Houston County football promotes longtime assistant Orman Meadows to head coach

Houston County wasted little time before naming its new football coach just two weeks from the start of the season.

The Fighting Irish will be led by Orman Meadows, a longtime assistant coach. Meadows takes over for Brandon Clark who resigned last week to become the linebackers coach at Northeast High School.

"I appreciate the opportunity," Meadows said. "It's a great opportunity for me. I know all the kids trust me and they've embraced me. I hope I do a good job because I think these kids deserve it. They've worked hard this summer and they want to win."

Houston County finished 0-10 last fall, a year after tying a school record for wins when the Irish finished 9-3 in 2015.

When Clark stepped down, Meadows was the target of Houston County athletics director Ray Busey, who said that he could find a new coach quickly.

"We feel he's ready," Busey told The Leaf-Chronicle Tuesday. "He's the right fit for this program. He's from the (Erin) community and longevity will be there."

Meadows has been an assistant coach for the previous three Houston County head coaches and took over the day-to-day operations with the program when Clark left. Meadows said there will be very little change in how the Fighting Irish operate.

"Schematically speaking, we'll keep everything the same," Meadows said. "I've done the offense the past six years so that will not change. Jonathan Mitchell will take over the defensive coordinator role, and we may run a few different things here and there defensively but much of what we've done in years past will remain."

Busey said Clark had informed the school administration this past spring that there was a possibility that he may leave and Meadows entered Busey's radar in May.

Meadows has been on Houston County's staff for the past 13 years, serving as the offensive coordinator during Clark's six-year tenure. He also coached under Eric Reames for three seasons and under Busey for four years when the Houston County AD was at the helm of the football program.

Meadows said early in his career he never pursued the head coaching job because he was only certified to teach kindergarten through eighth grade.

"When coach Reames stepped down (in 2011), coach Clark was already in the building and that was a natural progression, so I joined his staff. Now I have my opportunity and we're going to work hard to start this thing off right."

The Irish will open the season Aug. 18 at McEwen.

Reach Prep writer George Robinson at georgerobinson@theleafchronicle.com or (931) 245-0747 and on Twitter @Cville_Sports.