View the rest of our Best of Preps preseason coverage here
It was an offseason of notable change for the Chattanooga area's high school football programs.
Nine of the area's Tennessee schools have new head coaches, including Boyd Buchanan bringing in Gary Rankin - the state's legendary leader in career wins and state championships - and Baylor hiring Erik Kimrey, who won 12 state titles in 17 seasons at South Carolina's Hammond School.
Ted Gatewood, who built consistent playoff contenders at Ooltewah and East Hamilton, has taken over at Red Bank - his alma mater - and Phil Massey, who guided Baylor to consecutive state championship game appearances, is now in charge at Chattanooga Christian.
And in a late move that wasn't completed until the last week of June, Derrick Davis was brought back to take over at Polk County, where he previously built one of the area's most consistent programs.
It was also a reclassification year for Georgia schools, with several area teams moving up or down into new regions - most notably Dalton dropping down a class to join perennial state power Calhoun in Region 7-AAAAA, while North Murray (now in AA) and Dade County (now in A) also dropped down in classification.
But after those and more offseason moves, all that matters now are the results on the field.
McCallie has reloaded and will try to become only the third TSSAA Division II-AAA program ever to win four consecutive state titles, while South Pittsburg - the area's only other state champion from last season - must replace six all-state players if it is to repeat in 1A for the first time in program history.
Region 3-2A is arguably the toughest - top to bottom - small-school league in Tennessee as Marion County, Meigs County and Tyner have all played for a state title in the past six seasons and are again among the favorites to represent the east in the BlueCross Bowl.
A similarly tight region race is expected in 3-4A, where Central, East Hamilton and Red Bank have rosters loaded with nearly identical athleticism and depth.
New Friday night heroes are certain to emerge - possibly from Baylor, Bradley Central and Chattanooga Christian, which all have multiple underclassmen who are among the state's highest-rated prospects - while some familiar faces also return. Topping that list is Rhea County junior running back Ethan Davis, who was among last season's state rushing leaders with more than 2,200 yards - more than 750 of his total came in three playoff games - and 30 touchdowns.
Once all of the preseason scrimmages and jamborees are completed, hundreds of prep teams across Tennessee will begin the process of trying to extend their season all the way to making a December trip to Chattanooga for the three-day BlueCross Bowl state championship extravaganza at Finley Stadium.
Along the way, beginning with this annual preview section, the Times Free Press sports staff is once again excited to be a part of highlighting the accomplishments of our area athletes and teams.
Contact Stephen Hargis at shargis@timesfreepress.com or 423-757-6293. Follow him on Twitter @StephenHargis.