CLEVELAND, Tenn. — For the first time in his athletic career, Jake Ledbetter was on the other side of the whistle Monday afternoon.
“I am interested to see how he feels about it and how he does out there on the field,” Cleveland High School football coach E.K. Slaughter said. “You get to experience different highs and lows. You work on something and (the quarterbacks) make an adjustment and it works. Then there’s the other side of the coin when they go brain dead and you wonder what the heck they’re thinking. It will be cool to see how he handles that.”
Slaughter was the quarterbacks coach and offensive coordinator when Ledbetter enjoyed record-setting years as Red Bank’s quarterback. Ledbetter, who finished with a 34-4 won-lost record as a starter, set school career records for passing yards, touchdown passes, completions and attempts and season marks for passing yards, TDs and completions.
“I always thought my records had a lot to do with him,” Ledbetter said of Slaughter. “He made things a lot easier for me. We had a good bond. When I graduated, he always said he’d give me my first job.”
Ledbetter went from Red Bank to Cumberland University but decided he was ready to give up football and come home after three semesters.
Staff Photo by Jake Daniels/Chattanooga Times Free Press
Former Red Bank all-star quarterback Jake Ledbetter moves to retrieve another ball during Cleveland High School’s first spring practice. Mr. Ledbetter was at the practice to work with Cleveland’s quarterbacks. The Cleveland High School football team practiced on their secondary field on Monday afternoon.“The main thing was that I wasn’t enjoying it anymore. I had always enjoyed everything including practice, but I didn’t have even that,” Ledbetter said. “I enjoyed my time at Cumberland and I still enjoy the game, but as far as playing, I felt I was ready to move on.”
He just finished his sophomore year at the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga. His coaching career officially started Monday after several conversations between Ledbetter and Slaughter that began with his decision to leave Cumberland.
“I called Coach Slaughter to tell him I wanted to be a college student and that I wanted to get away from the game for a while even though I knew I was going to miss it,” Ledbetter related. “Then he called me and said he always had to focus on the quarterbacks and he wanted a guy to concentrate on the quarterbacks so he could be more of a head coach.”
Slaughter continues as his own offensive coordinator, dictating the movement of a wide-open passing game, but Ledbetter will tutor quarterbacks as a volunteer assistant coach.
“My quarterbacks have to know what I know out there, and Jake and I have already had those conversations,” Slaughter said.
For three football seasons he and Ledbetter met every Sunday afternoon to go over Ledbetter’s performance from the previous Friday night and to look ahead to the next opponent. They have watched Cleveland video already, and they have talked about packages that Blue Raiders quarterbacks Chad Voytik and Austin Herink will use.
“We’re all together right now, but I’m about ready to throw him in there,” Slaughter said. “Some of our terminology is a little different (from Red Bank), but he has picked it up so quickly that I feel good about letting him take off with it this spring.
“The cool thing about Jake is that he’s a great kid and the two quarterbacks he is working with are great kids. All three are good students and they are morally sound kids. It is cool to see them together.”
The most awkward moment may come when Ledbetter addresses Slaughter, who is still young at 33 years old. What’s Ledbetter to call the head coach?
“Even at 33, having him on the staff makes me feel old,” Slaughter said. “Right now he calls me Coach.”