McCallie School has announced that assistant wrestling coach Jake Yost is being promoted to head coach, where he will succeed Mike Newman, who has held the top job the past 10 years. Newman will stay on staff and assist Yost.
Newman, who is an assistant varsity football coach and an assistant athletic director, said with all of his other responsibilities at the school, he felt the wrestling program would be better off with Yost in charge and devoting full time to it.
"I think he's going to come in and really do a good job," Newman said of Yost. "He'll take care of it. I feel really good about it. I really think he'll do great things with it."
Cleveland Head Coach Jake Yost
Best of Preps, WrestlingYost wrestled for Steve Henry at Soddy-Daisy, where he was a two-time state champion, and later at the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga, where he was a two-time Southern Conference champion. He returned for a coaching stint at Soddy-Daisy before spending six years at Cleveland, four as head coach. Yost came to McCallie in 2016.
Among McCallie's recent successes under Newman's guidance were Division II-AA state-runner-up finishes the past two seasons and a runner-up finish at state duals in 2017. The Blue Tornado have produced five individual state champions each of the past two seasons.
Yost guided Cleveland to three Class AAA state traditional championships and three state duals titles during his time with the Blue Raiders. He inherits a McCallie team that graduated two of the 14 wrestlers it sent to the postseason in February.
"Coach Newman is great," Yost said. "He's amazing. We think a lot of the same ways. When I was at Cleveland, we did a lot of the same things we do at McCallie. Coach Newman and I are on the same page, which should make this a very smooth and easy transition."
Newman succeeded Gordon Connell, who also remains an assistant on McCallie's staff, which features multiple former head coaches.
"We are so fortunate to have a man like Coach Yost ready to step into this role with McCallie wrestling," assistant headmaster Kenny Sholl said in a school release. "Following legendary coaches such as Mike Newman and Gordon Connell might give some young coaches pause, but Jake is up to the task and is excited for the challenge. I can't wait to see where Coach Yost will take the program."
Contact Kelley Smiddie at ksmiddie@timesfreepress.com or 423-757-6653. Follow him on Twitter @KelleySmiddie.