The prep football coaching carousel that spins after each season seemed to be whirling out of control in the months that followed last year's conclusion. Between last December and this spring an unusually large number of coaching changes happened around the Chattanooga area as 15 schools hired new leaders for their programs.
That is more than double last year's total of seven and is the most during one offseason in at least 30 years. Nine of the changes were moves that appointed first-year head coaches.
The prep football season officially begins Wednesday night with defending Class 1A state champion Whitwell traveling to East Ridge for a 7 p.m. kickoff - part of four straight days of games involving area teams, continuing Thursday with Ridgeland facing Calhoun in the Corky Kell Classic at Rome's Barron Stadium.
Three of the four area teams playing on the first two days of the season will have first-year head coaches - Whitwell's Travis Olinger, Ridgeland's Kip Klein and Calhoun's Clay Stephenson - with only East Ridge veteran Tim James making a return from last season.
Chattanooga-area new coaches
Tennessee› Dewayne Tabor (Bledsoe County)› Jeremy Bosken (Boyd Buchanan)› Marty Wheeler (Cleveland)› Grant Reynolds (East Hamilton)› Josh Payne (Lookout Valley)› Derrick Davis (McMinn Central)› Rusty Brewer (Polk County)› Drew Akins (Walker Valley)› Travis Olinger (Whitwell)Georgia› Clay Stephenson (Calhoun)› Dale Pruitt (Dade County)› T.J. Hamilton (Gordon Central)› Josh Groce (Gordon Lee)› Kip Klein (Ridgeland)Alabama› Chandler Tygard (North Jackson)
The first coaching debut will be Wednesday night with Whitwell's Olinger, the Tigers' defensive line coach last season, taking over for Randall Boldin, who resigned to take over at his alma mater, Waverly. Wanting to keep consistency within the program and make it as smooth a transition as possible, Whitwell principal Teena Casseday chose Olinger, who inherits a team that returns 12 total starters, including three all-state linemen.
Olinger, a 1994 East Ridge graduate, began his coaching career at his alma mater, where he spent 11 seasons before joining the Whitwell staff last season. Along the way to winning the program's first state title, the Tigers limited opponents to an average of just 10.3 points per game.
He does, however, face an unusual challenge to begin his head coaching career as the Tigers must play two games in a four-day span, following up Wednesday night's opener with a trip to Bledsoe County on Saturday because of a scheduling mishap that happened during the coaching change.
"I can't wait to see those lights on and take the field," Olinger said. "I'm like a kid at Christmas. I'd be lying if I said I wasn't nervous, but it's a good kind of nervous. It's more anxious to see what we can do. It's a much different feeling than going into a game as an assistant. There's a lot more pressure, but that's fueled my excitement."
One of the toughest jobs facing a first-year head coach will be at Calhoun, where Stephenson succeeds a Peach State legend. Hal Lamb's legacy includes three state championships, five runner-up finishes, 11 consecutive seasons of reaching at least the quarterfinals and a state-record 18 straight (and counting) region titles.
Lamb stepped down last spring with a career record of 233-37, with 11 of those losses coming in his first two seasons.
Stephenson, who played for and coached under Lamb, not only has to replace the legend, he has to do it in a season in which the Yellow Jackets return only five starters. The cupboard, however, is not completely bare. To start with, the new coach has most of Lamb's assistant coaches back.
"I can just trust those guys to get the job done on the football field, as far as the X's and O's go," Stephenson said. "I can tackle the rest of it.
"Obviously, I'm very blessed to have gotten to play for Coach Lamb and coach with him for the last 15 years. Every decision he ever made he had a reason to support that - small ones to game-day decisions. The way he did all the administrative stuff, he still found time to spend time with the kids. Keeping those relationships first is the key."
Among the other notable changes since last season, Ted Gatewood, who had been East Hamilton's only coach since the program began, stepped down and was replaced by former Boyd Buchanan coach Grant Reynolds.
After 19 successful seasons at his alma mater, Derrick Davis left Polk County to take over at rival McMinn Central, which finished 1-9 last season. Two of the new coaches - Boyd Buchanan's Jeremy Bosken and Walker Valley's Drew Akins - inherit programs that were winless last season. Their first hurdle will be trying to turn around the defeated mentality that creeps into a struggling program.
Longtime Ridgeland assistant Klein finally gets his chance to head up the program, while Dade County brought in veteran Dale Pruitt, who has 289 career wins.
Lindsey Young contributed to this story.
Contact Stephen Hargis at shargis@timesfreepress.com or 423-757-6293. Follow him on Twitter @StephenHargis