What could possibly be better than Christmas in July?
Well, football in May, of course.
I realize we’re just beginning to close in on the climactic section of the spring high school sports schedule, with Chattanooga-area athletes and teams trying to qualify for the TSSAA’s annual Spring Fling later this month, but even the conversations between innings of those ballgames seems to mostly center around the anticipation for the fall and another prep football season.
We are in the South, after all.
So as the calendar flips to a month when we all get to spend more time outdoors instead of sheltering inside — either from winter’s final frigid moments or while attempting to avoid a pollen count that turns our lungs green — the football storylines also begin to heat up.
And as spring practice kicks off for the majority of area schools next week, players will transition from spending most of their time together in the weight room to stepping onto the practice field, where coaches introduce younger athletes to contact and gauge just how much progress was made through winter workouts.
After spending the days leading up to spring practice discussing the expectations with area coaches, the Times Free Press is now beginning a series of previews, broken down by classification. Over the next week, we will give daily snapshots looking back at last season, plus early expectations and what local teams will focus on this month.
We start with Division II-AAA, where our two largest private schools (Baylor and McCallie) have dominated the classification for nearly a decade. When the Red Raiders rallied late to beat Brentwood Academy in the BlueCross Bowl at Finley Stadium last December to cap their first unbeaten season since 1973, it marked the seventh straight year either they or the Blue Tornado had won the championship in the state’s toughest class.
Although the rest of DII-AAA is taking massive steps toward gaining ground, both Baylor and McCallie expect to remain among the favorites. Also, as you’ll find out in the coming week, several other familiar contenders — Marion County, Meigs County, Sequatchie County, South Pittsburg and Tyner — have all the ingredients needed to once again make deep playoff runs and compete for a state title in their respective classifications.
Notable is that there were fewer head coaching changes across the area (only four local Tennessee teams) than we’ve seen in more than a decade.
After guiding Boyd Buchanan to unbeaten regular seasons the past three years — a Division II-AA state runner-up finish in 2023, followed by consecutive semifinal exits — Gary Rankin ended his Hall of Fame coaching career (for now), and the school promoted offensive assistant Charles Fant, a former head coach at Notre Dame, to take charge of the Buccaneers.
(READ MORE: Gary Rankin resigns after four successful seasons as Boyd Buchanan’s coach)
Other local changes include Patrick Liner taking over for Aaron Nance at East Hamilton, Tony Webb returning as a head coach after Mark Mariakis stepped down at Signal Mountain, and former Polk County player Zack Miller taking the reins after Derrick Davis retired.
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Headlining other major changes that will affect team fortunes is the new first-time transfer rule becoming state law in Tennessee. Players who have never transferred — for any reason — in their varsity career can now change schools without being required to give a reason or even make a change in residence.
Those who do have a previous transfer in their history will be required to apply for a hardship hearing, where a TSSAA committee will determine if their transfer is approved.
And while traditionalists will likely continue to dislike that change, it should be noted all 18 teams that competed in last year’s state championship games had key players who had joined the roster via transfer.
Like it or not, it’s now an out-in-the-open part of prep sports that isn’t going away, which means the disparity between the haves and have-not programs is only going to continue growing wider.
So even after next week’s overview, once the first-time transfer portal opens July 1, it’s highly likely that many of the area teams we profile will experience significant additions to or subtractions from their roster before the season kicks off in mid-August.
As ridiculous as it sounds, under the new rule there could be players who are working out with their current school’s team on June 30 and then switch over to join a new team’s workouts the very next day.
Wild times indeed.
As teams begin to work in earnest toward their openers, whether the goal is to end the season at Finley Stadium in December (this is the final year of Chattanooga’s contractual rights to host the three-day BlueCross Bowl event) or to simply improve on last year’s season and make memories along the way, the countdown to kickoff is officially underway.
Contact Stephen Hargis at shargis@timesfreepress.com.
SPRING FORWARD
Here’s the online publication schedule for the Times Free Press series on Chattanooga-area TSSAA football teams as they go through spring practices.
Saturday, May 2: Division II-AAA (Baylor, McCallie).
Sunday, May 3: Division II-AA (Boyd Buchanan, Chattanooga Christian, Notre Dame, Silverdale Baptist); Division II-A (Grace Academy).
Monday, May 4: Class 6A (Bradley Central, Cleveland).
Tuesday, May 5: Class 5A (East Hamilton, McMinn County, Ooltewah, Rhea County, Soddy Daisy, Walker Valley).
Wednesday, May 6: Class 4A (East Ridge, Hixson, Red Bank, Signal Mountain).
Thursday, May 7: Class 3A (Brainerd, Central, Chattanooga Prep, McMinn Central, Meigs County, Sequatchie County, Tyner).
Friday, May 8: Class 2A (Bledsoe County, Grundy County, Marion County, Polk County).
Saturday, May 9: Class 1A (Copper Basin, Lookout Valley, Sale Creek, South Pittsburg, Whitwell).