Gordon Lee head coach Greg Ellis directs his men during practice in this 2004 file photo.There are those who remember Gordon Lee's last region football championship, although it was 1978. The quarterback was Greg Ellis.
There are those, too, who remember the 2002 season when the Trojans went 11-2. The coach was Greg Ellis.
So with Ellis a faculty member at the school, Gordon Lee principal Bubba Simmons didn't have to look far to find a successor to Charlie Wiggins as football coach. The new coach, pending board approval, is Greg Ellis.
"He was one of the last (to apply). He and another coach on the faculty came by and said they'd be interested," Simmons said. "It kind of surprised me that he had expressed an interest. I think the other members of the selection committee were surprised."
Ellis had mulled over the opportunity.
"After they started advertising the job, I decided I wanted to put my name in," Ellis said. "I have a love for the school and the kids I deal with every day. I wanted to make a difference. I love coaching and I love this community."
Simmons saw during the interview that Ellis was serious.
"He had given it some thought," the principal said. "He's home-grown, from the old days when athletes played multiple sports. I think the more he tought about the traditions here, the more he ralized that the people in this school system and this community and the students were important. He grew up in that and he understands that's important in a small community. He feels he can make a difference."
There were 45 prospective players at Ellis's first team meeting, and it's a number he thinks will increase because several were unable to get the announcement about the meeting.
When asked of his priorities, Ellis responded, "Getting the kids out that should've been playing the last couple of years.
"I want to make sure that I'm communicating with the kids. I won't do anything different than I did before. I want to restore the pride and the tradition."
A three-sport athlete for the Trojans, Ellis was the football coach at the Chickamauga school from 1999 to 2005. Over the years, he also has coached at Rossville Middle, Lenoir City and Signal Mountain. He served as Bill Price's defensive coordinator when Signal's Eagles went 14-0 and won Tennessee's Class 2A championship in 2010. He also served at one time as Gordon Lee's baseball coach.
"Greg is not an old man," Simmons said. "He helped build the program at Signal Mountain. He spent a year over at Baylor. Being around and seeing other programs that are on a larger scale, he found things that he can use to make a difference here. The kids know he cares about this school and them."
Ellis played baseball at West Georgia and graduated from the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga in 1986. He earned a master's degree at Eastern Kentucky while working as a graduate assistant for baseball.
Contact Ward Gossett at wgossett@timesfreepress.com or 423-886-4765. Follow him at Twitter.com/wardgossett.