Trey Hicks has been hired as successor to Red Bank baseball coach Bumper Reese, who accepted a similar position at Signal Mountain.
“Trey has a history here. He knows the school, the community and the culture,” Red Bank principal Gail Chuy said. “He worked four years here as an assistant. He is an excellent teacher and communicator with students.”
Hicks would have been Reese’s hand-picked successor.
“I really think they got the right guy. I think he’s in it for the long haul,” Reese said. “I coached him. I knew he was going to college to be a teacher and a coach, and I wanted him to come back and coach with me. He is one of my favorite players all time at Red Bank. I definitely think he’ll do a good job.”
As late as Wednesday, Chuy was still reviewing more than two dozen resumes, but she settled Thursday on Hicks.
“Life’s good, at least till the hard part — the stuff away from actual coaching like fundraising and the behind-the-scenes stuff — gets started,” Hicks said. “I’m excited. This is what I have wanted to do. I just didn’t think it would be this soon, but sometimes things come from out of nowhere. I’m ready for the challenge.”
Hicks had been working as interim coach, which mostly involved mowing, fertilizing and watering. He was getting ready to reorganize the storage sheds, clubhouse and indoor hitting facility Thursday afternoon.
“Lots of stuff pops into your head. I guess I’m anxious to put a stamp on my era,” he said. “It’s a way of saying I’m here to work and ready to do whatever it takes to get us to the next level.”
Hicks said he had been questioning Soddy-Daisy coach Jared Hensley, with whom he worked when Hensley was an assistant at Red Bank.
“He came in behind (Steve) Garland, who in most eyes is one of the top coaches around, and here I am following Bumper, who is Mr. Red Bank to a lot of folks. You don’t want to be the guy who slows everything down.”
Hicks already has scheduled tryouts for the 2010-11 team. They’ll be at 10 a.m. Tuesday and 7 p.m. Wednesday.
“We lost two kids from a team that I felt was really good,” he said.
Hicks played at Red Bank from 1998 to 2001 and then at Cleveland State and Lee University. His assistant coach will be Tyler Rich, another former Red Bank player who also was a member of the Lions’ state championship football team in 2000.