Cortney Braswell is the head coach of Central High School. The way Cortney Braswell sees it, it's a homecoming of sorts. The 28-year-old Braswell has coached at seven area high school football programs, including Central as the defensive coordinator in 2014, when he was voted district assistant coach of the year.
On Friday Braswell returned to the Harrison school, where he was named the new head football coach.
"I can't even tell you in words how excited I am," Braswell said. "I've always wanted to be a head coach and I feel like every program, every other coach I've worked with through the years has helped prepare me for this.
"I'm so grateful that I get to coach in my hometown and it's a privilege to be at Central, where I know the kids and what it will take for us to have a winning program."
Braswell was a two-time all-state player and 2004 Mr. Football finalist at Baylor, and he was a member of the Times Free Press's Dynamite Dozen. By the end of his Red Raiders career he held the school record for single-game rushing yards and was the program's career rushing and scoring leader as well. He went on to play at Liberty University.
He began his high school coaching career at Ringgold as the defensive backs coach and then worked as the defensive coordinator at Soddy-Daisy, East Ridge and North Murray and was the offensive coordinator at Notre Dame. In Braswell's season as the defensive coordinator at Central, the Purple Pounders had their first winning season in six years and the defense held opponents without a touchdown in four games and allowed an average of just 17 points per game.
Last year Braswell became the defensive coordinator at Bradley Central, helping the Bears reach the Class 6A playoffs.
"We had a lot of applicants, which was great to have so much interest in Central football, but what stood out about Cortney was his knowledge of the game and his ability to build and develop relationships," Central athletic director Steve Lewis said. "That combination of game knowledge and the ability to build relationships with the kids made him the clear choice.
"Plus he coached here just a couple of years ago and did a great job in his time here. The kids were willing to go to war for him because of the relationship he had with them. We need that here. We have all the confidence in the world in Cortney and are excited to see what he can do here for years to come."
Contact Stephen Hargis at shargis@timesfreepress.com or 423-757-6293. Follow him on Twitter @StephenHargis.