Hamilton County Mayor Jim Coppinger is also former Hixson High School quarterback Jim Coppinger, and nobody is pulling harder for a football season in the weeks to come.
Coronavirus numbers obviously have not trended in the right direction recently, but Coppinger is not about to hang his head in defeat before kickoff.
“I’m optimistic we can have it,” Coppinger said. “We’ve found some creative ways to open restaurants and retail and day cares and all the businesses we could, and we’ve had a lot of help. This community has really stepped up, and people in different businesses have come up to us with great ideas in making things happen.
“I’m hopeful we’re able to continue to see that with our high school football, our college football and all of our contact sports.”
High school football programs in Hamilton County – and there are a combined 20 of them from the private and public ranks – remain in a holding pattern with the rest of the Volunteer State after Tennessee Gov. Bill Lee announced late last month that he was extending state of emergency orders through Aug. 29. Under those restrictions, TSSAA members are not allowed to conduct competitions or scrimmages.
The TSSAA hopes to become exempt from those orders later this week; otherwise, schools will vote Wednesday, July 22, on one of four shortened-season proposals. That vote was supposed to take place last week but was delayed.
Photo by Cade Deakin / Ooltewah football players warm up before a home game against McMinn County on Sept. 13, 2019. The TSSAA remains in limbo concerning the start of its 2020 season due to Gov. Bill Lee’s extension of his state of emergency executive order through Aug. 29, although he could grant the state’s high school teams an exemption that would allow them to scrimmage or hold games sooner.Coppinger last week announced a mask mandate for the county that began this past Friday and runs through Sept. 8. Well aware of the robust resistance to masks, he is quick to explain the mandate is temporary, unlike changes such as smoking in buildings and being on your cellphone while driving.
Children younger than 12 and people of all ages who are outside practicing social distancing are not required to wear masks under the county mandate.
“This does have a sunset on it,” Coppinger said. “This has been going on for about four months now, and if we had 38 homicides in our county during this time, we would be extremely concerned and would be taking some kind of action and some intervention to minimize the risks. We’re just asking people to bear with us. This virus is extremely contagious.”
Coppinger can’t overstate the importance of keeping businesses open, pointing out unemployment in the county reached a whopping 14% two months ago before dropping back to 10% last month. A safe reopening of high schools and the accompanying Friday night football fun would greatly enhance those in and around Chattanooga, but the numbers have to start heading in a positive manner.
Otherwise, this fall may be more about reliving football memories than producing new ones.
“I can assure you that it wouldn’t take long to talk about my high school football days,” Coppinger said.
Contact David Paschall at dpaschall@timesfreepress.com or 423-757-6524. Follow him on Twitter @DavidSPaschall.