Midway through the 2015 college football season, Will Healy was in his seventh year as a University of Tennessee at Chattanooga offensive assistant coach and had multiple thoughts racing through his mind.
Should he take over a Chattanooga-area high school in order to fulfill his desire of becoming a head coach? Should he get out of coaching altogether and find a different avenue to provide for wife Emily and their newborn son?
Now fast-forward to present day, when Healy was mentioned for the recent Southeastern Conference openings at Ole Miss and Missouri and is getting his first Charlotte 49ers team ready for next week’s Bahamas Bowl against Buffalo. Oh, and he’s in the early months of a five-year contract that pays him $700,000 annually.
“I don’t know if I’ve taken a breath long enough to let any of this set in,” Healy said. “It’s been a whirlwind, and I don’t even know if that’s a strong enough description. Even when you have success, you’re answering that next question in a recruit’s home, which is, ‘Are you going to be here?’ It doesn’t feel like you’ve been able to relax and enjoy what’s happened this year.
“We had success at Austin Peay and are now in another job building, and a lot has happened in four years. I was in Chattanooga wondering which direction I would head and if there would ever be an opportunity to be a head coach, and now I’m answering questions if I’ll be coaching in the SEC next year. That’s crazy to even think about.”