Three months into this calendar year the number of head coaching changes among area prep football programs was relatively low compared with the typical annual turnover.
Then came mid-March, a time normally reserved for making spring practice plans but instead marked the start of a whirlwind of coaching changes locally. Over a 50-day stretch from late March through late May, eight area programs went through a head coaching change, with five of those happening so late that it prevented the teams from being able to conduct spring practice.
“The timing of it is the only bad thing. Just the fact that we’re already past spring practice and play in a couple of months, so there’s not as much time as you’d like to get in there and start working,” said Matt Moody, the former Bradley Central offensive coordinator who was hired just last week to take over at McMinn Central. “School is already out so we’ll have to do everything – learn names, evaluate players, install offense and defense – as we go and there’s not much time to do all that and get ready.
“But what I learned at Bradley is you build your program on having strong relationships, so that’s the most important thing for us to start doing.”
Since the end of the 2020 season, 11 area programs have made head coaching changes.