenge for him and his Hurricanes will be rebuilding their defensive unit.
The Hurricanes finished at 8-5 last year, but replacing 10 of 11 starters on defense might make the former Memphis State great lay awake at night.
“Our biggest thing is that we’ll be young on defense. These guys will have to play with a lot of heart and with loads of intensity. We’ll just have to play like our hair is on fire,” he suggested with a laugh.
“The kicking game is our strongest point. We also have four of five offensive linemen back, so we’re working to build our depth. We have some good ones coming back and we have some guys who love to hit, but we all know that you hang your hat on the performance of the offensive and defensive lines.
“We’re planning to lean on those guys with experience, but we’re in a tough district and we’ll face a major challenge every Friday night,” Gatewood added.
HIXSON: Coach Dan Duff is starting his third season as the Wildcats head coach, but he had been their leader before going to Georgia for a number of years.
The Wildcats won nine games two years ago and advanced to the third round of the playoffs before suffering through a 2-8 season last fall and not going anywhere.
“We have a good group of seniors and Brody Gregory is one of the best high school linemen I’ve ever coached,” he said, knowing that Gregory is a three-year starter and certainly a proven player to build a team around.
“We want to be good up front as that’s where our strength is. We have a bunch of new starters, but we just need to learn how to play our game. Our goal is to keep the ball for extended drives with a touchdown at the end and to keep your offense off the field.
“We’ll run the option again as that’s part of who I am. Last year we didn’t have a true option quarterback. We lost a lot of close games last year and we have to find a way to win those this time around,” Duff added.
The Wildcats currently have about 50 players on the roster, but Duff is promising that very few will play both ways.
“We just have to keep working hard with plans to get better as time goes by,” he added.
LIVINGSTON ACADEMY: The Wildcats have become known more as a basketball school as one that’s great in football, but coach Bruce Lamb is trying to change that idea.
The Wildcats finished strong last year with a 7-5 record, having a six-game winning streak at one point after starting off 1-4.
“We graduated 13 seniors last year and 13 the year before, so we’ll be extremely young,” Lamb admitted.
“I just hope they can grow up quickly. We have four or five offensive linemen back and that’s our strength, but we only have three starters back on defense. We’re optimistic about our chances,” he nodded.
STONE MEMORIAL: The Panthers had one of their best seasons ever, winning their first 11 games before losing a heart breaker to East Hamilton in the second round of the playoffs.
The hopes are high once again for coach Mark Wattenbarger and his team.
“Last year was an odd year for us as we’re not very well thought of in football. We were picked fifth in our district, but we had a few things go our way. The difference this year as people know who we are and we have a big target on our back,” he said with a smile.
“We graduated 11 seniors, but we have another big senior class. We feel good about the kids we have, but we just have to be ready to play. We know we must give our best every Friday night and that wins and losses will take care of themselves if we do.
“We were pretty much injury-free last year and that was a key, but we just need to create a little depth to enjoy the kind of success we had last year,” Wattenbarger concluded.
(Email John Hunt at nomarathonmoose@gmail.com)
Stone Memorial players, from left-to-right, Ronnie Wyllins (28), Ethan Pierce (1), Curtis Tollett (25) and Dylon Dishman (22) appear to ponder the words of the Panthers' head coach, Mark Wattenbarger, as he speaks to the media at the District 3-4A coaches' meeting on Wednesday at Finley Stadium.
photo by Dennis Norwood